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That goes along with Karl Hess’s definition of the left–right division, and many people who call themselves leftists probably agree with it. I think many leftists use the term to mean less hierarchy, more homogeneity (of privilege, money, power), and decentralization. Those are all kind of the same thing.

However, in all fairness, most Westerners and, I would say, nearly all Americans since about the interwar period grew up with leftism meaning what the liberal Democrats believed, which is a massive welfare-warfare State, social engineering, loyalty to the State instead of the individual, family, community, or church, and of course the high taxes and economic intervention required for these.

Taking away the militaristic connotations that (rightly) are associated with the word “fascism,” economic fascism in the literal sense means nominally private ownership with government direction or decision-making. The Democrats who place themselves on the left side of their idea of the political spectrum are implementing economic fascism with fervor today.

These modern uses of the word leftist, which may be completely illegitimate historically, distinguish left-liberal Democrats from right-conservative Republicans only in degree and in the specifics of this or that policy, and only on occasion.

By John on Apr 22, 2009