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Last week a work colleague used a new (new for me) word “collectivist” an umbrella term under which they placed socialist, communist, fascist & nazi. I don’t know where to even begin approaching this. It is like a pre-emptive dismissal of any rational discourse. :-(
You can approach it by asking what the best star trek was. He watched enough to allow the Borg to influence his political ideas.
(He will probably say TNG.)
this is common among neoliberal economy lovers. chicago school, austrian school, &c. their “economists” use “individualist” as a word meaning anything they like, and “collectivist” to describe anything they don’t like
I would like to know a single nation that does not fit into the “collectivist” definition in some shape or form. Capitalist countries prioritize the collective group of the capitalist class over the rest, socialist countries prioritize the collective working class over the capitalist class.
Idk the “collectivist” vs “individualist” worldview is pretty stupid and fundamentally incompatible with class analysis.
Classifying fascist ideologies as “collectivist” is a bizarre choice.
Fascism doesn’t have a collective. You’re expected to obliterate yourself for the state - sometimes literally. Blind, unwavering loyalty to the ruling class without exception. What on Earth is “collectivist” about being a proud slave?
The logic is this: Collectivism is when you have to prioritize the state over your own well-being. This describes both Nazi Germany and the USSR. Therefore Nazism and USSR are collectivist and that is why they were so bad.
This is the vibes based ideology of liberalism.
Prioritising the group over the individual is the rallying cry of almost every depiction of armed conflict in fantasy books & films. It is in Lord of the Rings.
Churches are collectivist when they feed the poor and raise money for flood victims. Cults are collectivist when they all drink poisoned Koolaid together.
These are clearly the same thing.
Fascist being collectivist is outside my typical understanding of the term. The fact that they used it in that way is wild. I mostly heard this term in my phycology class where they referred to the west as more individualist and Asia (including non-socialist countries) more as being collectivist. The implication was that in the west individuals are more likely to put themselves(and sometimes their immediate family) before society, but in the collectivist mindset, the individual was more likely to put themselves after society. This typically applied to duties, behaviour, and sacrifice when it was discussed in the class.
This is something that I need to interrogate since I haven’t really thought about it for several years since I was a lib in university. My initial thought now is that socialist society engenders solidarity with your fellow workers, allowing you to see the benefit in helping other people. Honestly though, I shouldn’t speculate too much without further investigation.