Talk:Far-right politics

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This article underwent a complicated merge December 2005. The other branch of its history is preserved at Talk:Far right/tributary; despite the talk-space designation, this was originally created in article space, and is preserved mainly to keep a record of the contribution history. - Jmabel | Talk 02:18, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

The Fascists for themselves

This is a portuguese blog[1]. It is a fascist blog (the name means “fascism at the net”). It links to Italian self-proclaimed fascist parties. Many posts of the blog are essays written several years (or decades) ago.

The post: it is a text from 1938. I know that 99% of you don’t read or speak Portuguese, but is a text saying that republic and democracy does not work and only a hereditary King can rule a country: “A Família é possível, porque o seu chefe é hereditário; uma vez que se introduza na Família o sistema electivo, a Família morre. Ora as Nações não são mais do que Famílias em ponto grande” (“The Family is possible because is chief is hereditary; if we introduce the elective system in the Family, the Family dies. Well, the Nations are nothing more than Families in big size”). The author of the text, Alfredo Pimenta, was a Monarchist, who supported Germany during WWII.

Another post of the blog[2]. The issue is a lament for the “absence of the right-wing” (“a ausencia da direita”); apparently, the author considers himself a right-winger…

Another portuguese blog[3]. It is also a pro-fascist blog – look to the pictures: Ezra Pound, Celine, Abel Bonard, Robert Brasillach, Drieu La Rochelle, Julius Evola, Arno Brecker (there is also Hemingway, but these is because the author is an aficionado of the bullfight)…

The post: an article criticizing “the empty rhetoric of the left-wing” about the riots in France. Should be noted that the author, Bruno Santos, is one of the leaders of the National Renewal Party, a party with strong conections with the Front National of Le Pen (who claims to be right-wing)

The site of the “New Rigth”[4]. Many texts are from or about Evola, Carl Schmitt and Oswald Spengler, fellow-travelers of fascism (remember, the title of the site is “New Rigth – Nouvelle Droite”!)

An article about Spengler[5]: “Prussian socialism is thus essentially «not concerned with nominal property, but rather with techniques of administration --- The Old Prussian method was to legislate the formal structure of the total productive potential while guarding carefully the right to property and inheritance, and to allow so much freedom to personal talent, energy, initiative, and intellect as one might allow a skilled chess player who had mastered all the rules of the game. This is largely how it was done with the old cartels and syndicates, and there is no reason why it could not be systematically extended to work habits, work evaluation, profit distribution, and the internal relationship between planners and executive personnel. Socialisation means the slow, decades-long transformation of the worker into an economic civil-servant, of the employer into a responsible administrative official with extensive powers of authority, and of property into a kind of old-style hereditary fief to which a certain number of rights and privileges are attached.»”

Aparently, the model of National Socialism (or “German Socialism”) is not the left-wing socialism, but the feudal order.

From these articles, seems to me that: a) it is usually fascists consider themselves “right-wing” (in reality, I don’t know of any self-proclaimed fascist calling himself “left-wing”); and b) It is a great tradition of close cooperation (and ideological juxtaposition) between fascists and the traditional conservatives, monarchists and nostalgical of the feudal Old Order. If this is not “far-rigth”, what is “far-rigth”???--81.84.81.90 02:46, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

First Spengler was ultimately alienated from Nazism and not a leader in it. Also I agree they're certainly willing to use traditional conservatives and monarchist. I just disagree that that makes the two things identical. Many "traditional" types in Italy and Germany considered were suspicious of fascists as radicals who would upset the existing order. Much of their support in those quarters came from fear of socialism and communism. And to think the Nazis would sincerely want feudalism is either taking a few films they did as literal ideology, or is wish fulfillment on your part or is just blatantly ahistorical. Lastly modern fascists don't necessarily represent the actual ruling kind. Still all that said I agree fascism is far-right. I just think that we've moved beyond 1848 so "far right" now means something different then it did in the revolutionary days.--T. Anthony 05:58, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

The question is not if Spengler was pro-Nazi, but if the Nazis was pro-Spengler (and I think they was).

I am not also saying that Fascism and Traditional Conservatism was identical, I am only saying that they are closely related.

In republican countries, like Portugal, Spain (in the 30), France and Germany, the nexus between Monarchists/Traditionalists and Fascists were very strong:

in Portugal, the National-Syndicalists were founded, in the 30s, by the former member of Integralismo Lusitano, a monarchist group; before that, in the 20s, both monarchists, fascists and Catholic activists were in the “Cruzada Don Nuno Alvares”, a group opposed to the Republic; after that, in the 60s, the fascist group “Movimento Jovem Portugal” were founded by former member of the “Junta Escolar Monárquica”. The main book of the leader of MJP, Antonio José de Brito (a self-proclaimed fascist), is “Our Masters – the Guidebook of Counter-Revolution”, a book about the De Maistre, Bonald, etc.(in these book, he says that the fascist tradition is different from reactionary tradition, but, simultaneousy, recognize the influence of these thinkers)

in Spain, the Falange was founded by José António Primo de Rivera, the son of the conservative military dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera, and many of his first members were disciples of the traditionalist group Action Española (today, Falange is for the republic, but only adopt this position when the King Juan Carlos begins to democratize the country)

in France, the Camelot du Roy, the youth wing of the monarchist Action Française, turns massively to fascism after 1934. Charles Maurras, the leader of the AF, was an admirer of Mussolini (but not of Hitler)

in Germany, the Nazis were inspired by the Conservative Revolution and by the “socialism of the chair” (a group of intellectuals who combined the defence of monarchy with economic planning)--212.113.164.104 16:18, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

Oh I think they dovetail into each other and have often been willing to feed off each other, in least to some degree. I'm just not convinced they are as interconnected as you believe. Especially in the case of Nazism because as I recall many conservative aristocrats were uncomfortable with the street-violence and radical social change the Nazis wanted. I think that's part of why they purged the SA and set up things like the Protestant Reich Church. In the case of Italian Fascism it's closer, but there's their connection to the Futurist movement and generally revolutionary nature that makes me skeptical. "Iberian Fascism", Spain and Portugal, or Clerical Fascism I could see as just fitting though.--T. Anthony 03:01, 14 November 2005 (UTC)

The truth is that "left" and "right" are leftist terms. We can't very well let them set the terms of debate, now can we? ;) Sam Spade 04:57, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

• You really don't think that saying "the turth is..." and expect people to believe it, do you? The truth is Sam Spade is stupid - see what I did right there? Now you have to believe it because I said "the truth is...". If ignorance is bliss, then so blissful are the predicates that happily lack a supporting premise. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mortello (talk • contribs) 16:53, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

I mentioned why facists call themselves rightwings, cause they are stupid and they believe the propaganda that the non-racist socialists, who think they are true libertarians or liberals(classic liberals) and think that Hayek and true liberals(classic liberals)and liberatarians are right wingers. Original facists, though nutcases, were intelectuals, but neo-facists are stupid on top of crazy. Neutral nobody

I don't agree w almost any of that. There are a number of reasons why people call themselves "right", and their are a variety of inteligences behind the "fascist far right". Le Pen, for example, is nobodys fool, nor is Silvio Berlusconi, who has some very interesting conections. What do you know about the international third position? Sam Spade 16:40, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

If Spengler was pro-Nazi, then why did he sharply criticize the Nazis in his last book, The Hour of Decision? If the Nazis were pro-Spengler, why did they ban that book and any mention of his name in the press? And why did George F. Kennan and Henry Kissinger consider Spengler such an important influence on their Cold War containment policies if he was so dangerously radical? The latter figure was Jewish. Why did Northrop Frye cite Spengler as such an important influence, not only on his work but on all writers and historians? We are to believe that this brilliant man was a Nazi because he was generally right-wing?Shield2 05:47, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

distinctions

I saw a nice college tele-course last night that had alot to say on useful sociological distinctions (as opposed to false left-right dichotomies). One was individualism vs. collectivism. The other was legalist vs. kinship based societies. Sam Spade 16:22, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

Individualism vs. Collectivism is the most proper left-right scale. Of course with Individualism on the right, unless you want the Left movements (Communist etc.) to become Right movements. Of course a scale based on Individualism vs. Collectivism will put Nazism, Fascism and Islamism side by side of Communism and Collective Anarchism despite being mutually incompatible. 83.92.119.42 18:35, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

However, individualism vs collectivism is not the most widely accepted left-right axis, partly because it is historically incorrect. Wikipedia is not a vehicle for original research, or for pushing particular points of view - we should report all significant points of view. Therefore, we cannot use the individualism vs collectivism spectrum as the left-right spectrum. Αργυριου (talk) 22:48, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

It is one of several left-right scales in use. Take a look at Wikipedias article on political spectrum. The Individual vs. collectivism is a very common left-right scale and has been used for many decades by libertarians. It is historically incorrect not to use it as well (the Old Left became the New Right when Socialism emerged and the Old Right became the New Centrum). The multiplicity (as introduced by the Socialist Left) of the left-right scale is a major problem. However that scale is not really what this article is about, though some criticism probably should be mentioned. Something a la "Some alleged Far Right movements do not consider other alleged far right movements as far right, but rather as Far Left). It should be made clear that two movements labeled Far Right can be as far from eachother as they can be from the Far Left - because some Far Right movements are actually Far Left in most issues. As it is now this article is merely marxist propaganda. 83.92.119.42 15:27, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

In modern terms, the meaning of "Right" and "Left" is mostly economic, ie big government/small government. In a Western context, Republicans/conservatives/classical economists would be the Right and Democrats/liberals/Keynesians would be the Left. The former basically believe in a direct relationship between the people and the economy, in which the government should not interfere more than necessary. The latter believe in a direct relationship between the people and the government, at the expense of the business sector when necessary.

A more extreme vision is Libertarianism on the Right (the government shouldn't interfere at all, or have any duties other than the military and police) and Socialism on the Left (characterized not by regulation but by out and out nationalization of vital industries). Then the most extreme visions are Communism on the Left (the government controls everything), and the model that existed in late nineteenth century America or present day Japan, where the business sector (robber barons or keiretsu) basically controls everything and the government does as ordered by them.

On this strictly economic scale, Fascists and Nazis are actually right in the center, between Keynesian and classical economics (they believed in the welfare state and in concepts like military Keynesianism, but they also respected private enterprise and private property, and denied a lot of rights to workers). Remember though that the terms right and left also have meanings other than economic, and in those senses they were pretty clearly on the right... 213.181.226.21 (talk) 11:12, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Lead paragraph

Current lead paragraph seems a bit weak to me, also a bit POV.

