Bob George
Proud Member
One of the most debated issues in modern politics is whether Hitler is left-wing or right-wing. I guess the conventional wisdom these days is that he was right-wing. After all, modern Nazis and similar groups such as the BNP (British National Party) and the One Nation Party (Australia) are called far-right. But is this completely accurate?
Left and right depends on perception and the terms are very arbitrary. They've come to represent different sides and different philosophies throughout history. That's why I don't really like to use the terms. I fell they are more a creation of the power elite to give the illusion of two different, opposing sides when it reality they are two sides working towards the same objective. This, I think, is very true when it comes to Hitler.
My opinion is that Hitler is called right-wing today merely because during WWII, the red shirts and the brown shirts wanted to give the illusion of two sides. Soviets were called left-wing and the Nazis were called right-wing. But the reality is, their ideologies were almost identical.
The Soviets, of course, were communists. They were inspired by Marxism. Marx said in the Communist Manifesto that socialism is the stepping stone in between capitalism and communism. It is not an end, it is a means to an end. If it was an end, then the Soviets would be indistinguishable from the Nazis. The only difference was that Hitler had a different idea of what the end should be. He was against internationalism and globalisation, whereas the communists' goal was international, global cooperation. He was a German nationalist. He believed in the advancement of the Aryan people. He believed in socialism for the Aryan people. Where the Soviets' goal was communism, Hitler's goal was National Socialism. The full name of the Nazi party is the National Socialist German Workers' Party. The only difference was the nationalist aspect of Hitler's ideology.
Many aspects of Hitler's ideology and actions during and before WWII were influenced by early 20th century progressives and European socialists/communists. People like George Bernard Shaw, a very prominent figure in early 20th century progressivism, spoke very graphically about the need for the state to exterminate people who didn't contribute to the collective or people whose production didn't match their consumption. He said people should have to come before the state and justify their existence. He even suggested a humane gas that would kill mass groups of people quickly and painlessly. These ideas didn't originate from Hitler and the Nazis. Hitler got these ideas from progressives.
So in which way was Hitler right-wing again? Is it the fact that he grew the size of the military enormously and aggregated all industry in Germany under military control? Because the Soviets were also very militaristic. Is it just the fact that he was nationalistic? If so then there's not really much difference between the far-left and far-right, is there? You'd think with the vastness of different political ideologies and philosophies out there that the difference between one end of the political spectrum and the other would be more than just a nationalistic approach to socialism rather than an international one.
By definition, the right-wing must be the polar opposite of the left-wing. So if the Soviet Union, Maoist China and Castro Cuba are far-left, then the far-right must be the polar opposite or these regimes. What do these regimes have in common? They are all big government regimes. The government pretty much has total control. They also exterminated a lot of peoples who didn't agree, didn't follow, or didn't fit in to the government's master plan. And they are all collectivist. So the opposite of that is limited government, respect for the right to life and individual rights. That pretty much sums up the right-wing today. Individualist, pro-life and limited government. That's a far, far cry from Nazism. Hitler was the opposite of that. Hitler was clearly far-left.
Left and right depends on perception and the terms are very arbitrary. They've come to represent different sides and different philosophies throughout history. That's why I don't really like to use the terms. I fell they are more a creation of the power elite to give the illusion of two different, opposing sides when it reality they are two sides working towards the same objective. This, I think, is very true when it comes to Hitler.
My opinion is that Hitler is called right-wing today merely because during WWII, the red shirts and the brown shirts wanted to give the illusion of two sides. Soviets were called left-wing and the Nazis were called right-wing. But the reality is, their ideologies were almost identical.
The Soviets, of course, were communists. They were inspired by Marxism. Marx said in the Communist Manifesto that socialism is the stepping stone in between capitalism and communism. It is not an end, it is a means to an end. If it was an end, then the Soviets would be indistinguishable from the Nazis. The only difference was that Hitler had a different idea of what the end should be. He was against internationalism and globalisation, whereas the communists' goal was international, global cooperation. He was a German nationalist. He believed in the advancement of the Aryan people. He believed in socialism for the Aryan people. Where the Soviets' goal was communism, Hitler's goal was National Socialism. The full name of the Nazi party is the National Socialist German Workers' Party. The only difference was the nationalist aspect of Hitler's ideology.
Many aspects of Hitler's ideology and actions during and before WWII were influenced by early 20th century progressives and European socialists/communists. People like George Bernard Shaw, a very prominent figure in early 20th century progressivism, spoke very graphically about the need for the state to exterminate people who didn't contribute to the collective or people whose production didn't match their consumption. He said people should have to come before the state and justify their existence. He even suggested a humane gas that would kill mass groups of people quickly and painlessly. These ideas didn't originate from Hitler and the Nazis. Hitler got these ideas from progressives.
So in which way was Hitler right-wing again? Is it the fact that he grew the size of the military enormously and aggregated all industry in Germany under military control? Because the Soviets were also very militaristic. Is it just the fact that he was nationalistic? If so then there's not really much difference between the far-left and far-right, is there? You'd think with the vastness of different political ideologies and philosophies out there that the difference between one end of the political spectrum and the other would be more than just a nationalistic approach to socialism rather than an international one.
By definition, the right-wing must be the polar opposite of the left-wing. So if the Soviet Union, Maoist China and Castro Cuba are far-left, then the far-right must be the polar opposite or these regimes. What do these regimes have in common? They are all big government regimes. The government pretty much has total control. They also exterminated a lot of peoples who didn't agree, didn't follow, or didn't fit in to the government's master plan. And they are all collectivist. So the opposite of that is limited government, respect for the right to life and individual rights. That pretty much sums up the right-wing today. Individualist, pro-life and limited government. That's a far, far cry from Nazism. Hitler was the opposite of that. Hitler was clearly far-left.