Italy investigates Placebo singer for calling far-right PM ‘racist’ and ‘fascist’

cyu@sh.itjust.works to World News@lemmy.world – 766 points – Italy investigates Placebo singer for calling far-right PM ‘racist’ and ‘fascist’
theguardian.com

Meloni heads Italy’s most rightwing government since the second world war. Italy’s criminal code punishes with a fine ranging from €1,000 to €5,000 anyone who “publicly defames the republic”, which includes the government, parliament, the courts and the army.

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I'd argue the USSR was fascist the same way the DPRK is fascist. You aren't necessarily left-wing just because you say you are.

I can see the parallels but this really conflicts with the historical definition of fascist. Then again, practically everyone is a fascist these days at least according to someone, so maybe the historical definition doesn’t matter anymore. Guess that’s the downside of it being the universally despised bogeyman term in politics.

Thought it might be helpful to compare the USSR to Wikipedia's definitions of fascism and communism. These definitions can be wrong or could be different than what they were at the height of the USSR, but perhaps it'll help with finding common definitions. I'll admit that my knowledge of USSR culture/governance is limited, so feel free to critique/refute any of my interpretations.

Fascism:

Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement,characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation and race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.

::: spoiler Checklist (hidden for brevity)

  1. +Dictatorial leader: Stalin wasn't exactly a democratic ruler. Check.

  2. ?Centralized autocracy: AKA: One person has final say over any government decision. Probably, but maybe not depending on your definition?

  3. +Militarism: Definitely had a significant military focus. Check.

  4. +Forcible suppression of opposition: Yeah, that sounds par for the course for modern Russian government.

  5. ?Belief in natural social hierarchy: Does semi-deliberate wealth disparity and nationalistic superiority complex count?

  6. ?Subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation and race: Sounds likely, but not 100% sure.

  7. +Strong regimentation of society and the economy: Pretty sure the USSR had a planned centralized economy. :::

It hits 4/7 pretty firmly and the remaining 3 are plausible.

Communism:

is a left-wing to far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology... whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered around common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange that allocates products to everyone in the society based on need. A communist society would entail the absence of private property and social classes, and ultimately money and the state.

::: spoiler Checklist (hidden for brevity)

  1. XCommon ownership of the means of production of goods/services: Weren't these state-owned?

  2. XCommon ownership of the means of distribution of goods/services: ^

  3. XCommon ownership of the means of exchange of goods/services: ^^

  4. ?Allocates products to everyone in the society based on need: Wasn't there significant poverty while others' were well-fed? If distribution wasn't tied to labor, then it could be argued this fits, if somewhat imperfectly.

  5. XAbsence of private property: Oligarchs don't exactly scream "lack of private property"

  6. XAbsence of social classes: Again, oligarchs and poverty

  7. ?Absence of money: Can't comment on this one

  8. XAbsence of the state: There was 100% an overarching state :::

Hits 2/8 at best, but I would be surprised to learn there wasn't money in the USSR.

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