For nearly eight years, I’ve tried without success to describe the radical shift that has taken place in our government.
Each time I’ve approached the task, I’ve had to throw up my hands in frustration because the only model that makes sense to me is the one called fascism.
But that word doesn’t go over too well in polite conversation. It evokes horrors too horrible to imagine. The reality, however, is that fascism isn’t just about jackbooted thugs and state-sponsored industry built on slavery and death to one’s enemies.
The danger of fascism is its seemingly benign mechanisms of control - fear, conformity, the state’s intermingling with religion and corporate enterprise - for keeping a populace in check, for making its people feel content with the way things are and never quick to protest occasional violations of human rights and infringements on their or another’s liberties.
The danger of fascism is its seemingly magical ability - through brilliant propaganda outlets like Fox News - to keep a people resigned to whatever the government does in their name, making them feel secure through its adventures in endless wars and policing the globe and the homeland.
The other great thing about fascism is its capacity for supporting, even indulging, denial on the most massive scale: “We don’t torture. …You can trust us. …If you’re not doing anything wrong, you’ve got nothing to worry about….”
Our phones are tapped, elections rigged, bogus wars planned and executed, real and imagined enemies created, and police acquire more powers to intimidate and harass while more rights are taken away from citizens.
Churches pray for the end of the world and offer their children as sacrifices for the war machine, and collude with the government colluding with the corporations and financial institutions - promising blood, anything, for National Security.
Soon, we who protest have been silenced, or marginalized. The Supreme Leader has the right to put anyone he considers a threat - U.S. citizens included - into prison indefinitely, without access to an attorney, or the right to confront his accusers, merely by declaring that person an “enemy combatant.”
The whole drama and theater of the fascist play draws its action from the government wedding itself to corporate interests - in the U.S., a nationalist religious fervor is thrown into the mix to make it all palatable.
Eventually, we all do what we are told - or suffer the consequences. The real danger of fascism is its creep factor. It creeps up on us, and before we know it, we’ve become model citizens in the state that runs secret prisons and gulags around the world. We accept, approve and justify state-sponsored kidnapping, torture and preemptive war. Fascism is creepy.
Historically, by the time citizens realize what’s happened to the country they love, it’s too late.
Like many others, I’ve known for a long time that America has changed. Its legacy of freedom has morphed into something grossly distorted, something the founders of this nation would not have recognized.
I believe they would have wanted us - those who came after them - to fight just as hard for this legacy, which they bestowed upon us, trusting that what they obtained through their own blood and sacrifice was worth the cost, the promise of freedom, to live free from the tyranny and fear of not just our enemies but our own government.
I used to nod with a smile at the pithy “I love my country but fear my government,” but now it’s not so funny. Under the Bush administration, the government has cynically debased rather than protected my rights as a citizen, and I’ve got good reason to fear.
My eyes are wide open.
Still, it’s hard for some citizens to acknowledge the plain and simple fact that our liberties have diminished and not advanced under Bush’s leadership. It’s been hard for many of us to draw a clear picture of our predicament, to know just how much has actually been lost, and where that leaves us as citizens.
How does anyone make sense of something as horrible as the loss of liberty and the emergence of something darker and more sinister? What word or words can possibly describe it?
The United States hasn’t always lived up to its promise as a haven of freedom, but it’s come close, and has built an even greater legacy of expanding and protecting those freedoms handed down to us from the Revolution, giving people around the globe reason to hope.
Our government has at times acted criminally in the name of freedom, justifying acts of terror and war. But I’d like to believe that the swing has always been in the other direction, toward more human rights and freedom.
Yet, in the nearly eight years since Bush took office, U.S. foreign and domestic policy has tilted away from not closer to its responsibility of guaranteeing individual freedoms. Our government has done more during Bush’s tenure to jeopardize and infringe upon those rights than to protect them.
The world distrusts American interests precisely because we’ve failed to honor and respect the codes of our own charters of freedom, let alone those of the international community, neglecting human rights at home and abroad.
Consequently, repressive nations like China have no reason to fear repercussions from the United States for abuse of citizens seeking democratic reforms. They can continue to oppress their own people without fear of reprisals because the United States is no longer the beacon or protector of freedom that it once was.
How does the United States, given its own recent history of sanctioning repressive tactics like waterboarding, hooding, and indefinite imprisonment, claim higher ground and demand an end to repression and terror?
As noted by historians of the fascist movements of the 20th century, repression and human rights abuses like those practiced by China, and recently the United States, can appear in waves, sweeping up state governments around the globe in a frenzy of abuse against their own people.
Once again, fascism appears to be on the rise, in the West as well as in fundamentalist Islamic nations that oppress women and nonbelievers.