The term far-right refers to the relative position a group or person occupies within a political spectrum. Since, by definition, most people are not far from the center, the terms "far-right" and "far-left" are used to say that someone is an extremist, not in tune with the majority. "Far-right" is thus usually a pejorative term. Due to this circumstance, the division between far-left and far-right extremists can sometimes be difficult to discern. The rhetoric and positions advocated (Populism, revolution, social unrest, violence) can often appear very similar.

"…by definition, most people are not far from the center". Not necessarily: consider the Weimar Republic, or the Second Spanish Republic. Both were torn apart by polarization and the lack of a strong center.

What is going on in the fourth sentence: Due to what circumstance? That the word is usually pejorative? That makes no sense. Does "Due to this circumstance" actually carry any meaning here, or can we just drop it?

"…the division between far-left and far-right extremists can sometimes be difficult to discern." Seems POV. I happen to agree with it, but it still seems POV. Can't we cite someone on this, if we want to say this?

It seems to me that if we want to talk intelligibly about similarities between far-right and far-left politics:

1. We need to track down citable material of scholars pointing out the similarities, and if only the theoreticians of totalitarianism are being asked to carry all this water, maybe we should just link to totalitarianism and not try to replicate the arguments here.
2. We need to discuss similarity of tactics and ideology, above all the cocksureness and the willingness to resort to violence.
3. We need to discuss similarity of outcomes, that both far-left and far-right once in power tend to form dictatorships or, at best, plebiscitory democracies. The project of forming an elite tends to be explicit on the right; on the left, it tends to be disguised as the need to form revolutionary cadre.

Obviously, in those last two points, I've indulged my own views. That can't go in the article without finding someone citable who says it. Right now, all we have is an uncited remark ("The rhetoric and positions advocated (Populism, revolution, social unrest, violence) can often appear very similar," that I'm not sure belongs there. -- Jmabel | Talk 02:26, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

I have also had concerns, particularly w that "most people are not far from center" bit. Center of what? "Most" people? Rather than try to cite this stuff, lets just keep rewording it until we have an agreeable intro, one any reasonable, informed party can accept. Disputed claims requiring citations don't make for the best intro.

I don't see leftists as being more able to disguise their intents, but maybe thats just me? Think about the communist party oligarchs, corrupt union leaders and so forth. All that "power to the workers" stuff is bunk, both sides make such populist claims. Hitler was very big on jobs and bread. I guess maybe leftists believe it more, since even lowlevel right-wingers generally arn't looking for equality anyways...

In any case, its clear to me that there isn't much substantive difference between these general catagories of extremists, despite their rhetoric, but as I have said I'm not that enthused w the current wording either. Sam Spade 01:41, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

I gave it a kicking, have a look. Sam Spade 02:11, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

I have some doubts about "eugenics" being a "leftist concept".

Perhaps the sentence "The far right has often been associated with social and religious conservatism, reactionary nationalism, jingoistic chauvanism and economic libertarianism, but this varies wildly." should be "The far right has often been associated with social and religious conservatism, reactionary nationalism, jingoistic chauvanism and economic proteccionism, but this varies wildly.": in Europe, the far-right is, absolutely, anti-"economic libertarianism" (and I suppose that, even in the US, the paleo-conservatives are proteccionists)--81.84.81.121 19:17, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

OK, I edited accordingly. Re: Eugenics, you may want to look into its history more closely, esp. planned parenthood's founder, Margaret Sanger. Sam Spade 06:46, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Hopelessly muddled - merge

This discussion was moved to Talk:Right-wing politics. Sorry, my mistake, I didn't realize I was starting the merge discussion on the wrong page.--Cberlet 17:27, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

In sorting this out, note that a non-trivial article Extreme right was redirected here without merging any of its content, which included several academic citations. When someone sorts this all out, they will probably want to salvage at least some of the lost material. -- Jmabel | Talk 05:37, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

Thats completely inaccurate. Sam Spade 17:50, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

It's sure what looks to me to have happened. If not, could you elucidate? -- Jmabel | Talk 01:46, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

Have a look @ [6] and [7]. I made sure all the factual info, links and book citations were merged. Chip deleted much of that. What I did not merge was this POV mess:

"The Extreme right or Ultra right is the term used by most scholars to discuss right-wing political groups that step outside the boundaries of traditional electoral politics. This generally includes the revolutionary right, militant racial supremacists and religious bigots, Fascists, neo-fascists, Nazis, and neo-Nazis."

Because it was variously POV, redundant, and factually inaccurate. As I have said all along, Cite "most scholars" saying anything, much less these generalisations. Sam Spade 02:04, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

OK. I must have looked at the state where the material was deleted. I didn't realize that the material was moved and later deleted, I just followed up the redirect and didn't find the material. -- Jmabel | Talk 07:05, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

Not what happened. Sam Spade rewrote the text and made it innaccurate. See:[8]. I then deleted the rewritten and now inaccurate text rather than have a text that misrepresented what the cites I added covered. The cites point out that the term is used by different authors to cover three different ranges of right-wing politics, not that some scholars use the term to cover all three different ranges mentioned in the three bulleted paragraphs. That was self-contradictory and false. I leave it up to others to make any changes. I am currently refraining from text edits, but I will step in to discuss claims that I think are false on talk pages.--Cberlet 12:11, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

I edited his text. If he had made a counter edit (rather than a revert or deletion of a block of text) progress could have been made. This is a Collaborative editing editing project, mr. berlet. Sam Spade 22:26, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

Sam Spade, please go back and read the two edits. You edited what I wrote to say something completely different.[9]. The problem is that originally what I wrote was cited to several specific books: [10]:

• Betz, Hans-Georg and Stefan Immerfall, eds. 1998. The New Politics of the Right: Neo-Populist Parties and Movements in Established Democracies. New York: St. Martin's Press.
• Betz, Hans-Georg. 1994. Radical Right-wing Populism in Western Europe, New York: St. Martins Press,.
• Durham, Martin. 2000. The Christian Right, the Far Right and the Boundaries of American Conservatism. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press.

You rewrote the text, rewrote the subheading, and the end result was a set of claims that were not only not accurate, but also mis-cited to the books I had cited to buttress my original paragraph. Your edit is to collaboration, what the Visigoths were to non-violent civil disobedience.

And please do not refer to me as "mr. berlet."

Also, how can I pass up this opportunity to note that the original character of Sam Spade was created by a lifelong socialist.--Cberlet 23:14, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

Why, why, why...

With a {{mergefrom}} tag sitting on this article, and a {{mergeto}} sitting on Far right—a noun, and therefore a suitable title for an article, unlike the adjective far-right—did Sam Spade turn the article with the acceptable title into a redirect to the one that violates the MoS. Sam, can you explain your action? Was this just a mistake, or did you really have a reason to do this? -- Jmabel | Talk 04:24, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

Are you an admin, Jmabel? If so, move this page to Far right. That would be fine. They have already been merged together, and I certainly won't object to that. Sam Spade 00:04, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

Great! -- Jmabel | Talk 01:58, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

Prior to this rather complicated move, the only discussion at Talk:Far Right (where this is now being moved) was as follows:

"Note: a discussion involving this page and its future is taking place at Talk:Right-wing politics. Please leave this page here and do not redirect it until that discussion is completed. Thanks.--Cberlet 22:46, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

And this notice:

Mysekurity^{(have you seen this?)} 05:21, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

-- Jmabel | Talk 02:10, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

NPOV

OK, now that the page has been renamed, why the dispute header? What is being disputed, why and by whom? Sam Spade 04:23, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

OK, dispute header removed. Sam Spade 18:22, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

Canadian Far Right Party?

What qualifies? Christian Heritage Party of Canada? Or maybe Nationalist Party of Canada? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.199.116.198 (talk • contribs) 1 April 2006.

Does Canada have to have a party to label far right? Feeling left out?  ;-)    GUÐSÞEGN   – UTEX – 20:03, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Not sure which Canadian parties would qualify, but I don't believe the Reform Party of Canada or the Conservative Party of Canada should be included. Reform and Conservative are/were indeed on the right side of centre, and not anyone that I want running the country (sigh), but they are less right than George Bush's Republicans are. Including them on a list that has Aryan Nations and Vlaams Blok is inaccurate and insulting. Now, if someone wanted to redefine the list to include the Republicans, then I'd agree that Reform should also be added. Thraesja 18:17, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

There did not appear to be a mention of either Reform or the Conservative Party of Canada in the reference cited, so I removed them. I'm beginning to suspect that Ignatz and Mudde are not reliable sources, but whoever added the major Canadian parties of the Right based on those citations appears to be making stuff up. Argyriou (talk) 20:19, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. I removed the Canadian entires because there doesn't seem to be any appropriate examples. Perhaps this page should be semi-protected so that those who cannot prevent their political bias from influencing their edits can be prevented from doing so? --70.48.217.65 04:12, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Removal of the current political parties labeled far right section?

Remove this section? Wikipedia is not a political blog... Intangible 00:26, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

I've removed the list. Intangible 01:37, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

Added POV tag. This list is POV as hell, and putting the Canadian Alliance and Reform Party of Canada together with those other parties entails a POV bad company fallacy. Intangible 17:25, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

This article is extremely left-biased and very POV. The entire article is rubbish 83.92.119.42 08:29, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Far right = left????

Political compass On the website Political compass it is argued that parties labelled as 'far right' are actually more leftist than most modern main stream parties. 'Far right' cannot be correct as a nomer because advocating government control (far left) cannot be a polar opposite to advocating government control (far right).

Actually, communism (government control) is the polar opposite of the free market ideology. Communism is primarily an economic ideology whereas fascism is a social ideology. They are not, nor have they ever been (except in rhetoric) polar opposites. The term 'far right' therefore is incorrect and used by parties identifying themselves as 'left' to discredit the 'right'. Unfortunately for them, fascism is all about state control (if not state ownership of the means of production, then certainly state control of them).

Political compass argues that advocates of state control all belong on the left.

It introduces 2 axis: -an economic x-axis (horizontal) where communism (state control) and free market ideology (no state control) are polar opposites -a social y-axis (vertical) where authoritarianism and libertarianism are polar opposites.

--82.156.49.1 04:08, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

I believe that this is an accpeted diversion, and that far right and far left are indeed misnomers. This article is suitable in its POV/accuracy however. Flying Hamster 04:13, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Advocating government control can in fact be an opposite of advocating a different type of government control. The two groups may want the government to control different things, and they may wish to achieve opposite goals. "Government control" is a method, a means to an end. Ideologies may have opposing goals, while using similar means to achieve them.

