Sometimes people tell me "that's not socialism, that's fascism".
For me, the distinction doesn't matter much. From my perspective, fascism and socialism are both flavors of authoritarianism. And authoritarian policies cause the same harm regardless of the underlying motivation/ideology. So, whether you label the policy "fascist" or "socialist" or "communist" doesn't really matter to me.
For example, minimum wage laws cause the same amount of harm, regardless of whether one desires to hurt black people (as progressive eugenicists once did) or help them (as current progressives believe).
In addition, the degree of harm caused by authoritarian policies exists on spectrum, from mildly harmful to genocidal.
For example, if the government sets the minimum wage at or slightly above the natural market clearing price, it's not going to do much harm. Set it a lot higher though, and minimum wage laws will cause a lot of harm by preventing much of the populace from being able to legally work.
That said, I tend to rail against socialism the most because it is far more popular than fascism. Many of my friends self-identify as socialists, and self-identified socialists hold high levels of power in business, academia, media, and government.
Socialism is also a self-perpetuating ideology--socialist policies cause problems (housing and food shortages, rampant corruption/nepotism, etc) that in turn foment public demand for reform. But because the voting public is, for the most part, deeply irrational and ignorant, they often demand even more socialist policies to "correct" the problems caused by previous socialist policies.
So I think socialism must be fought and crushed in all of its forms, as early as possible, lest it grow and destroy the cultures it infests.
For me, the distinction doesn't matter much. From my perspective, fascism and socialism are both flavors of authoritarianism. And authoritarian policies cause the same harm regardless of the underlying motivation/ideology. So, whether you label the policy "fascist" or "socialist" or "communist" doesn't really matter to me.
For example, minimum wage laws cause the same amount of harm, regardless of whether one desires to hurt black people (as progressive eugenicists once did) or help them (as current progressives believe).
In addition, the degree of harm caused by authoritarian policies exists on spectrum, from mildly harmful to genocidal.
For example, if the government sets the minimum wage at or slightly above the natural market clearing price, it's not going to do much harm. Set it a lot higher though, and minimum wage laws will cause a lot of harm by preventing much of the populace from being able to legally work.
That said, I tend to rail against socialism the most because it is far more popular than fascism. Many of my friends self-identify as socialists, and self-identified socialists hold high levels of power in business, academia, media, and government.
Socialism is also a self-perpetuating ideology--socialist policies cause problems (housing and food shortages, rampant corruption/nepotism, etc) that in turn foment public demand for reform. But because the voting public is, for the most part, deeply irrational and ignorant, they often demand even more socialist policies to "correct" the problems caused by previous socialist policies.
So I think socialism must be fought and crushed in all of its forms, as early as possible, lest it grow and destroy the cultures it infests.