Raghu writes: >> Hitler considered himself as representing the exact opposite of >> everything communism stood for and was very consistent about it. The >> opposite of the extreme left is the extreme right. QED.
Hitler was opposed to Soviet Bolshevism. However, he had no problem labeling himself a socialist. One could say that George Meany and Harry Truman opposed communism, but that would not put them on the right side of the spectrum in your view, would it? I think the analysis requires you to abstractly identify the necessary elements of the class of concepts that make up the "Left," without thinking about Hitler, and then seeing where Hitler fits (and also self-proclaimed leftists). The opposite of the extreme list is the extreme right only if you imagine political ideology as a linear spectrum. If you imagine political ideology as a circle, then there is little real difference between the extremes. Or you can analyze ideology as a grid with personal liberty on one axis and economic liberty on an other axis, in which case certain extremes are in different quadrants, but would not be extreme opposites of each other. David Shemano _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