The Political Compass model is interesting, but has a number of major flaws. For example, the "left-wing", which is supposed to represent state control of the economy, includes the ideology of anarcho-communism, which wants to abolish the state along with private property. Conversely, "free market ideology" always needs a state to define and enforce property rights. -- Nikodemos 03:34, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Where do you get "free market ideology" always needs a state to define and enforce property rights? That just isn't true. SnowShoes ^{talk here} 03:21, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Thats libertarianism 101 , snowshoes. The concept basically is that the role of the state is to protect private property and maintain a currency system (which can't really exist without a state, at least not in any reliable format). Anarchism, a offshoot of socialism , propose abolishing productive property and currency, and with that the last real role of the state 121.44.251.88 (talk) 06:55, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

New List

I have started a new list, with citations. Please ensure that all new additions are cited to a reliable source. Please note that basing this list on terminology used in other entries on Wikipedia is not considered apparopriate--even when Wiki administrators do it.--Cberlet 04:05, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

This list is inherently biased, and thus POV. The point is that labeling of these party only serves a purpose in academic discourse, beyond that, it is mostly used for its psychological effect. Creating this list entails that there should be common theme throughout those listed parties, which does not exist. Even political science scholars point out that: "it is suggested that scholarly focus on extreme-right politics has remained constraint by placing an excessive emphasis on conceptual and taxonomic debates...It was the dominance of the former taxonomic and conceptual concerns over the extreme-right paradigm that led one scholar to note that, 'the serious scientific study of right-wing extremism is still in its infancy at best' (Mudde, 1996). Mudde went on to label the extreme-right paradigm's near-obsession with taxonomy as the 'war of words'. This observation is equally applicable at the dawn of the twenty-first century as it was in the mid-1990s and to a large extent the situation remains relatively unchanged."

A scientific study in its infancy should not be used to make exaggerated claims, and certainly not to be relied on a just pointing to a (false) taxonomical nomer. Clearly if labels have different meaning for different political science scholars, one should not be tempted to claim that any such labeling is correct or factual; yes there are political parties that can be described rightly so as being xenophobe or nationalist, but this does not mean every every party on this list has those characteristics, but the list does make for a inherent guilty by association. Furthermore, almost no comparative studies exist on a large scale, making cross-country comparisons between parties (such as the current list) useless. The USA for example does not have a large social-democratic party, while France does, so a social-democrat would be quickly called "far left" in the USA, while in France one might describe a social-democrat as "centrist," who knows? As Mudde has noted, the use of the "extreme right" label does not appear in the definition of the concept. If there is no concept behind "extreme right" or "extreme left," why use the terms just for labeling? It does not serve a purpose at all, and in Wikipedia articles on political parties themselves there is enough room to describe the mischief of political parties and their ideology. Intangible 06:25, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

No matter how impressed any single Wikipedia editor is with their own intelligence and original research, it does not trump properly cited scholarly material. Intangible should feel feel free to start a blog or write a book on the subject, but further attempts to impose idiosyncratic POV through tendentious campaigns of loading discussion pages with pointless arguments until other editors wear out will be further evidence of the disruption for which Intangible was put on probation in the first place.--Cberlet 13:57, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Cberlet. You are not using any scholarly material at all. You are only using low quality far-left sources with zero credibility. Why isn't there a list over Far Left parties? Despite the far-left movements actually describing themselves as far left (like the Danish Unity List which is self-declared far left) ? You are extremely POV and this article is against the intention of Wikipedia. Stop using Wikipedia for your own political crusade. 83.92.119.42 18:10, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia is meant to be a general purpose encyclopedia; there is no denying that the labeling of political parties is widely done by the media, the political pundit class, voters, and even politicians themselves. To take an overly academic viewpoint is to deny reality and make wikipedia less useful to ordinary readers. Provided a party is labeled as "Far right" by an independent third party source, it should be so identified. Disputes about identification can be reported on the party's individual article (assuming of course that you are reporting the views of others). Neutral point of view means describing all significant points of view on a subject, not neutering the article. In other words, describe the fact that some pundits characterize a party as "Far-right" while other pundits or the party dispute it; don't pretend the characterization doesn't exist. Thatcher131 02:29, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Thatcher131 writes: "Provided a party is labeled as "Far right" by an independent third party source, it should be so identified.". ya know there are "independent third party" scolarly, verifiable and reliable sources who identify the US republican party as far right. Will they be included in your list? --SoLittleTime 06:24, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

What would those scholarly sources be? Saying you have sources without producing them does not advance matters. - Jmabel | Talk 06:53, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

merger

Maybe this page should be merged into Right-wing politics or Left-Right politics? I know that User:Cberlet and User:Jmabel would support at least the first option. I would support both, but have a preference for the latter one. Intangible 15:07, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

This claim about my position on this matter is simply false. Here is what I posted on Right-wing politics about the proposed merger of Right-wing politics and Left-wing politics into Left-Right politics:

[...the merger of Right-wing politics into] Left-Right politics makes some sense, but since there are large bodies of scholarly work on the "far left" and "far right" I certainly would oppose merging them.

As in I oppose merging them into any other page, as should have been clear.--Cberlet 15:25, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Okay, the confusion came from your statement "Far-Right should probably be merged into this page so that the fact that there is huge disagreement where the boundaries are can be discussed." at Talk:Right-wing_politics#New_Idea Intangible 16:25, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

I think that there are several possible reasonable breakdowns to fewer articles, but not all breakdowns are reasonable, and there is more material than will fit in one article. I gather that several people wish to decrease the number of articles.

Current arrangement:

• Left-right politics: an overall survey
• Left-wing politics
• Far left
• Right-wing politics
• Far right

Breakdown 1

• Left-right politics: an overall survey
• Left-wing politics: a broad article with everything from early liberalism and social liberalism to hard-left Stalinism and left-anarchism
• Right-wing politics: a broad article with everything from economic liberalism to fascism and traditionalist monarchism

Breakdown 2

• Left-right politics: an overall survey
• Far left: covering only leftist ideologies that reject such liberties as freedom of speech, broadly based electoral democracy, etc. Typically Leninists, some of them via Stalin or Mao. Probably a few of the more extreme left anarchists also belong here.
• Far right: covering only rightist ideologies that reject such liberties as freedom of speech, broadly based electoral democracy, etc. A slightly more heterogeneous group than the far left: monarchist revivalists, fascists of various stripes, ultra-nationalists, theocrats.

- Jmabel | Talk 23:48, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

This is very helpful and constructive. I prefer Breakdown 2, but both are reasonable suggestions.--Cberlet 01:45, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Pretty much none of the parties in your POV list would even be covered in Jmabel's Breakdown 2. Intangible 12:01, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

What makes it tricky is that a lot of these parties talk out of both sides of their mouths. The British National Party, for example, seem to vary from year to year (if not from minute to minute) as to whether they are more akin to Margaret Thatcher or Oswald Moseley. Even the Spanish Falange occasionally talk a good game in terms of democracy, but, for that matter, so did Hitler. - Jmabel | Talk 05:22, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Did the Official Opposition in the Canadian parliament talk out of its mouth as well? Intangible 17:55, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

• • • • • DOUBLE STANDARD ON THE LISTS*********

How terribly biased to list "far right" parties and organizations, but not 'far left', which have been removed from that article. Perhaps Wikipedia should be the first entry under "far left organizations" based on the bias they are displaying in these bookend articles! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.20.177.193 (talk) 16:21, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

POV, again

I see that the section Parties labeled as "Far Right" or "Extreme Right" is labeled as POV. What is the problem? - Jmabel | Talk 01:39, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

See that above two sections. Basically the list is POV because each author has a different concept of "far right" or "extreme right". I removed the same kind of list at far left, but somehow that was not criticized. Intangible 08:12, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

This is part of a longstanding dispute in which Intangible claims that slight variation in terminology used by social scientists allows Intangible to delete the political characterisation by social scientists of a variety of political groups from Wikipedia. The issue was taken to arbitration, and although on probation, Intangible continues to make the same claims on multiple pages. See: here, here, and here.--Cberlet 14:17, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

We now have two scholars from which this list is derived. Editors need to be careful to not add parties in a way that misrepresents the scholarly cites. I am removing the POV tag, since it has been demonstrated that it is without foundation.--Cberlet 22:15, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

And again, the tags have been removed - tendentious disruption noted.--Cberlet 22:59, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

POV tags

I'm inserting the POV tags again. My main concern is that each scholar who does make a comparative analysis of political parties between some countries uses one's own pet definition of what is being studied, and then not even as determinant of what is being studied, but as abstraction and speculation. A list of political parties in this article would imply POV original research, and is currently even without context. Intangible 17:53, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Far Right, Far Left, Far Whatever

It's all the same thing. I think political wings as more of a circle. Far left and Far right are right next to each other at the top of the circle. They both run on practically the same core beliefs. Just different excuses for their beliefs.--Zeph1 23:52, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

I agree. What was the real difference between Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong and Pol Pot? - ClemsonTiger 14:18, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

easy; moustache, moustache, none, none... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 63.240.122.161 (talk) 17:40, 3 April 2007 (UTC).

Hitler was to most radical anti-communist in world history, the other tree were communists —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.164.192.106 (talk) 15:49, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Personally, i reckon whether you're far right or far left is much simpler than deep economic or social policies, if you look at the principles of the British National Party you'll find they want only white british people in England, whereas a far leftie wouldn't be hostile at all towards immigration. I am one of the two and someone i know is the other, we often argue and i find that this seems to be true. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gearfreid (talk • contribs) 16:46, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Removal of parties list

Removed list & created page for this because these parties are listed as Nationalst & Right Wing & this article is only Far Right. They are no listed under these other article heading so a separate list is viable. Please see my reasoning here. Robert C Prenic 18:46, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

I don`t think there are pressing reasons to split the article at this point. --Isolani 14:17, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

Your reasoning is flawed. The changed title covers a much broader spectrum of parties than those on the "far right", and thus even if your list article has any useful existence, this article should retain the well-referenced list which is limited to "far right" parties, and not just those which happen to be "right wing" or "nationalist". I'm restoring the list to this article, again. Argyriou (talk) 18:49, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

I've listed Political Parties labeled Far Right, Extreme Right, Nationalist or Right-wing at Articles for Deletion. Argyriou (talk) 22:38, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Citations

There are currently seven parties on the list which do not have citations for being called "far-right". I'm fairly certain that for most of them, the description is accurate enough, but Wikipedia needs reliable sources to back up such a description. Can someone please find citations for these parties?

