Is It Fascism or Communism? A Simple Checklist
By: Martina Petkova
Tags: Communism, History, Racism, Nazis, Fascism

Is It Fascism or Communism? A Simple Checklist

Public Domain Images of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin | Collage by author

“Communism lives. This is what it does to people.”

That caption was posted by an Evangelical Christian friend of mine, from a Southern US state, as she shared a video of several Roma families being forcefully evicted from a homeless center in my home country, Bulgaria.

I am friends with these families and had been fighting against the eviction. I was grateful for her effort to raise awareness. But also, I had to send her a private message and say,

“Hey. The Roma families have been under attack by racist, fascist policies from the government that has been in power here for the last decade. The President, with whose help we were able to halt the eviction, is from the opposing socialist party (which used to be our communist party).”

I thought that was enough clarification. Bulgaria tangoed for several decades with Communism and I’m the last person to defend it: but facts are facts. After weeks of fruitless appeals to institutions and media, the only support we got in help of the Roma families was from our Socialist Party.

But then my friend replied.

“Got it! It’s safe to say that communism is behind the eviction?”

I got this message as I was walking into the Roma neighborhood to check in on the families who just the day before were out with their bags and children, not knowing where to go. At the last minute, they were told they can stay for two more months but the stress, trauma, and humiliation cannot be lifted as easily as an eviction order.

I sat down next to one of my friends and his kids. The video that spurred this “but it’s communism, it must be” conversation was filmed by him. He wanted to raise awareness, hoping that his children will not be left out on the street. He had no idea he was feeding a narrative all the way over in America. I took a deep breath, swallowed some anger, and texted back.

“No, it’s not communism. I blame a lot of things on communism but this eviction is not one of them.”

She removed the caption.

Don’t get me wrong. Communism did plenty of horrible things to ethnic minorities here in Bulgaria, with tangible consequences to this very day.

But there are differences. Let’s go over a quick checklist of how to tell Fascism and Communism apart. Then you can decide for yourself which one you are truly against — or for.

Let’s start with racism

Since Fascism and its close brother Nazism have turned into a default descriptor for racists, let’s tackle this one first.

The question here is not whether the Fascists/Nazis or the Communists are the true racists. They’re all racist. Racism is not created by these political doctrines — it is channeled and amplified by them.

Let’s see how.

The very foundation of Fascism (and Nazism) is a strict class divide and a doctrine of superiority. Fascists and Nazis can talk forever about just how they are different — and better — than this other group of people and just every other group of people. Their whole identity rests on being “better.”

The foundation of Communism is complete, absolute equality. Communism doesn’t acknowledge that there are differences between people: either cultural, historic, or ethnic. Everybody is the same. In practice, this translates to everyone is made the same.

An example from history

Under Nazism, the Roma people in Europe were persecuted based on their race and lost more than half of their population in the Holocaust. They were targeted for being different and “inferior.”

Under Communism, in 1970s and 1980s Bulgaria, Roma newspapers, theaters, and political and cultural organizations were all closed down. Roma names were forcibly changed to Bulgarian names. (To this day, many Roma people have an official “Bulgarian name” on their documents and a Roma name that is only used inside the community.) Under Communism, it was not allowed to even refer to Roma people as Roma — only as Bulgarian.

The racism checklist: Fascist or Communist?

Do you think marginalized groups have no one to blame, and it’s also not your fault your ancestors were glorious colonizers?

Verdict: You’re a Fascist.

Do you try to neutralize all conversations about racism with “I don’t see color?”

Verdict: You’re a Communist.

Do you believe your culture, language, and history are inherently better (usually because your country built a lot of buildings or fought a lot of wars)?

Verdict: You’re a Fascist.

Do you defend marginalized groups by pointing out specific examples of people who have completely absorbed and integrated into your culture and society?

Verdict: You’re a Communist.

Do you like to cling to your history and racial identity and also ridicule other races and cultures as “losers” and “savages”?

Verdict: You’re a Fascist.

Do you not care much about history or identity, and just believe that we’re all the same, nothing in the past matters, differences don’t exist, and everyone today has the exact same opportunities?

Verdict: You’re a Communist.

Disclaimer: In both cases, you’re racist. In both cases, you feel your culture is superior and “the other” needs to disappear: either by being killed, or moved out of sight, or devoured into the mainstream society.

Next one up: religion

This one is much easier to tell apart.

Do you weaponize your religion? Do you believe it should dictate policies? Do you believe that, because of your religion, you’re better than everyone else? Do you turn to the sacred texts of your religion to look for justification for violence and abuse you want inflicted on others as “punishment?”

Verdict: You’re a Fascist.

Do you think religion, faith, and any kind of belief beyond what the eyes can see is “stupid?” Do you believe that people of faith, people into metaphysics, people who listen to their instincts and intuition are all confused and ridiculous? Do you believe there is one single authority in this world — an institution, an organization, the government — and it is the only thing that can tell you what is real?

Verdict: You’re a Communist.

Where does identity come from

Political doctrines like Communism and Fascism provide an unshakeable sense of identity to their followers. They replace the inner voice, even the inner soul, with a much louder and prouder cookie-cutter alternative.

Is your sense of identity tied strongly to the idea that your nation is the best one in the world? Are you very proud of your nation’s military and your country’s “glorious” militaristic past?

Verdict: This is Fascism.

Is your sense of identity tied to your productivity? Do you measure your value with how much you’ve worked, how great you are at meeting and exceeding expectations, and how else you can prove yourself? Is praise from authority your ultimate reward?

Verdict: This is Communism.

(Note to the more alert readers: Yes, this sounds familiar. Communism and corporate life have a lot in common.)

Who is the enemy?

A great way to know thyself is to ask: Who is my enemy? Who am I fighting? And above all: Who do I fear most?

If your enemy is foreigners, immigrants, and just generally “other” people and if you fear the destruction of your great country (read “great civilization”) by the presence of other cultures, you’re a Fascist.

If your enemy is “the ruling class” — and your solution is to overthrow it and replace it with an authoritarian ruling class of your own — you’re a Communist.

So which one is worse?

Both, obviously.

Here, we touched on the differences. But the similarities are much more. The all-engulfing idealism, the propaganda, and brainwashing, the demand for loyalty, the strict punishment system for disobedience, the lack of concern for the individual. Concentration camps existed under Hitler and under Stalin.

On the surface, we have rejected both Fascism and Communism. But since they tap into very dark parts of human nature, they will never be truly gone until we deal with the reasons they rose to such prominence and in such a soul-destroying way.

So, do your homework. Learn some history. Then use the labels.