1266
rating
119
debates
15.97%
won
Topic
#31
Fascism and communism are direct political opposites
Status
Finished
The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.
Winner & statistics
After 1 vote and with 7 points ahead, the winner is...
the_bat_man
Parameters
- Publication date
- Last updated date
- Type
- Standard
- Number of rounds
- 3
- Time for argument
- One day
- Max argument characters
- 30,000
- Voting period
- One week
- Point system
- Multiple criterions
- Voting system
- Open
1496
rating
3
debates
50.0%
won
Description
No information
Round 1
Forfeited
Pro = Type1 = Fascism and communism are direct political opposites
Con = the_bat_man = Fascism and communism are not direct political opposites
My opponent has forfeited the first round, leaving me to make the opening arguments.
A1: The Definitions
Let us make clear what we are debating by defining what exactly "Fascism" and "Communism" mean. The definition of "Fascism" as defined by Merriam-Webster is below.
Con = the_bat_man = Fascism and communism are not direct political opposites
1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
The definition of "communism" as defined by Merriam-Webster is below.
1 a : a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed
b : a theory advocating elimination of private property
At first glance, fascism and communism do look like direct political opposites. Using information derived from the definitions, you can say that fascism is the basis for dictatorial, nationalist and totalitarian regimes. Hitler was known as a strong believer in the fascist agenda (even though he went by the misleading name National-Socialist, or "Nazi" for short) as was Mao Zedong, the dictator of China who oversaw the Cultural Revolution. And using information from the second definition you can tell that any nation that believes in it will have publically owned businesses and everyone will be equal (a liberal’s dream come true).
But let’s look at the second definition of communism, it which it is capitalized.
2 capitalized
a : a doctrine based on revolutionary Marxian socialism and Marxism-Leninism that was the official ideology of the U.S.S.R.
b : a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production
c : a final stage of society in Marxist theory in which the state has withered away and economic goods are distributed equitably
d : communist systems collectively
A2: Communism in History
-North Korea
-Vietnam
-Cuba
-Laos
-North Korea puts people and death camps and has threatened Japan, South Korea, and the US with nuclear bombs
-North Vietnam attacked South Vietnam in the 50s and 60s and killed millions of people
-Cuba killed thousands of people during the Cuban Revolution
-Laos killed thousands of people along with the Vietnamese
- Fascism is a totalitarian form of government.
- Communism has been shown to have totalitarian forms of government.
- Therefore, they are not direct political opposites.
Sources
Fascism. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fascism
Communism. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communism
Nazism. (2018, August 27). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazism
Manning, S. (2018, April 16). Communist Body Count. Retrieved from
https://scottmanning.com/content/communist-body-count/
Marx, K., & Engels, F. (2018). The Communist manifesto. Singapore: Origami Books.
Round 2
Forfeited
Extend.
Round 3
Forfeited
Pro forfeited. Vote for Con.
Neat, if we can get a debate started and finished regarding socialism vs. capitalism, I'd be happy to debate this as well.
There aren't any similarities at all really. Communism is 100% to the left and fascism is 100% to the right. Any supposed similarity between the two are either lies and propaganda or they stem from a corrupt regime falsely labeling itself as communist when they in fact deviate strongly from the teachings of Marx.
For example, Mao calling himself a communist is no different than the Nazis calling themselves National Socialists...in reality they are both fascist.
Socialism/Communism is based on collectivizing the means of production so that the community as a whole owns industry. That means that if the state controls it, or society is at all stratified with a ruling class or a wealthy class, it's not actually socialism/communism.
Are you arguing that there aren't any similarities between the two, or that the core beliefs are for different things?