Fascism in Prog

Tony R wrote: The NME once called Rush fascist,when it dallied with Ayn Rand's half-baked philosophies.They even went as far as to call them "a danger to our nation's youth." At that time being called a "fascist" and "Nazi" were often interchangeable.This was very upsetting for Geddy Lee who is Jewish. I think part of the reason Rush shyed away from their long epic tracks and concepts was because of the stigma of 2112 and to some extent "Hemispheres" being associated with Randean philosophy.

There's a great article about that in a book called "Progressive Rock Reconsidered," about Rush and the philosophies of Ayn Rand. And no, she's not facist, I've read "Anthem," and in no way is it "fascist". It mainly celebrates egotism as a virtue, and individuality. Facism is the opposite, really, with one dictator commanding everyone else. Hitler's army weren't individualists, at least in the sense that they didn't think for themselves. People see that individulity conflicts with the idea of left-wingers and the communist ideal of "all as one", and automatically conclude it must be the opposite, when in reality it can't be defined in such black-and-white terms. I myself am really unsure who's right, individualism or communists, I have sympathies either way, really.