From a reader:
Dear Mr. Goldberg,
I didn’t find any mention of James Burnham’s, The Struggle for the World in your book. Here is an observation he made 62 years ago about the similarities between communism and fascism, pg. 59:
…communism may be summarily defined as a world-wide, conspiratorial movement for the conquest of a monopoly of power in the era of capitalist decline. Politically it is based upon terror and mass deception; economically it is, or at least tends to be, collectivist; socially it is totalitarian.*
* I am well aware that this definition may be applied almost without change to fascism also. This is not surprising because the two, fascism and communism, are variants of the same fundamental kind of socio-political movement. Their differences are primarily in the always secondary factor of the ideology or myth through which their activities are rationalized, and in the special circumstances of their origins. In their historical evolution, they have demonstrably approached a common norm. They are rivals only in the sense that, say, two candidates for the heavyweight boxing championship are rivals; their aim and methods are identical. The communist claim to be “the world leader in the struggle against fascism” is, from the point of view of those who are neither fascists nor communists, one of the most ironic jokes in history.
Loved your book. I’m now rereading large swaths and, of course, bruiting its merits to all of my friends.