harry Wrote:
Hegel Wrote:
discostu Wrote:
"When fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."
* Sinclair Lewis
I am not sure there is a more ambiguous, pejorative term used today to describe anyone and any action in opposition to another's belief than "fascism".
"Socialist" "terrorist" "liberal" are all used much more in today's discourse and with at least the degree of ambiguity you ascribe to the use of fascist (in my opinion, much more fuzzy... "liberal" has been used to negate a person or idea in much the same way that "communist" used to be used). "Fascist" is almost quaint, old school... it's rarely used. What the Bushies have done in the last 8 years from trashing habeas corpus to the signing statements claiming executive authority over legislative are all clinical examples of fascism... too bad the term hasn't been used and understood more.
Calling someone a socialist as a means of deriding another's beliefs, to me, instantly takes the wind out of the sails of the speaker. It's a term that is so obviously rooted in rhetoric with no real basis in those instances that it holds less of a "threat", so to speak; whereas, Fascist, to me, comes across a bit more "real" if not just because a majority of people don't really know what Fascism is or was. A lot of people probably think it means ascribing to the wholesale genocide of Jews or something similar.
I'd argue that, Liberal is used by the "right" in the same way Right-wing/Conservative is used by the "left", at least in common American political "discussions". I agree with your assessment of its intent in those situations though--i just think it's is a two-way street. "Liberals" ain't the victim any more than they are the perpetrator. Liberal may be equated to communist, but conservative or right wing seems to be used to suggest ideologies similar to the Inquisition.
Personally, I only use the term terrorist when referring to my friends of middle-eastern descent.