• Austria – BZÖ (Bündnis Zukunft Österreich - Alliance for the Future of Austria)
• Croatia - Croatian Pure Party of Rights (HČSP)
• Netherlands - Nieuw Rechts - (New Right)
• Poland - Unia Polityki Realnej (UPR, Real Politics Union)
• Poland - Liga Polskich Rodzin (LPR, League of Polish Families)
• Serbia - Serbian Radical Party (SRS)
• Sweden - Nationaldemokraterna (National Democrats)

I'm willing to wait a little while for references for these, unlike for people who add the Republican Party (United States) or Japan's Liberal Democratic Party to this list. Those I'll delete on sight, as those parties are not "far-right", and anyone who calls them such is not a reliable source. Argyriou (talk) 17:45, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

While it is true that the U.S. Republicans are not originally far right, quite a few of its powerful party members are, and I feel it should be seriously reconsidered whether or not we label the Republicans as far-right or not. Far right-based parties include values of conservatism, capitalism, Religious Right, nationalism, and militarism, as stated here. Even this page itself states that far right parties border on conservatism, and it is the general consensus that the U.S. Republicans go further than conservatism, but are not fascists, either. Furthermore, I will also agree with 83.92.119.42, below me, that this article is very biased. 68.35.65.211 22:46, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

If you can provide reliable sources for the idea that the Republican Party is "far-right" as the term is commonly used - not the way left-wing whingers use it - then I'll consider not deleting it on sight. But for purposes of this list, no left-wing source is reliable, as they tend to call everyone on the right "far-right" or worse. Argyriou (talk) 00:12, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

More which need citations. The Danish one escaped my earlier check, the Turkish ones I've added based on their addition to the other list and reading the articles, but they really do need citations:

• Denmark - Dansk Folkeparti (Danish People’s Party)
• Turkey- MHP Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi)
• Turkey- BBP Great Union Party (Büyük Birlik Partisi)

Argyriou (talk) 18:32, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

Dansk Folkeparti isn't far right or anything close to that. It is a centrum party, in many ways more left than right (IMHO that's bad - that's with my left-right scale :P ). You shouldn't let your personal opinion colorize your work on Wikipedia. This article is terribly POV. 83.92.119.42 08:22, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Swiss People's Party

This is just silly. The same reference used for the Swiss People's Party, calls Francisco Franco a fascist [11] (which is a-historic), and includes List Pim Fortuyn and Livable Netherlands [12] in their guide as well, which is plain stupid. Livable Netherlands was founded by a former Labour Party board member Jan Nagel, and also Henk Westbroek, a VARA radio broadcaster. How can anyone take this article serious. Intangible2.0 12:15, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Although Intangible2.0 is undiplomatic he is right. The SVP and LN do not belong on this list. C mon 12:59, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

So, Intangible2.0, Franco wasn't a Fascist, huh?? What planet do YOU live on you revisionist pig?! ElizabethR

Franco was a reactionary, not a fascist. Franco rounded up all the real fascists in Spain and volunteered them for service with Germany along the Russian Front, so they wouldn't make trouble for him at home. In particular, Franco was not a revolutionary, while Fascism is a revolutionary ideology, just like its ideological sibling, Communism. Αργυριου (talk) 21:43, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

I believe that you will find sources to be about 50-50 on whether Franco qualifies as fascist. It comes down to which definition of fascism you use. There is no one universally accepted definition of the term, and Franco's regime was very strong on some aspects (one-party state, corporatism, glorification of the military, Führerprinzip, anti-liberalism, anti-communism) and weak on others (especially in its later years it slowly became more economically and even intellectually open; while nationalist, it wasn't as violently so as is typical for fascist regimes; it was more deeply conservative than is typical of fascism, in that it promised—and delivered—an eventual return to hereditary monarchy, and it upheld the role of the Catholic Church). I'm sure there is more that could be said; that's more or less off the top of my head. Franco's regime was probably most fascistic during and immediately after the Spanish Civil War, and slowly became less so (not too surprising when he had to seek alliances with NATO rather than the Axis). - Jmabel | Talk 17:30, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Party listing

The page on far left had a party listing that was removed. There should be some consensus on this. I think the term is inherently POV, designed as a pejorative label, and shouldn't be on this page. I do not have particularly strong feelings on it, but either this list should be removed from here, or one should be added to far left. Please can you make up your minds. Nssdfdsfds 14:49, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

As the far left is much more prone to factionalism, a list of far-left parties will be much less manageable than a list of far-right parties. I don't care whether far left has a list or maintains a separate list; the list in this article has been manageable so far, so there's no need to remove it. Αργυριου (talk) 16:05, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

That's bullshit. The number of alleged far-right parties are no less than the number of fascistoid-parties on the left. Individualists cannot see the difference between Castro and Hitler. Both are oppressors in the eyes of the individual. Nobody agrees on the right-left scale, nor on the definition of far-right vs. far-left so there shouldn't be such a list. It is extremely POV. 83.92.119.42 08:25, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

The problem is that this is a list of opinions posing as fact. You could add the Republican Party to the list, I'm sure you'd find a source to say that they were far-right. However, there is widespread consensus that they are not far-right, and they would be removed from the list. Therefore, it's quite clear that the list here is intended to be a listing of parties that factually *are* far-right. In other words, the listing is a list of parties that there is consensus are in fact of the far-right. So it is insufficient to simply say 'here's a source that shows some people think this party is far-right', as the list is intended to show parties that *are* far right. From the Constitution Party page I don't see evidence that they are unambiguously of the far right. Nssdfdsfds 16:27, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

It's not hard to find people stating as an opinion that the Republican Party is far-right, but none of the people who've added them to the list have provided a reference, and I doubt that a reliable source could be found for that contention. There are reliable sources for calling the Constitution Party far-right, including Fox News (which due to their political inclination, would be less likely than a purely neutral source to label a party or person "far-right"). Αργυριου (talk) 17:17, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

The Constitution Party has no connection to the Far Right of Europe. The US equivalent would be a 1990s version of the Populist Party, which was somehow connected to Willis Carto. I think it became something called the American Nationalist Union and ceased functioning as a political party. Yakuman (数え役満) 11:14, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

The Constitution Party is properly listed here with a credible source. Personal opinions of editors do not count in this discussion. What matters is the fact of the use of the term (or a stronger one) in describing The Constitution Party that apppears in a credible published source. These continued deletions are clearly disruptive and will be reported if they continue. Please learn and follow basic Wiki editing guidelines.--Cberlet 13:18, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

"Far Right" has different meanings; comparing the CP to the BNP or NF is a stretch. They don't acknowledge one another or have any connection, as the Eurorightists do. Polemics in credible publications are still not RS (and I find it odd that Chip Berlet thinks Fox News is a "credible published source.") If you want to keep the hit list, have a consistent criteria. Please read WP:A, WP:CIVIL and WP:AGF at your earliest convenience. Yakuman (数え役満) 13:22, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Please have the common Wiki courtesy of refering to me by my editing name. I recognize numerous conservative and right-wing media outlets and authors as "credible" and WP:RS here on Wikipedia. The debate over terminology pops up over and over. It is not a trump card. The issue here is citing credible sources. In this case, a right-wing source calling the Constitution Party far right or extreme right is certainly significant. --Cberlet 14:26, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

That you are Chip Berlet is certainly on point, since you do not hide your identity. You are a professional conspiracy theorist and your edits reflect that POV. There's no rule against it, but it can be noted. Don't take it personally. Yakuman (数え役満) 14:35, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Excuse me, but "professional conspiracy theorist" ??? --Cberlet 15:21, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

OK, you're a veteran professional conspiracy theorist, sort of a left-wing version of those guys on shortwave radio. My point: Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, and should contain only material that complies with its content policies. Wikipedia is not a forum for advertising, nor a vanity press. As Wikipedians and encyclopedists, our job is to put the interests of the encyclopedia first. Anyone who prioritizes outside interests over the interests of the encyclopedia may be subject to a conflict of interest. WP:COI Yakuman (数え役満) 03:17, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Original research?

I removed the {{or}} template from the article, because there was no discussion in the talk page which claimed that any significant amount of this article is original research. People keep re-inserting the template without specifying what in this article is original research. Stop it. If you're going to claim that this article has original research, tell the rest of us what part of the article is original research. If you can't do that, you're just vandalising the article. Αργυριου (talk) 19:12, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

There's no criteria here for what counts as "far right". Wikipedia is not a dictionary, nor is it a WP:SOAPBOX. You can't just use this free encyclopedia as a base to attack your political opponents, right or left. This is an open city, WP:NPOV. We are not here to restate the conclusions of one political faction. Yakuman (数え役満) 19:28, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

"Wikipedia articles are not... propaganda or advocacy of any kind. Of course, an article can report objectively about such things, as long as an attempt is made to approach a neutral point of view. You might wish to go to Usenet or start a blog if you want to convince people of the merits of your favorite views." WP:SOAPBOX.

Also, do not threaten other editors' GF efforts with bogus allegations of vandalism. See WP:HARASS, WP:AGF and WP:CIVIL.

"Vandalism is not... making bold edits... Stubbornness: Some users cannot come to agreement with others who are willing to talk to them about an editing issue, and repeatedly make changes opposed by everyone else." - so even if the edits were universally opposed, which they are not, it wouldn't be vandalism as one clearly believes that what he is doing is the right thing for the article. "If a user treats situations which are not clear vandalism as such, then it is he or she who is actually harming the encyclopedia by alienating or driving away potential editors.".

I have moved the tag and added another, placing them at specific sections. Do not remove a validly placed tag.

Yakuman (数え役満) 19:28, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

It's about time someone actually supported the claim of "original research". However, sticking the {{or}} template on the list is reaslly unsupportable. Every single item in that list is sourced, usually with multiple sources. The original list was from two specific sources, which pretty much obviates the claim of original research. Mudde and Ignazi did the original research which led to the list.

As the earlier section reads like an essay, at least at the beginning, I've moved the {{or}} there, as it's possible that section may be, in part, original research. The list clearly is not OR. Αργυριου (talk) 21:40, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

There's OR in that there is no criteria for selection in the compilation as a whole. It is purely perjorative. It can't be a list of someone's least favorite political groups. If there were two or three obvious examples, they might be included as examples. But this big long list is unencyclopedic soapboxing. The rest of the article belings in a dictionary. Stop removing the tag! Yakuman (数え役満) 22:01, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

The criterion stated is Parties labeled as "Far Right" or "Extreme Right". The requirement for reliable sources, which has been enforced on this list pretty throroughly (every single entry has sources, most, more than one), means that not every group which the far-left dislikes qualifies, as far-left sources are generally inherently unreliable, especially when it comes to labeling of others as far-right. Please show how the list does any of the following (copied from WP:OR

• It introduces a theory or method of solution;
• It introduces original ideas;
• It defines new terms;
• It provides or presumes new definitions of pre-existing terms;
• It introduces an argument, without citing a reputable source for that argument, that purports to refute or support another idea, theory, argument, or position;
• It introduces an analysis or synthesis of established facts, ideas, opinions, or arguments in a way that builds a particular case favored by the editor, without attributing that analysis or synthesis to a reputable source;
• It introduces or uses neologisms, without attributing the neologism to a reputable source.

In particular, pay attention to the "without attributing ... to a reputable source".