I don’t have any illusions regarding the threat of militant Islam, or its own fascist turns against liberty, subjecting its enemies and its own people to terror and inhumane treatment.
Sharia law, in which local Imams dictate morality, is no more appealing to me than the White House dictating my responsibilities as a citizen.
I like the old biblical injunction of “set your own house in order” before attempting to influence another’s.
The time is ripe to turn the United States back to its original radical design of guaranteeing the individual liberties of all its citizens, including the right to speak out against the government and to turn tyranny on its head.
It’s time to reaffirm the right of the accused to confront their accusers, to put teeth back into the force of law that protects our freedoms as spelled out in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. It’s time for a refreshingly honest discussion of our rights as U.S. citizens in a nation stifled by fear and ignorance.
If we can pool the talents and passions and resources of people whose vision embraces the human spirit’s quest for freedom, we might just stop the frightening tilt toward fascism that has made the United States - a nation founded on democratic ideals - a stranger to the world and to itself. We might reawaken ourselves to the legacy of freedom that once served as a bulwark against fascism.
Stacey Warde is editor of The Rogue Voice (www.theroguevoice.blogspot.com). He can be reached at swarde@roguevoice.com.
I think it’s time to get this out there and start discussing fascism. Most of us on boards like this one already know that we are extremely close to the new type of fascism started in South America in the 50’s & 60’s. Hopefully if a Democrat is elected we can start to change back to the New Deal policies.
Fourteen Defining
Characteristics Of Fascism
By Dr. Lawrence Britt
Source Free Inquiry.co
5-28-3
Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottoes, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.
9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
There is an old saying; “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, swims like a duck, it is probably a duck. I rest my case.
Neocon is an euphemism for FASCISM!
Call them Republicans, Neocons, the American Taliban, Rove’s Raiders, or whatever…they have refined fascism to be more successful fascists than Hitler and other predecessors.
From the birth of this republic, capitalism has been able to provide the American people with several powerful incentives to buy into the program. Five percent of the world’s population is invited to consume 30% of the world’s resources by way of imperialism. Then the white American majority is invited to enjoy a disproportionate share of that material wealth by way of racism. An especially comfortable place is provided to politicians, intellectuals, academics, bureaucrats, and entertainers in the narrow strata of society Marx called the petty bourgeois.
Nowadays though, the deal with the capitalist devil is becoming more and more difficult to keep! The U.S. is being integrated into a global economy as capitalism searches for the lowest possible wage and the greatest possible profit. The process is steadily reshaping ours into a subsistence-wage service economy. The jobs of elite industrial workers, from auto and steelworkers to airline pilots, are disappearing across the country along with their health benefits and pensions. Even white Americans have begun to feel the pain of a declining standard of living. It is a process that will not be reversed.
Now as capitalism enters its final stage, just as Mr. Warde describes, a nearly seamless political transition to fascism is well underway in the United States. The mass media, the electoral machinery, and both major political parties are under corporate control. The trappings of bourgeois democracy are a hindrance on profits and so they are being shredded. The Constitution and its Bill of Rights are being rendered meaningless by plans for perpetual war, by presidential signing statements and the theory of the unitary executive, extraordinary rendition, government surveillance programs and the like. Programs based on democratic principles like the public schools, Social Security, and Medicare are being starved to death. Separate and parallel Internet and military forces are being constructed along with internment camps and the legal construct for a martial law declaration. Blackwater is the growing private military force of the ruling class, protecting them in Baghdad and patrolling the streets of New Orleans for them now. Because there are too many sons and daughters of the working class in the US military it can not be trusted by the bourgeoisie when the order is given to attack the American people. Likely the two militaries will one day face each other in combat.
Hi. I’m Daniel David. In case most of you didn’t know, I usually advocate politically for Democrats. There is a reason why I do this. libertas fugit above has wisely given us a list of fourteen characteristics of fascism. I’ve come to notice that Republicans tend to advocate all fourteen of them, and we’ve seen the manifestation of all of them to a larger degree since Republicans got the Congress in 1994 (to 2006) and Bush got the White House in 2000. Democrats are the only force in America that have the numbers to outvote Republicans. Perfect? No. Predictably better for citizens? Absolutely. OBAMA 08.
Scene from a near future American street-
Security officer: Show me your ID.
Citizen: I’ve done nothing wrong!
Security officer: Show me your ID!
Citizen: Why? I’ve done nothing wrong!
Security officer; Show me you ID or you are resisting arrest!
Citizen (now truly afraid): Here! (shows National Real ID card)
(Security officer scans ID card)
Security officer: TURN ARUND! HANDS BEHIND YOUR BACK!
