Fascism was defined by Mussolini. To say that he "bastardised" Fascism is like saying that Jesus bastardised Christianity or Muhammad bastardised Islam. read more
As for why I believe it’s misunderstood, that’s because it’s common to interchange it with the ideas of authoritarianism. Fascism is inherently authoritarian, telling you what to do and what not to do, but not all authoritarianism is fascism. Not even right wing authoritarianism is fascism. read more
Communism, OTOH, is primarily a disease of the left. And the combination of left fascism along with the ultimate control granted by communism (or communistic tendencies), is probably why I find the left's fascism to be the more distasteful of the two. read more