I've cleaned up the essay in the Usage section, and moved the {{or}} tag there, as it still needs sources to show that it is not someone's original research or synthesis. Αργυριου (talk) 22:43, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

The different medias are not reliable sources for anything but quoting statements of people. Using 5-liners from centrum-left and far-left medias are inappropriate. reliable sources are 70-page reports from universities dissecting the parties and their policies - in details. Anything but such thoroughly drafted reports is unreliable. (Forgot IP) 83.92.119.42 17:54, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

The list

I see that Parties labeled as "Far Right" or "Extreme Right" includes only Central and Western European parties. This is too western-centric. We need to include other parties (e.g., that party responsible for that murder in Turkey). Part Deux 18:51, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

Look through the history - there were one or two parties in Turkey listed, but removed for lack of citation. The United States Constitution Party was listed, but removed for bad reasons. Feel free to add any other parties where you can find a citation in a reputable publication which labels the party "far-right" or "extreme right". On this particular issue, far-left sources are not reliable; this includes any communist or socialist or "progressive" (in the modern American sense) outfit. If they think Noam Chomsky is the best thing since sliced bread, they're not reliable sources for labeling parties "far right". Αργυριου (talk) 21:24, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

Agree with Αργυριου. Note to editor who deleted Centrum parties: Please do NOT remove properly cited groups from list based on disagreement with published source. This violates basic Wiki policies. --Cberlet 13:42, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

CBerlet, an undocumented claim from leftist BBC News doesn't qualify as documentation. The term "far right" is a communist term used to describe anything the Left is against. Blending several incompatible views on one scale is inappropriate (read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_spectrum#Multi-axis_models ). The list has been renamed to " Parties alleged to be "Far Right" or "Extreme Right" ". 83.92.119.42 17:19, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

While I agree that the BBC clearly has some left wing issues (though not as bad as some media), it seems to be a fairly reliable source on this type of matter. Cberlet, I would suggest you try to find another source to help out this situation; because if there are multiple sources alleging as much, it would be easier to support. Part Deux 17:24, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Fidel Castro as an Example of Far-Right?

"The label far right is usually applied to ideologies and political movements which embrace racism, male chauvinism, monarchism, military rule, religious fundamentalism, nationalism, and ethnocentrism to a degree significantly greater than is common in the society at large." Either we should agree to use Fidel Castro's Cuba as an example of a far-right government - or we need revise this definition? Would Communist China under Mao be another example of a right-wing government? What about Uganda under Idi Amin?Raggz 22:40, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Nationalism?

I'm challenging the use of nationalisim in this article at all. What nation state does not meet the definition in nationalism? Is Cuba? Is every nation on earth "far right"? Every nation state is nationalist, so this logically must be true?

Soon I will delete nationalism, unless there is an objection. Raggz 22:51, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

I think you are going too far. Certainly, most political parties are somewhat nationalist, though some have a much more internationalish focus, but the more extreme or hard-line forms of nationalism tend to be found mostly with far-right parties, and can be used to identify far-right parties. I'm not going to undo your changes, as I think you're at least partially correct. Αργυριου (talk) 17:30, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

"The label far right is usually applied to ideologies and political movements which embrace racism, male chauvinism, monarchism, military rule, religious fundamentalism, nationalism, and ethnocentrism to a degree significantly greater than is common in the society at large."

Exactly. This is opinion only. (RealBigFlipsbrain 23:27, 24 May 2007 (UTC))

The reference to nationalism that was deleted did not simply equate nationalism and far right politics (which would be incorrect), it suggested that extreme nationalism is one of several themes that are often associated with the far right. Sorry, but that is a simple matter of fact in any usual definition of what constitutes extreme right-wing politics. I don't quite see what's controversial about that and will revert or at least re-write the change unless anyone can explain why I shouldn't. --Nickhh 09:34, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Nazis far right?

I'm object to the idea that NAZIs are called "far-right". The Nazi's were extremely socialist and anti-capitalist[13]. They have the german word for socialism in their name for crying out loud. The facists were also socialist [14]. There is no far-right evil totalitarian empire like the far-left ones in every communist country and it makes no sense to perpetuate this myth that the Left is to Stalin as the Right is to Hitler. I really doubt anyone who considers themselves a far-right, right-wing extremist, dittohead would advocate any socialism at all. Ryratt 05:17, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

And yet, if you visit the actual entry on Fascism, you will see the wording:

• Most scholars see fascism as on the political right or allied with right-wing movements. (John Hoffman and Paul Graham. Introduction to Political Theory. Pearson 2006, p. 288. ISBN 0-582-47373-X).

So while some agree with you, most do not.--Cberlet 20:11, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

What puts them on the political right? Ryratt 03:50, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

While, generally speaking, I'm all in favour of challenging orthodoxies, at the same time there comes a point where you just have to accept that that's just the way certain categorisations work, and that there's a pretty broad consensus on this both in the academic world and - for what it's worth - in common conversation. It doesn't imply any particular judgement or implications, eg that if you consider yourself right-wing you are therefore a "Nazi-lite". As it happens, the Nazis were not extremely socialist - yes they, and the fascists in Italy, had socialistic and communitarian elements, including in their economic policies (and in the Nazis case, in their name) but they stood by the basics of the capitalist system, drew support from capitalists and reactionary elements, and expended quite a lot of energy persecuting socialists and communists. In any event of course, the right-left divide isn't just about capitalism/anti-capitalism. --Nickhh 07:37, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

Hitler himself said that National Socialism was not reactionary, but revolutionary. He also stated that supporting Franco was a mistake and that in the next Spanish civil war, the Nazis would work against Franco and his reactionary inner circle. (Albert Speer, Spandau: The Secret Diary) Sadistik 13:14, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

Nazi authoritarianism/nationalism trumps their center-right economic policies. You have hit on the problem with left right though. Take a look at political compass: http://www.politicalcompass.org/analysis2 Wikipediatoperfection 23:27, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

I'd definitely say that Thatcher and Friedman are rightists, but yeah, having Hitler as the most right one can be and Stalin as the most left one can be while the two of them were virtually identical (as a Nolan chart shows) in many ways kind of defeats the purpose. Nationalism and militarism should not define left/right, whereas economic and social policies should. Sadistik 07:12, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Nationalism and militarism should not define left/right, whereas economic and social policies should. I disagree. In most countries, nationalism and militarism pattern with socially "right" policies. The link between nationalism and social conservatism on one hand and capitalist economic policies on the other is weaker, but the correlation is better there than between internationalist and socially liberal policies and capitalist policies. Argyriou (talk) 15:48, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, Stalin's article calls him a Russian nationalist and he was definitely militaristic, so I guess we'd have to label him far-right, too. Sadistik 22:01, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Which was my original point, the only thing the far-right and the nazis have in common are the same things the Soviets, Imperial Japan, the Roman Empire, the British Empire and just about every other nation have in common; a strong military and national pride. It obviously wouldn't be practical for a nation to have a weak military and and hate itself.

Price controls, supressing free-markets and free-trade, regulating industry, extensive social welfare, national work-programs, excessive bonds, animal rights, environmental protection, and anti-tobacco laws are not philosophies that I typically associate with the far-right:

• [[15]]
• [[16]]

Ryratt 06:19, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

"Price controls, supressing free-markets and free-trade, regulating industry" - these is typical far-right: traditionally far-right was in favour of replacing the free-market capitalism by a Middle Ages-style guild system; and, about the free trade, I think, that in almost countries of the world, the far-right is in favour of protectionism

"extensive social welfare" - what "extensive social welfare" was in Nazi Germany? However, a moderate social welfare is typical of the far-right (but perhaps more in Catholic countries)

"national work-programs" - at leat in European terms, I think this question is totally independent of the left-right axis

"excessive bonds" - what these mean? If these mean "high budget deficits", I agree that is not a traditional far-right position

"animal rights, environmental protection" - I never had heard about nazis being believers in "animal rights" (a concept different of "protection of animals"); about "environmental protection", until the Sixties, was more typical of the right-wing than of the left-wing (usually in the context of the defence of the "healthy live of the countryside against the decadent life in industrial cities")

"anti-tobacco laws" - attendig that usually far-right is against "vices", I think that an "anti-tobacco" position is not incompatible with being "far-right"

But I think that what we should discuss is not if the nazis were far-right (this is "original research"), but if the nazis are considered far-right (and I think that usually they are, but with some disagreeing voices)--83.132.156.103 22:28, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

My concern is that we are perpetuating a misconception. Ryratt 21:36, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Also, I cited the parts where I got those positions of the Nazi party. If they're not correct that needs to be addressed in those articles. Ryratt (talk) 20:59, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

I suggest all of you to read a very interesting article by a neo-Nazi Povl H. Riis-Knudsen entitled National Socialism: A Left Wing Movement (1984). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.10.196.191 (talk) 11:27, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

Israel

NDI ( Yisrael beytenu ) , is no longer considered extreme right. It was a secular liberal (not neo liberal though) party all along. (representing the russian-israeli citizens) and supports negotiations with palestinians for a state , etc. Nowdays the public consensus is that likud (a center-right party) further right then NDI. Someone check this out and fix it. The israeli far right is considered to be the "kach" movement now probably lead by baruch marzel. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.155.10.41 (talk • contribs) 00:03, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

There is a reference which calls Yisrael Beytenu "far right". It is from the BBC, which isn't entirely reliable on Israeli politics, but before we can remove them from the list, it would be good to see some references for them being considered less right-wing than Likud. Kach belongs, though it has split, and some of its leaders are involved with other parties. It would be worthwhile to see which parties good references can be found for. Argyriou (talk) 18:05, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

United States

Here is a proposal for some far-right parties historically active in the United States; I am amazed that the US is not included at all in this list---I would think that far-right parties in the United States alone would be enough to constitute its own article. Try this for starters:

• United States - U.S. Labor Party; Populist Party; Liberty Lobby; National Alliance; American Nazi Party; LNSGP;

I would add them myself, but Wikipedia ironically does not allow other Wikipedia articles to be used as sources, and right now I don't want to take the time to research them. Shanoman 20:06, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

We had the Constitution Party in here a while ago, but it was removed for lack of a reference. The American Independent Party belongs, too. The Liberty Lobby does not, as it is not a political party, it's a pressure group. Finding good references, when left-wing authors are inherently unreliable for this purpose, is pretty hard. Argyriou (talk) 22:36, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

Based on its views the US Republican Party is far right in comparison to the rest of the world

Many leading members of the Republican Party take positions that are considered to be on the radical right or far right. If you look at where the Republicans running for President fall on the political compass they are actually more conservative than say the British National Party. Take a look for yourself: UK elections political compass: http://www.politicalcompass.org/extremeright and US Primaries: http://www.politicalcompass.org/usprimaries2007 Wikipediatoperfection 17:50, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Here, let me explain a little about Wikipedia to you: Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a debate forum. Statements must be supported by reliable sources, not the fevered imaginations of leftist wankers. If you can find a reliable source which says "The Republican Party is a far-right political party", then by all means, add the party back to the list, with the reference. Note that publications by Marxists.org, Socialist International, Moveon.org, or other, similar left-wing sites which call anyone who opposes their agenda "far-right" are not reliable sources.

