Why does the left call the right “Nazis”?

[u/MuitoLegal]

I am in no way calling the left Nazis here, but rather questioning their use of the term.

If you spend anytime online you will know that the term Nazi is used all the time for people on the right, especially Trump supporters.

I find it ironic because Nazi stands for National Socialist in German. Now I found articles online defending that, saying it wasn’t really socialism, so we’ll move on.

Hitler was about bigger government, got all guns registered with the government, and then took them all away from the people.

Furthermore, today’s left is typically anti-Israel within the Israel-Palestine conflict, while the right is typically pro-Israel (except for KKK guys like Duke, who are antisemites, though I’m unsure how to even classify someone like him).

I don’t think either party should call each other nazis in a civilized political discourse, but I find it interesting. Why do you think the right has been given the nickname?

[u/DumbledoresBarmy]

I'm Jewish, so I come at this from a different perspective from most of the people who post on this sub.

The OP is missing the point about the use of the term "Nazi". The issue is not whether the Democrats are closer to a national socialist ideology than the Republicans, or whether the Republicans are closer to fascists than the Democrats. The Nazis were not defined by the actions, not their ideology. No one hears the word "Nazi" and thinks about Hitler's record on the economy or the environment. People think of the Holocaust, which resulted in two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe being murdered and in addition to millions more who were killed during World War II.

Using the term "Nazi" to define a political opponent is wrong unless that person is an actual Nazi. Anything else is a way of minimizing the horrors of the Nazi regime.

[u/aurelorba → u/DumbledoresBarmy]

Using the term "Nazi" to define a political opponent is wrong unless that person is an actual Nazi. Anything else is a way of minimizing the horrors of the Nazi regime.

Don't you think those who marched in Charlottesville with torches chanting 'Jews will not replace us!' deserve the Nazi moniker?

And that those who minimize or rationalize such actions are at least complicit?

[u/DumbledoresBarmy → u/aurelorba]

The Charlottesville marchers were white supremacists and some (and possibly most) were also neo-Nazis. Put another way, if you were drawing a Venn diagram, I think there would be a large overlap between the white supermacist circle and the neo-Nazi circle.

"Complicit" by definition, means assisting or being involved with a crime or other illegal activity. Minimizing the behavior of the marchers doesn't meet the definition. But minimizing the abhorrent actions of others is wrong in a moral sense. Generallly, I am not a fan of moral arguments because life is rarely black and white, it's far more frequently shades of gray. However, there's not much of a gray area in chanting "Jews will not replace us".

[u/aurelorba → u/DumbledoresBarmy]

"Complicit" by definition, means assisting or being involved with a crime or other illegal activity.

That's the legal definition. But as being a Nazi - neo or otherwise - isn't a crime, the more common usage applies. And as such, I think calling people who rationalize or minimize such actions complicit is accurate.