(Security officer pushes Citizen to the ground, handcuffs her)
Citizen (screaming): I’VE DONE NOTHING WRONG!
Security officer: You are resisting arrest !
(Security officer Tasers helpless woman repeatedly.)
Security officer (to shoulder radio mic): Control? Yeah. I found her. Yeah. Another member of the ACLU. Bagged and tagged. Ready for transit to detention center.
(Citizen whimpers on ground)
Security officer: SHUT UP! (kicks Citizen) Pacifist terrorist scum like you make me want to puke! You’re not a real American! If you were, your kid wouldn’t have ratted you out!
The American People signed a contract. An agreement between the Governed and the Government. It is called the Constitution of the United States. The first ten amendments to that Constitution is known as the Bill of Rights. As Justice Hugo Black stated, “It is my belief that there are absolutes in our Bill of Rights, and that they were put there on purpose by men who knew what words meant and meant their prohibitions to be ‘absolutes.’”
Think about it:
* Without the First Amendment, newspapers could only print the “party line” or be suppressed. Books and plays would be censored or banned. We might have to attend the State Authorized Religion, or be forbidden to attend any other form of worship, or any worship at all. We could even have a church telling us how to live, backed up with government force! We would have no right of public assembly or protest, nor could we petition the government for a redress of grievances.
* Without the Second Amendment, we would be a completely disarmed populace, at the mercy of government troops or security forces.
* Without the Third Amendment, the government could quarter troops in your home without your consent.
* Without the Fourth Amendment, the government’s security force or military could search your home at will, without a warrant, confiscate your papers and property, monitor your communications and phone conversations without your ever knowing about it.
* Without the Fifth Amendment, you could be picked up, your property confiscated, you could be held incommunicado for an indefinite time without legal counsel and could be forced to testify against yourself.
* Without the Sixth Amendment, your could be held for an indefinite period, without charge, and without being told why you’re being held. Your trial, if any, could be held in secret without your being able to confront your accusers or examining any evidence, nor would you have the right to legal counsel.
* Without the Seventh Amendment, in civil suits, you would not have the right of trial by jury.
* Without the Eighth Amendment, there would be no limit on the amount of bail set or fines imposed, and any cruel punishment could be meted out, even death by torture.
* Without the Ninth Amendment, any rights not spelled out would be forfeit to the government.
* Without the Tenth Amendment, the People of the United States would have no powers reserved to themselves, it would all lie with the State.
Isn’t it tragic that the Congress gave to the Executive, through misguided PATRIOTism, an ACT that would unconstitutionally repeal those rights guaranteed by the Constitution and turn it all over to Homeland Security?
Read your Constitution and Bill of Rights, then read the text of the Patriot Act and the amended Patriot Act, then think about it. We the People of the United States have been virtually stripped of those freedoms that the founders of our nation fought so hard to secure from an earlier King George.
Everybody is heaving a great sigh of relief that the “Democrats” are now back in power, but already things are returning to business as usual.
We have got to impeach and remove the cancer that has infected our nation before it becomes inoperable. We are facing widened wars of desperation as Bush and his gang looks desperately for a way of regaining control. They are not beyond a “Black Op” against the United States (remember the Maine, Tonkin Gulf, the WMD lies and the jury is still out on 9/11) followed by a declaration of martial law. The groundwork has been carefully laid and is available to review on many sites.
We must hold Congress to the Contract that We the People made with them over two centuries ago, restore the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, intact and functioning to the halls of government, and return to using them for the rule and guide of our actions.
Ask not what your country can do for you,
ask what your country has done to you.
PS. It’s tax day, do you know where your dollars are going?
America has been a fascist country since its inception. Blacks in America have always been subject to the treatment that the author of this article describes. The America you now see is the result of its origins. The so-called founding fathers established this country as a oligarchy. It was the intent of this country’s founders to allow none but white persons with land access to the voting booth. The United States has never been about freedom. If it were about freedom my ancestors would have never been enslaved. The United States is, and always will be (until its destruction), about money and power.
I cannot help but watch what is going on with amusement. The things which are going on in America have always been going on. Now the oppression, privacy violations, and unwarranted arrests are happening to white America. Welcome to my world!
But what is it about a population that makes it susceptible to fascism in the first place?
The Constitution was given to Americans to help develop a great country. But some time ago the Constitution was sold by our elected D.C. politicians to corporate America who now use it to try and prop up their rapidly declining empire.
Hoa binh
Here’s a tip - stop voting for the two parties that are leading us to fascism: the democrats and republicans.
If you are voting for them, at least at the federal level, you are complicit.
If you want your vote to stand for freedom, then vote Green Party. Sure, their candidate may not win, but at least you didn’t vote for fascism.
