Malcolm,
the association of Progressivism with Fascism does not require a Whiggish
interpretation -- if one accepts your dating of the intellectual roots of
Fascism as the 1880s, then it coincides with the emergence of the first
Progressive Era (although, if one accepts that, at some level at
least, the Progressives emerged from the ruins of Populism, that lineage
stretches back even further); if one takes the beginnings of the Fascist
movement as 1921 or thereabouts, then it emerges near the end of the first
Progressive Era, and offers a glimpse into the second. Either way, and
whatever the direction of intellectual transmission, such ideas were freely
discussed.
Yes, there are indeed commonalities, but remember, this discussion (such as
it has become) began with the attribution of Fascist leanings to Pareto, and
quickly devolved into an accusation against Hayek. By the time it reached
the Progressives, it seems as though we achieved at least five degrees of
separation. Typically the game ends at six, I have been told!
CM