Is Hillary Clinton a fascist? Well, that depends on what a fascist is. Neal Boortz classifies Hillary as a fascist because she is a collectivist rather than an individualist. I think what Hillary is saying is that each of us is responsible for the other members of society, whether we know them or not. She is attacking the idea that responsibility is voluntarily undertaken, as by marrying, making a friend, joining a club, or having children. The mere fact that we live in communities with others, she believes, makes us responsible for their welfare. This responsibility means, at a minimum, providing resources for those who can’t provide for themselves. It’s not that Hillary rejects the ideal of self-sufficiency; she just thinks that there are other, equally important ideals, such as meeting needs. We should strive to be self-sufficient and beneficent.

One function of the state, in Hillary’s view, is to see that basic needs are met. Since we live in a world of scarcity, this will require coercive taxation of those who have benefited the most from the system. It’s not that she thinks coercion a good thing. It’s simply less bad than forcing individuals to fend for themselves. Hillary wants to change attitudes as well as behavior. She wants people to stop thinking in terms of “mine” and “yours” and to start thinking in terms of “ours.” She wants people to stop thinking that their resources are deserved and to start thinking that what people have depends largely on luck. Some people are born into poor families and others into wealthy families. Some people are born with intelligence, creativity, good health, and ambition; others are born with less of these qualities, which puts them at a disadvantage. The poor don’t deserve to be poor, and the wealthy don’t deserve to be wealthy. Since nobody really deserves anything, no injustice is done to anyone when the state takes resources from the haves and distributes them to the have-nots. Isn’t that what a benevolent parent would do? The primary virtue in a family is benevolence, not justice.

It’s no accident that Hillary has these views. Women are far more likely than men to view society as a family. Men tend to view society as a competitive, rule-governed environment—a game—in which individuals strive to acquire resources. Those who break the rules—cheaters—are punished for it. This process will have winners as well as losers, but everyone is better off by having such a system, for it creates wealth. Women do not like it that there are losers. But if you force the winners to “compensate” the losers, you destroy the integrity of the competition, and everyone suffers. The proper response to Hillary is that society is not a family. It is, at best, a loose confederation of families. The Republicans need a candidate who can make this case to the American people, in language they can understand. I believe Fred Thompson is that candidate. Won’t it be great to see Fred the individualist take on Hillary the collectivist?

Addendum: This pretty well summarizes Hillary Clinton’s thought.