[quote=Arraya]Good grief. For some reason smart conservatives become brain dead when talking about Nazism and Fascism in regards to political spectrum. Sure they were called the National Socialist Party, which I guess is good enough and operation just does not matter.
What I find interesting, also, is that they often imply that ‘society’ owning means of production and resources, none of which happened in Nazi germany, somehow inexplicably leads to genocidal behavior and mass murder. Which, therefor implicitly means that a small elite minority owning everything leads to peace and tranquility.[/quote]
Arraya: I think much of the misunderstanding stems from a certain willfulness to not understand (i.e. the worry that admitting that the Nazis were Rightists is problematic), but a larger issue is that Hitler was entirely inconsistent in his ideology. Whether it took the form of contradictory speeches and edicts, or his alliance with Stalin and Soviet Russia (until he invaded), there are plenty of examples of a lack of coherence in Nazi policy.
Bottom line: Nazi Germany was Rightist, but not right-wing (in the sense that Americans understand it), just as Soviet Russia was Leftist (in the sense that Americans understand it). However, neither adhered to any “true” ideology (Stalin quickly abandoned Marxism and Hitler rapidly reconfigured Germany into a corporatist fascist state, once he had seized power).