You could have saved yourself the above tongue-lashing if you'd bothered to do something else which mature, experienced wikipedians understand, and checked the talk page. This issue has been discussed half to death already, and the consensus is that you're wrong. Argyriou (talk) 19:28, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Read Political Compass' Professional feedback page: http://www.politicalcompass.org/profeedback and Media Coverage page: http://politicalcompass.org/inthenews If you want a newspaper source, here you go: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/08/07/MNG9TE4DO91.DTL However, I think political compass is a much better source. I cannot think of a major conservative party in Europe which is to the right of the Republican Party. I cannot think of a European leader who is to the right of Bush. Do you know of one? In contrast, the Democratic Party is to the right of of every major left wing party in Europe. The political compass is a reflection of where parties are in the overall scheme of things, rather than a reflection of how they are viewed in the United States (say in a newspaper).

P.S. We all have our biases. Comparing MoveOn.org to Marxism shows your own. Independent of what you or I personally think, the Republican Party has positions which put it to the right of the major right wing parties in Europe. Wikipediatoperfection 20:48, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I acknowledge that the Republican Party of the U.S. is more "right-wing" than any of the denatured conservative parties of Europe, but there's a difference between being the far end of the conservative mainstream and being "far right". If you'd read the article, you'd realize that it's not generally about parties which can command popular majorities, but about fringe parties. "Far" is a relative term, and has somewhat different meanings in different political environments - the political party which has been able to obtain a popular majority six times in the past 50 years, while its main competitor has only done so twice, is not a fringe or protest party in the way that "far right" implies.

Meanwhile, you haven't gotten the point of my earlier reply. You have not shown a reliable source which calls the Republican Party "far-right". One headline by an unknown headline writer (no, Mark Sandalow did not write that headline, and nowhere in the op-article does he actually call the Republicans "far-right") in a very liberal newspaper does not make a reliable source, nor does a quote by a professional fundraiser for the Democrats. Argyriou (talk) 23:15, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I just offered you a reliable source, the political compass. And I think they have a fairly apt rebuttal to your "Republicans are US mainstream" on their FAQ page: http://www.politicalcompass.org/faq#faq21

"Politics have moved, but you're still using the old economic parameters.

Some critics have argued that, because the universal political centre has moved to the right, our axes should correspondingly move to the right. This, however, would not indicate how far one way or the other society has shifted. It could not convey paradoxes such as the fact that, in the UK, New Labour occupies an economic position to the right of pre-Thatcher Conservatives. Where was the centre, for example, in Apartheid South Africa ? In Third Reich society, such a skewed analysis might show a Nazi opposed to the death chambers as representing liberal opinion.

Narrowing the standard political goalposts to accommodate merely the range of mainstream opinion within any given society at a given time is not only historically uninstructive; it is unscientific."

In other words, a political party's position on the political spectrum is not dictated by the norms of that society, but through a comparison to both history and other countries. Such a comparison should be made on the basis of a party's positions on various economic and social issues in comparison to other parties or political figures throughout history. On this basis several of the leading Republican candidates for President fall to the right of other parties which are considered the far right on this page. Keep in mind that the radical right (term of choice in US) and the far left are pejorative terms and are thus only used by a party's opponents. Democrats see the Republican Party as controlled by the radical right. Republicans see the Democratic Party as controlled by the far left. The difference is that in a comparison to other parties in the advanced industrial world and throughout the history of the advanced industrial world, the current Republican Party is highly authoritarian/neo-liberalist, whereas the Democratic Party is relatively towards the center.

If you do not like the political compass as a source (I would say it is the closest you can get to an unbiased source) check out http://www.theocracywatch.org/ which is "a public information project of the Center for Religion, Ethics, and Social Policy at Cornell University." Cornell is in the Ivy League by the way. This site throughly documents the theocratic nature of the Republican Party. I think we can reach a consensus that advocating a right wing theocracy falls under the category of far right? Wikipediatoperfection 06:39, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

As an alum of Princeton ("Which is in the Ivy League, by the way"), let me tell you that not everything I say is factual. ;) Truth be told, TheocracyWatch lists former Sen. Majority Leader Frist, former House Majority Leader DeLay, and even Karl Rove (who many claim is an agnostic [17] [18] [19]) as theocrats. It's hardly a neutral POV. Sadistik 09:34, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

An organization with a name like "Theocracy Watch" is generally not going to be a reliable source, as its interests are best served by exaggerating the extent to which politicians it opposes are "theocrats", just as any leftist organization will try to tar its opponents with the brush of extremism. But Wikipediatoperfection doesn't understand any of this, and thinks that his juvenlie leftism is the whole of the truth and the standard by which neutrality should be measured. Argyriou (talk) 15:17, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

"Many leading members of the Republican Party take positions that are considered to be on the radical right or far right. If you look at where the Republicans running for President fall on the political compass they are actually more conservative than say the British National Party"; no - even according Political Compass, Republicans are more right-winger in economic issues, but BNP seems to be more authoritarian in social issues.--81.84.198.220 00:29, 26 August 2007 (UTC)

Further, in the US, even the term "Conservative" has taken a strange turn into neo-conservative, which is quite different. Real (US) Conservatives do not believe in drastically increasing spending AND decreasing taxes at the same time. We (yes, we) are also not necessarily in favor of military threats against everything that moves as much as a very strong military that generally stays at home except in matters of direct threat to national security. To refer to President Bush as "conservative", or to try to link him to real Conservatives by calling him or his party by that title shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the difference between real Conservatives, and this strange new(ish) beast, the neo-con.

Republicans are definitely far right. Democrats are just right wing, but both parties are highly authoritarian. Even Britain is considered a right wing country and Americans call them socialist, and these are ordinary American university graduates. That shows how far to the right America is in general. According to the political compass, the BNP is considered left wing, and I don't contest that they probably have some socialist policies. Many people confuse right wing free market with racism, and nationalism. Even though they generally go hand in hand, this is not always the case. One thing is for sure, if you believe there is a problem with communism, and invading a country to force them to open up to the free market, then you are definitely a right wing extremist. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.86.14.213 (talk) 18:45, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Racism and Far Right

I have to say, this article doesn't really draw a distinction between racism and the far right. It shows bias against the right wing (yes, that's possible to do!), and it indicates that people on the far right are either religious fanatics or racial supremacists. It is possible to have extreme right wing views without being either of those things, and this needs to be stressed here. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Jbreenw2 (talk • contribs) 01:49, August 23, 2007 (UTC).

I think that, today, being a "religious fanatic" or a "racial supremacist" (or, at leat, anti-immigration) is, more or less, a necessary condition for some person or organization be considered "far right".--81.84.198.220 00:35, 26 August 2007 (UTC)

We disagree. Raggz 07:05, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

Well, in theory, there are another ways of being far-right (defenders of absolute monarchy, of colonialism, of military dictatorships, etc. can also be labelled far-right). But, in modern western world, these "far-rights" are so "out-of-date" that the only relevant far-rights are the religious fanatics or the racial supremacists/xenophobics.--83.132.156.103 22:41, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

Well, individualist anarchists which are anti-racists and anti-fascists belong to the far right since the far right is also ultra-individualism whereas the left is collectivism, which makes nazism and fascism Far Left. The problem here is that a lot of idiots are abusing the left-right scale to express several opposites at the same time (the multiplicity of the left-right scale) and it just doesn't work. What is worse is that the elitist Left (which rules Wikipedia in reality) consider everything but International Socialism for Far Right, lumping together all opponents despite these opponents being quite the opposite of each other. You can have Nationalism vs. Internationalism on a left-right scale, or Collectivism vs. Individualism - but you cannot have both at the same time. The article should clearly state the problematic abuse of the Left-Right scale. The modern left-right scale is entirely Socialistic. Dylansmrjones 00:56, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

I think that "individualist anarchists" (I imagine that you mean "anarco-capitalists") usually are not considered "far-right" (many - most? - reject left-right axis)

Individualistic Anarchists are not Anarcho-Capitalists! Not all Individualist Anarchists are Anarcho-Capitalists and not all Anarcho-Capitalist are Individualistic Anarchists. They generally reject the left-right axis but only because the modern left-right axis is a socialist axis and as such do not allow for proper placement of Anti-Collectivists. Don't confuse Individualistic Anarchism with the purely economically model of Anarcho-Capitalism. Wikipedia has a good article on the branch of Anarchy known as Individualistic Anarchism (as old as the other branch, Collective Anarchism).Dylansmrjones (talk) 17:36, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

It is a fact that the left-right scale has a problem: while the "left" means a well-defined thing ("egalitarian" socialism), "right-wing" is a kind of big room where we put everything who is not left-wing (there is almost nothing in common between classical liberals, traditional conservatives and fascists). But this is a problem of the left-right scale in general, not a problem of this article--194.65.151.50 15:52, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

It is also a problem of this article. The article should clearly state that the left-right scale has a problem and people on the Far Right may have absolutely nothing in common at all apart from being in opposition to International Socialism.Dylansmrjones (talk) 17:36, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

A point: you noticed that only in english wikipedia these question arise? At least, in french, spanish and portuguese articles nobody is equating "far-right" with "libertarians", "individualism" or anything like that (all put in the far-right only the traditionalist monarchists, nationalists, racists and religious integrists, not the libertarians, or classic liberals, or the anarcho-capitalists...)--194.65.151.50 16:08, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

Actually it is a problem in all Germanic countries and most other European countries. It is also a problem in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain, Finland, Australia and New Zealand. Add to that the fact that many Nationalist groups are Marxist-Leninists. This is true for Arab Nationalism (PFLP) and some Basque groups as well. The Danish Common Course (now defunct) was a National-Communist party and was placed on the Far Left, despite being Nationalistic.Dylansmrjones (talk) 17:36, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

The problem is that we don't seem to agree on the Left-Right scale. As I put below in "Neutrality disputed?" some here would like to see the more Libertarian form of the Left-Right scale that in this case more Liberalism equals more Right as opposed to Socialism that equals more government, but this scale ignores the fact that Liberalism and its philosophies actually were seen as Left-wing ideas back in the 18th century as opposed to old-conservative ideas that opposed democracy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.102.117.90 (talk) 10:18, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

"Neutrality disputed"

Why the neutrality of this entry is disputed?

