I have long maintained that the collapse of political language into "left" and "right" has done a great deal of harm, both theoretical and practical. Practically, it left a remarkable number of progressives vulnerable to Marxist popular-front blandishments. Theoretically, it has left us without any words for those who want to change society in a direction other than (that currently promoted by those who call themselves) the progressive.
As for "fascist", it is notoriously slippery a term in English -- Orwell wrote that it had become meaningless as long ago as 1947 -- but in the context of this post it is clearly restricted to the specifically Italian origins of the term.
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Date: 2008-04-02 05:05 pm (UTC)Marxist popular-front blandishments. Theoretically, it has left us without any words for those who want to change society in a direction other than (that currently promoted by those who call themselves) the progressive.
As for "fascist", it is notoriously slippery a term in English -- Orwell wrote that it had become meaningless as long ago as 1947 -- but in the context of this post it is clearly restricted to the specifically Italian origins of the term.