this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
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I don’t doubt you, care to share your references?
Communism is stateless, fascism isn't
This is the kind of explanation that doesn't explain anything to the people who need it explained.
If it helps, consider horseshoe theory as the idea that all authoritarian systems start doing similar things, completely independent of economic models.
It's still not great, but at least there's an observation in there.
You can start a separate conversation on whether there's any value to conceptualizing a left/right spectrum at all (there isn't)
The extreme left isn't authoritarian. It's communism or anarchism, which are both stateless
Yes, someone that knows what words means knows that, but the people that unironically talk about horseshoe theory don't, so all they see is someone who clearly doesn't understand that "Them commies love dictators"
So, in other words, they're wrong
Obviously, they think horseshoe theory has a point.
So why humour a theory with no basis?
All you need to do is Google anarchism and fascism, and compare.
Because explaining exactly why it's nonsense, even if you can point to certain "socialist dictators," can be a good opening into deprogramming a liberal that can't define liberal.
For those interested in such.
I already did.
Just to flip this, do you have any sources that horseshoe theory is a real thing? That's the funny thing about language, someone put Theory in the name and now people think it's a real thing.
To save you the trouble, it hasn't held up under academic study. Plenty of info on Wikipedia about it.
It doesn't deserve even that much effort
Just the basic definition of the two extremes tells you enough to know there is no similarity, and no serious thought behind the "theory".
I don’t doubt you; do you have a source that says it hasn’t stood up to academic study?
I don’t believe in horseshoe theory, I don’t even know what it is. I can’t give you a source that it’s real.
My original comment was more a joke than anything.
Plenty of info on Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_theory