I think the original reason of the "neutrality is disputed" warning was the discussion about fascism, but I think that these discussion was already settled (basically saying "fascism is usually considered far-right, but some voices disagree").--194.65.151.249 10:19, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

If, in the next week, nobody disagree, I will remove the POV tag.

And, if no source is provided for Mises and Hayek labelling fascism as far-left or left-wing (I am asking for a citation saying "fascism is left-wing", not for a citation saying "fascism is collectivist" or "fascism is socialist"), I propose to change

"Fascism is generally, but not universally, classified as a far-right ideology. However, right-wing libertarian scholars such as F. A. Hayek and Ludwig von Mises are noteworthy dissenters from that view. Both have labeled it far left, based on a view of the political spectrum that equates left with support for increased government power and "right" with opposition to the same"

to

"Fascism is generally, but not universally, classified as a far-right ideology. However, some right-wing libertarian scholars are noteworthy dissenters from that view, labeling it far left, based on a view of the political spectrum that equates left with support for increased government power and "right" with opposition to the same" --85.139.177.57 23:24, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

Murray Rothbard? Libertarian cranks are over-represented on this article. Why should his opinion be worth mentioning? Hurray for knol! --67.58.254.68 (talk) 05:12, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

The problem with the Left-Right scale is that it has changed overtime. If one looks back at the historical meanings of "Conservatives", "Liberals" and "Socialists" and the Left-Right scale one could spot the problems lying therein. As we all know the ideas of modern democracy as we know it comes from classical-liberal and enlightenment philosophers like Voltaire, Rosseau and Montesquieu with their ideas about parliamentarism and Lockes' ideas about economical freedom which opposed the totalitarian monarchies that existed. We also know that originally the ones supporting these enlightenment and liberal ideas sat on on the left in the French parliament while the conservative royalists sat on the right; Hence the name left-right politics. So originally the conservatives who opposed changing the current system were totalitarian conservatives and right-wing while the classical liberals who supported more individual freedom were leftists. But today we don't just have conservatives and liberals but also socialist on the political field who people quite clearly think of as leftists regardless of if you are a leftwinger or rightwinger and the old conservative royalists are virtually inexistent and "conservatives" are today promoting a classical liberal system (with touches of religion) which today is viewed to be "Right" and not "Left" as it was at the time of the French revolution and the name "Liberals" has, as I've noticed, been referred to people around the center-left-right depending on which country you talk about.

So this discussion is more about whether people believe that the National Socialist tried to implement an old-conservative system (radical right) or a Marxist style Socialist state (radical left).

Removal of uncited entries in list

I have removed uncited entries from the list of far-right parties and movements per WP:BLP. Calling a group of people "far-right" is potentially derogatory, and must be supported by a reliable source; none of these entries are. Argyriou (talk) 21:25, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

• yawn* so the far left is the far right now?? then why do they fight each other so much - sectarianism? i can provide evidence that says that many many authors think fascism and communism are entirely different phenomenon. until i hear a complaint i'll edit the article.. 79.67.248.49 (talk) 19:45, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

Perón Far Right????

Juan Domingo Peron's government was definitely not a far right movement since its main support came from lower clasess who where expected to be included in the political life ("desclasados") and not form the little bourgueis (pequeña burguesía) afraid of a communist dictatorship (wich was far from happening in Argentina) or a social descense, the real class support tha far rights movements have. Political scientisits such as Lacleu (sees Peron's as a populist and inclusive government), Murmis and Portantiero (Articulate Peronism, socialism, nationalism and Gramsci's thought) and even the antiperonist sociologist Gino Germani agree in that point. Only USA authors dare to call Peron a fascist, nazi, far right or dictator. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.16.28.225 (talk) 05:39, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

"Whole range of right-wing politics" = far right? How?

I saw this definition listed to describe the far right:

"The whole range of right-wing politics, from the borders of conservatism out to the far reaches of the extreme right."

This doesn't make much sense to me. It says the whole range of the right is far right. Well if that's the case what about the moderate right? Or the tradtional right? How can someone be far right and moderate right at the same time?

Or am I missing something? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jfraatz (talk • contribs) 00:17, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Because the prior lead sentence explains that the term is used in different ways by different authors.--Cberlet (talk) 01:36, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Intro Problems

The term far right has been used by scholars in at least three somewhat conflicting ways:[2]

  1. Reform-oriented right-wing movements or rightist factions of conservative political parties. These are sometimes called the dissident right, activist right, or right-wing populism. They are positioned between traditional conservatives and the extreme right. These participants are found outside mainstream electoral politics, but they generally produce a movement of reform rather than revolution.
  2. Neo-fascists and neo-Nazis are usually labeled extreme right or ultra right. Such groups are generally revolutionary in character rather than reformist. Neo-Nazi and Neo-fascist literally means "new Nazi" and "new fascist", implying that they are from the period following World War II.

It says 3, but then only mentions two. I assume someone removed the third. Either it should be reinstated, or it should be changed to say 2. Tiger Khan (talk) 19:18, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

• I re-added the third one. That definition is not as good as the other two, but it is referenced, and the section does point out that the three definitions are contradictory and not universally accepted.Spylab (talk) 19:35, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Klansmen?

How did members of the Ku Klux Klan come to be "generally includ[ed]" in the far right?

Look at the Ku Klux Klan Wikipedia entry, which is currently "semi-protected," and whose neutrality is not currently disputed as is the "Far right" article. Regard every mention of the Democrat party in context, then view every mention of the Republican party in context. If Wikipedia views the Democratic pary as left of center and the Republican party as right of center (and as a living encyclopedia it certainly should reflect the current, longstanding, and overwhelming consensus on the matter), then shouldn't an organization that "In effect ... was a military force serving the interests of the Democratic party," that "aimed ... to destroy the Republican party's infrastructure," and that "made people vote Democratic and gave them certificates of the fact" be classified somewhere to the left of "far right"?

Nicholsonadam (talk) 06:03, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Prior to the 1920s, it's pretty hard to apply left-right terms to the major U.S. parties at all. At least into the late 1960s, the two major parties were both 2-wing parties, but starting in 1968, and increasingly more so over the subsequent decades, the Republican Party almost entirely lost its left wing, and the Democrats lost most of their right wing. Similarly, but for somewhat different reasons, prior to the civil rights era, it's a bit hard to apply left-right terms to the Klan. Although of course the Klan was always anti-Black, anti-Catholic, and anti-Jewish, during much of the first half of the 20th century these weren't necessarily the central facts about it, at least in many places. Starting in the Civil Rights era, though, defense of segregation became the absolute central fact of the Klan, and that aligned them very firmly with the right.

So, if we are talking 1910, it's slippery to call either the Democrats or the Klan either left or right. By the mid-1950s, it's pretty safe to call the Klan "right" (and 10 years later it's very safe). By the late 1960s, it is reasonable to call the Democrats a center-left party and the Republicans a center-right party, and that has steadily becomes a more accurate picture over time. - Jmabel | Talk 05:54, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Intro problems, redux

I really think the intro is a bit of a mess. The first two paragraphs are fine; then we get a standalone paragraph saying "It can be used as a pejorative word", which it seems to me belongs in the second paragraph rather than on its own. Then we get into a list of ways the term, and the list strikes me as rather odd:

1. "Reform-oriented right-wing movements, such as classical liberalism or libertarianism", not ideologies I'd usually expect to hear called "far right", and with a vague citation. Now, there are reform-oriented right-wing movements that I'd expect to hear called "far right", but these aren't the ones. I don't have too much to say about this one, though, other than that it could use a much better citation.
2. Then, very oddly we say "Some claim that far-right movements include national socialism and fascism." This is well beyond "some claim". This is the view held by the vast majority of scholars, and "claim" is generally a word Wikipedia avoids, because it tends to invalidate the opinion in question. Then we say "However, they self-identified as centrist and socialist movements promoting a third way." They did at times call themselves socialist (but always condemned "leftism" - they tried to take the word "socialist", but they always meant it rather differently than it means on the left). I can't think of a quotation from any major Nazi or Italian Fascist figure claiming to be centrist. I don't have access to the Morgan book cited for this, but I suspect it does not bear out the statement for which it is cited. Could someone possibly quote the passage they say bears this out? As for "Others argue that they are far-left," yes, you can find a few people who say that. Not many, and mostly people on the right who don't want to be associated at all with fascists. The way this is worded gives this more credence than the mainstream view. Undue weight?
3. Then even more oddly without citation we say "The whole range of right-wing politics." Who calls the whole range of right-wing politics "far right"?

- Jmabel | Talk 06:14, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

• Some of the problems above were recently added without any explanation, so I reverted to the most recent version. I agree that #3 doesn't really make sense, but it is supposedly backed up by references, although the exact reference is not presented.Spylab (talk) 13:27, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

• I have removed BJP from the list of far-right organizations. Unless credible sources back it up, it should be nowhere near the far-right spectrum. —Preceding unsigned comment added by CasperDude (talk • contribs) 02:38, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

The "vast majority of scholars" are obviously wrong in this case, Jmabel. We've come to the point where we're constraining ourselves to a paradigm based on what's politically fashionable in contemporary, western countries rather than using our sense of reason. The problem citizens had living under the reign of Stalin or Hitler is that those dictators and their establishment failed to recognize the natural rights of the individual and the sovereignty of their neighbors. Logically then, the spectrum should be defined as one side being tyranny, the other being liberty. One side would be absolute control over the individual, the other no control over the individual. Furthermore, the "Far-right = Nazi and Far-left = communist" spectrum is a fallacy on its face since both also interfered with the free-market beyond anything seen prior to the 20th century, so neither are traditionally conservative from an economic point of view either.

From both an economic and a humanitarian standpoint, both justified depriving people of their right to life, freedom, and property (the philosophical foundation set forth by John Locke and adapted by Jefferson) in order to benefit the state and/or the elite. If you subscribe to the nazi-to-communist spectrum you're basically asserting that "On the left side of the spectrum is tyranny, and on the right side is also tyranny". The idea that "No tyranny" falls in between tyranny and tyranny makes absolutely no sense. If you say that classical liberalism fits outside of that spectrum, then it's obviously not a complete spectrum.

You imply that people on the right don't want to be associated with fascists because of the atrocities of the Nazis. Certainly, you're correct, but you leave out the most important fact that they are simply two different ideologies. Classical liberal, constitutionalist, libertarian, and paleoconservative thinkers see fascism, progressivism, leftism, socialism, neoconservatism and communism as varying degrees of unwanted intrusion by government. Again, how can these classical liberal and libertarian thinkers be centrist when they are ideologically opposite to both fascism and communism? How can fascism and communism be opposite ideologies when they both believe in the benefits of central planning and a police state? If they are not opposite, then again, it's either an incomplete spectrum, or your spectrum has some kind of crazy loop in it.

