Socialism and Fascism are ideological brothers.

While Pro is right to point out that fascism had some basis in philosophy from past decades and centuries, the beginning of fascism was still mostly due to the political nature of Italy during and after World War I, particularly with Mussolini's defiance of the Italian socialists. This is a major contrast to socialism which has a number of different origins, such as the modern trade unionist movement from the latter 19th century United Kingdom, the origins of Marxism unsurprisingly by a German philosopher Karl Marx, and the Bolshevism and Leninism of Russia in the early 20th century. If we were really to say that socialism and fascism were ideologically similar due to their creators being inspired by the same philosophers, which itself is not really true, then we would have to include virtually every other political and economic ideology as a branch growing from the same tree.The main purpose for Pro to categorise socialism and fascism as essentially identical, which he essentially admits, is in promotion of capitalism. However, this is not the capitalism that the people of capitalist countries would recognise, but rather laissez-faire capitalism where the government has an almost non-existent role in the economy and in the economic and social protection of its citizenry. Every single capitalist country includes a government that has some level of significant economic intervention, which is necessary to maintain economic growth and prevent financial collapse. Pro rightly described fascism as also including such state intervention, but omits the fact that socialism does not depend on state intervention either. While many famous cases of socialism are indeed authoritarian, as the Soviet Union comes to mind, socialist ideology is open to the anarchist tradition, where the means of production are owned collectively by the workers without a state or a very limited state. Even the end goal of communism was always to achieve a stateless society, even if this was never actually achieved. This is one of the major differences between fascism and socialism.Although not greatly touched upon by Pro, it is important to mention that another key difference between fascism and socialism is nationalism versus internationalism. Fascism, by definition, stresses nationalism to the detriment against other nationalities. This is quite apparent from the Third Reich in Germany and the rise of Franco in Spain. Both are characterised with violence against other nationalities, and opposition from nationalities. Socialism on the other hand stresses the opposite, internationalism. This is the fundamental belief that all of the proletariat and workers of the world are one entity who are pointlessly divided by ethnicity and nationality. In the words of Marx, "workers of the world, unite".Private property existed in all fascist economies, as a fundamental principle of fascism. These countries adopted mixed market policies where governments would own substantial parts of the economy, but that the means of production would be owned by private individuals, usually those who were sympathetic to the political party that dictated the country. Although the fascist governments had a significant role in the economy, it was still the factory owners who decided what their expenses were, what their outputs were, who they would employ, how they would direct labour, and who would ultimately receive the profits. Unlike a socialist economy, which with a state is a centrally planned economy, but is always one where the means of production are owned socially and certainly not for the gain of a bourgeoisie class.Finally, the differences of fascism and socialism are evident in their opposite locations on the political spectrum. Fascism being at the far-right, and socialism being at the far-left to hard left depending on the particular model. The left-right spectrum is one that does not measure government involvement or personal liberties, but the hierarchical nature of an ideology. In socialism, the hierarchies are non-existant, where all workers are made to be equal and entrepreneurs are punished for aspiring to achieve more for themselves. In fascism, hierarchy not only exists but is encouraged by the state, where people are subjugated into different categories of society, from being the idolised group, to being an exterminated group.These are the points which form the main summary for my assertion that fascism and socialism are essentially and fundamentally distinct from each other. I would like to thank my opponent for this debate and for this opportunity.https://www.nyu.edu...https://mises.org...http://www.britannica.com...http://www.history.com...