Hmm. Merriam Webster definition...
The current wikipedia definition incorporates much of the MW definition, but adds words "right-wing" to it. Given how wikipedia entries are created, one can easily guess the political orientation of the author.
I see fascism as a rather historic term, limited to a handful of examples in a short historic period of time. From that perspective, I probably should not have used the term in my OP. However, as you rightly noted, Jeremy, it does share a number of characteristics with Soviet and Mao socialism/communism.
The current ideological spectrum has rather evolved, to the point that old, historic definitions are quite blurred and not easily applicable. One of the textbook criteria to distinguish, historically, fascism from communism was the ownership of the means of production. In the Soviet/Mao systems, they are state-owned, not private. Fascism, historically, was based on private ownership, often referred to as corporatism. Another common (to both systems) criterion is one-party system or dictatorship.
Fast forward. China has a one-party, communist dictatorship, but, as of recently, a purely capitalist economy. Which would make it a modern version of fascism, I suppose. NY and CA have nominally multi-party systems and capitalist economies, but with such a majority of one party that makes one wonder if it is, in effect, a single-party dictatorship. Which would make them a modern version of fascism. Or Chinese-style communism.