Debate is being framed in this paradigm out of social ignorance of history and exploitation by fear-mongering oligopolies of western political parties; Using my own country of the United States as an example, popular sentiment of a political issue focuses on fear or empathy rather than whether that particular law will unfairly benefit or deprive people of life, freedom, or property. The Nazi/Racists vs Communist/Socialist debate is a hallmark of this. Preventing new "nazi-like" regimes is an argument even used by conservatives to justify the war in Iraq and for taking action against Iran or North Korea.

You're correct that's there's not many people saying this, but that doesn't mean that it's false simply because it's not popular (In fact, classical liberalism used to be the foundation of American politics, hard to believe it's considered outside the mainstream now, but I digress). Why perpetuate a spectrum that isn't logical? Wikipedia has the benefit of large scale, aggregate research of truth substantiated by facts and reason. I hope its users take advantage of it to debate and understand concepts behind terms like "far-right" or "far-left" in order to build a quality repository of information rather than simply index the consensus of superficial conceptions and outright misconceptions tainted by partisans. 76.214.19.88 (talk) 03:51, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

This makes no sense

How can libertarians and fascists both be "Far right" I think there is a lot of ignorant confusion on here regarding this subject. There is no logical coherence to what defines far right, in many instances parties in the far right also fit the definition of far left that are in here on Wikipedia. Were the Soviets not nationalists? Did the Nazis not advocate wealth redistribution?

This entire page, and far left, need to be deleted as they are nothing more than ignorant populist views.

Of course it makes no sense, and neither does the entire project of simplistic categorization. It is for people too intellectually lazy to confront the real complexity of the world and grapple with it continually. It is for the structuralizing philosophy that brings us statism, racism, world wars, party politics, etc. Gilles Deleuze also disagrees with "the exclusion of the eccentric and the divergent, in the name of a superior finality, an essential reality, or even a meaning of history" (Logic of Sense 260) --142.179.78.8 (talk) 09:15, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

The examples from Norway were inaccurate

The references at the two examples from Norway Demokratene and Progress Party (Norway) were just links the parties' wikipedia articles, so I removed them. I also removed Progress Party (Norway) from the list, because it's not "far" right party. They are the most right-leaning of the mainstream parties in Norway, but all major political parties in Norway are just different shades of social democrats. Comparing the Progress Party (Norway) with nazis and nationalists is ridiculous.

I also support the notion of entirely removing the list.

Unplugging 17:22, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

Far-right in ecomonic issues?

I think it is good to mention that being far-right in economic issues doesn't equal fascism. Since when does free market means fascism? Far right in economic issues means free market which is the complete opposite of fascism. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.161.161.75 (talk) 03:20, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

I wouldn't call "free market" far-right. Slavery, feudalism and mercantilism would be far-right. The Four Deuces (talk) 17:30, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

This is ridiculous. This whole article is a bunch of ignorant, arbitrary, partisan bullshit. The above comment is proof of that. By this guy's definition, anything that's negative except communism is far-right. 66.215.216.61 (talk) 04:16, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

Socialism and Far Right.

The debate about who or what is right wing or extreme rightist versus what is left wing or far leftist should go on. Nations such as the Peoples Republic of China (Red China), The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) are called communistic and left wing. While nations such as Nazi Germany (National Socialist German Workers Party, NSDAP) and Fascist Italy are considered right wing or far right. All of these examples have a common thread, forms of totalitarian socialism or total national control of the nations means of production. In brief terms they all were nearly the same in practice. They all call themselves socialist or refer to socialism in their speeches and writings. They all had/have national control over the means of production. They all have slaughtered those who opposed them by the millions.

The American Philosopher and Political analyst W. Cleon Skousen in his writings has a more accurate way of sorting this out. Left Wing means total government control and Right Wing means total anarchy. Under the current system with people like Stalin on the far left and Hilter on the far right you end up with every thing being totalitarian socialism or communism. Under Skousen all totalitarian socialists and communists would be on the left side of the spectrum while total anarchists would be on the right. Thus ending the debate over who or what is far right versus far left. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.169.149.186 (talk) 20:47, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Why does he put totalitarians on the left and anarchists on the right and not the other way around? The Four Deuces (talk) 15:47, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

Again, another brilliant jewel of wisdom from this guy. What difference does it make which side is which?! 66.215.216.61 (talk) 04:18, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

Smear Word

Is this not just a name calling term. i.e. is it not just a term used when you want to call someone a facist but can't prove it. Then you call them far-right to do the guilt by association thing. Stephen W. Houghton 70.150.94.194 (talk) 13:41, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Explain to me how the all of right-wing politics are far right.

At least without it being a pejorative. David Duke, for example, would definitely be considered far right because he's engaged in neo-Nazi, reactionary, and white nationalist activities throughout his career. But how is a person like Mitt Romney or Angele Merkel considered far right? And is the American Democratic Party, SPD, Canadian New Democratic Party, etc. considered "far left" due to being part of the stream of left-wing politics by the same token? It's absurd...maybe we need to find a better source. Just my $.02 18.244.7.149 (talk) 15:11, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Not Misleading.

"The term can however be misleading, as many so-called 'far-right' parties, though Nationalist and therefore right-wing on social policy have a traditionally left-wing stance on economic policies, many advocating a form of collectivist or socialist-like economy; e.g. the Kuomingtang (Chinese national Party)the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers' Party) or the National Bolshevik Party."

The above statement is only misleading if one were to view the Right-Left dichotomy through American-tinted glasses. As the recent European Parliament election has shown, such distinctions are natural for Europe and other regions and are only strange if one believes that the American system of dividing Left and Right is the only system. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.185.202.3 (talk) 07:06, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

I agree and removed the paragraph. The Four Deuces (talk) 12:26, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

citing sources

to voluntaryslave,

you need to cite sources, otherwise editors are going to delete them. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mjcoombes (talk • contribs) 01:25, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Erm, Mjcoombes, you're the one who is removing sourced material. If you think the sources either don't support the claims in the article, or are somehow inappropriate sources, then do explain here, but it's inappropriate to remove them, and the claims they source, from the article, without explanation.VoluntarySlave (talk) 01:30, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

VoluntarySlave: Could you please explain the edits that you have made. Also, I notice that they were not sourced. The Four Deuces (talk) 03:26, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean - the edit I made simply reverted Mjcoombes removal of sourced information.VoluntarySlave (talk) 04:59, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, I misread the sequence of edits. The Four Deuces (talk) 06:24, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Partido Acción Nacional

Placing the Mexican Partido Acción Nacional on a list with 'alleged far right parties' is ridicilous. The ruling PAN is in Mexico a centrist, conservative Christian-Democratic party, but by no means qualifies as a far right movement. I removed it from the list. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.67.179.122 (talk) 12:44, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

List of alleged far right organizations

I have removed the following parties from the list: Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt), Felicity Party (Turkey), American Independent Party, Independent American Party, Christian Heritage Party of Canada, Partido Acción Nacional (Mexico), Union of the Democratic Centre (Argentina), Democratic Party (Mendoza) (Argentina), One Nation (Australia). These parties are not "far right" although they may be radical right or radical Islamic parties. I have not examined the list of Asian groups. Although there are far right groups within the former Ottoman Empire, I do not think that the term is applicable to groups in other parts of Asia, although there may be exceptions. The Four Deuces (talk) 16:44, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

I also removed the Iraq and Syrian Baath Parties. They were not right-wing in their founding principles and were not generally considered far right, although it could be argued that Saddam Hussein was far right. The Four Deuces (talk) 22:39, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

I agree that Baathist socialist party has nothing to do with the far right. However the One Nation Party of Australia are happened to be a right-wing ultra-nationalist party that are anti-asian, anti-aboriginal and anti-immigrant. Why removed it from the list.--71.249.247.144 (talk) 13:58, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

islamic fundamentalist and Far Right

I have added “islamic party” to the “far right”category seeing as many scholar and political commentator consider the nature of religious fundamentalism no different from fascist (“ultra-nationalist” or “racist right”) movement. Please refer to "Neo-fascism and religion" and "Palingenesis". —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thundera m117 (talk • contribs) 11:00, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

I do not think that any academic sources have made this categorization, just the popular press. The Four Deuces (talk) 12:13, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

You can look up author such as roger griffin who happend to be British academic political theorist at Oxford Brookes University, England, and Dr Malise Ruthven , writer and historian. And yes, that include journalists and major press. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thundera m117 (talk • contribs) 20:06, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

Roger Griffen and Malise Ruthven say no such thing. The Four Deuces (talk) 20:28, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

Malise Ruthven may opposes redefining Islamism as `Islamofascism`, but also finds the resemblances between the two ideologies "compelling".(ref:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamofascism). Roger Griffin refers to fascism as "palingenetic ultranationalism"(ref:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palingenesis). Palingenesis involve philosophy, theology, politics, geology and biology. The "far right topic" on wikipedia also includes revolutionary right, racial supremacists, religious extremists, neo-fascists, neo-Nazis, and other ultra-nationalist or reactionary ideologies and movements. Orthodox religious extremist includes christian, jewish and islamic extremist.--71.249.247.144 (talk) 13:59, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

And this articles should includes "far right party list" from the "middle east".--71.249.247.144 (talk) 13:59, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

The fact that mainstream writers find parallels between some Islamic extremists and fascism and a minority even called them Islamofascists does not mean that there is consensus that they are part of the far right. The key element that is missing however is any historical connection. Islamic fundamentalism did not develop out of European ideology. There are groups in the Middle East however that did and combine Islamic, Jewish or Christian religion. The Four Deuces (talk) 14:45, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

I'm not implying that there are consensus that islamic fundamentalism has historical connection with european fascist movement. Many author find that there are fascists nature in islamic fundamentalism as in islamic form of fascism itself which has nothing to do with european far right movement. In another word islamism or islamofascism existed in its own "right-wing form" but the concept remain the same. The similar concept that we can say there's a hindu right wing extremist which has nothing to do with european far right movement.--yin and yang 11:09, 29 November 2009 (UTC)

Whether or not the concept remains the same, we must reflect what is generally agreed rather than minority opinions. Besides, people who use the term "Islamofascism" do not call them "far right" or right-wing for that matter. I do not know if the Hindu groups are considered "far right". Fascism however had a direct influence on some Asian groups which are rightfully called right-wing. The Four Deuces (talk) 15:33, 29 November 2009 (UTC)

If we are going by 'notable consensus', Islamism is generally described as 'far left'. The arguments are the same as why 'nazism' should be described as 'far right' - if the majority of notable sources either say nothing or that Islamism is Far-Left, then Far-Left it 100% is (on Wikipedia).158.143.133.35 (talk) 16:11, 29 November 2009 (UTC)