On 7/20/2012 10:53 AM, Samuel Bostaph wrote:
> Well, every fascist leader has personal goals.


Yes, that's a syllogism!

Axiom: Every person has personal goals.
Def: Every leader is a person.
Def: Every fascist leader is a leader.
Conclusion: Every fascist leader has personal goals.

But as Gary points out, however, it is useful to consider
commonalities in those goals.  I take it that a reason
to do so is to consider the adequacy of definitions
we introduce to categorize historical ideologies.

So starting with the first item on my posted list, we might
ask whether Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco shared anything in
their approaches the role of free trade unions.  If so,
we can ask whether we can we find a contrast
with the approach to labor unions by the coeval progressive left
(as represented, say, by the Political Quarterly).
Or taking the last item on my list, we might ask about anti-semitism.
Or taking an item not on my list, we might ask about democracy. Etc.

None of this is meant to discard the susceptibility of Progressive
Era economists in the US to the eugenics fad of the the early 20th century.
Naturally. But even Thomas Leonard, who stands all too ready to call
"progressive" anyone who advocated active policy during the Progressive Era,
admits that this susceptibility was not a criterion for being "progressive".

Alan Isaac