Didn’t you?
No matter who you vote for, the government gets in…
Just to add: the hypocracy and insanity of the whole “they” have nuclear weapons and are a threat to the world! While we have more (almost 11,000!) nuclear warheads than any other nation!! Our hypocricy when we speak of the evil others do, when we have done the same things - this is fascistic; we are a terrorist nation!
This country always leaned a bit fascist. They have made end runs often times before but were stopped. What stopped them I believe was a free press. That does not exsist any longer. Here is a plea, which will go unnoticed I’m sure. Anybody out there in the news business want to become a hero? Blow the whistle on the ruling elite, neocons, corporations, any and all responsible for this mess.
My plea above will go unnoticed, here is why. The news industry as I had known no longer exists. Today it is all pretty people. TV, TV on the wall, who is the highest paid newsreader of all? Self absorbed celebrity rubbing elbows with the glitteratti. I think we have to look elsewhere.
KaneJeeves,
But what is it about a population that makes it susceptible to fascism in the first place?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=opera&rls=en&hs=maU&q=authoritarians+Altemeyer&btnG=Search
http://members.shaw.ca/jeanaltemeyer/drbob/TheAuthoritarians.pdf
First it’s necessary to acknowledge and face the indisputable fact that the American way of life is the problem and not the solution. Nothing can be done to salvage a system that was corrupt and deeply flawed from the start. No nation that is based on the libertarian concept of complete private ownership and the “every man for himself” paradigm can ever be expected to produce anything beyond the fundamental two class system of masters and slaves. It’s a system with an irreversible, self contained autodestruct.
None of the “candidates” who stand any chance of being placed in the White House by the corporate “persons” in control of the pseudo election will do anything to significantly change the status quo. The continued descent into oblivion is assured.
The so called election system in America has been manipulated and controlled by moneyed interests from day one. Our “government” has grown ever more vile and corrupt with each election cycle. It has finally reached the only conclusion possible; complete self destruction. This cycle has been repeated over and over throughout human history. Archeological evidence shows this wheel has been turning since time immemorial. Apparently, as a race, we humans are incapable of learning from our mistakes. We keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Isn’t that a definition of insanity?
Sadly, at this point in the story, the implosion of this particular empire could well bring about our extinction.
Here’s the little bit of optimism that I can muster under these circumstances. A few small pockets of humanity will survive the extinction event that is currently underway. Through the process of natural selection, which so far has worked well for every species except Homosapiens, the genetic aberration that produces the evil need to enslave and oppress others will finally be weeded out. The resulting new and improved human species will gradually repopulate the Earth with something we have often talked about and always longed for but never achieved; civilization.
Respectfully,
R.W. Posner
coldwarbaby@hotmail.com
Talking about America as fascist is easy. Just bring up Japan and say that’s where the US is headed. Hell, it was US liberals “reverse course” polcy that kept the WWII Japanese fascists in power. And the same party has been in power in Japan for 50 years!
Get used to that word. FASCISM. Use it. Defend your use of it. Explain it to people who question your use of it. Don’t use it as a pejorative. Use it correctly and teach others to use it correctly.
Some of my happiest memories of the Bush years will be the look on the faces of those who tried to confront me on the use and definition of the word FASCISM.
One thing I have learned from reading Chomsky is that one should try to use the right words to describe the world. I am not sure if he said it, but an example is :”If the US does it its WAR, if THEY do it, its TERRORISM”. People will resist such formulations, but that is just part of their programming. We need to help reprogram them, or at least to recognize how they have been programmed.
ps. Obama08, the lesser (by far) of three evils.
Globalised neoliberal capitalism is by definition, undemocratic, whereas, local economies supported by their communities are always based on democratic values. Is is any wonder that the countries of the Global North are losing their democratic tendencies? How many cobblers, dressmakers, farmers (family-type), dairies, member cooperatives, etc., are there in your communities? It is these diverse economies that keep a nation democratic.
Here are you liberal Democrats all discussing fascism like it is the real political situation here in the US! If Obama wins the presidency most of you will become mum at that point.
Last I heard, we still had Tweedle Dee-Tweedle Dumb well in place? Same as in the ’50s, and same as in the ’30s, same as way back then. You have fetishized the word ‘fascism’ like the Republican conservatives got stuck on the words ‘blowjob’ and ‘character’ just a few years back.
Do you see?
Do you see where this people go with this law “the military commissions act of 2006”?
Did we not cross the Rubicon when we went to Iraq and utterly destroy a nation and murder over 600,000 children, men and women that had nothing to do with what happened on 9/11?
A secrecy in a government “of the people, for the people and by the people”? To protect a corrupt cabal, to be sure, and a word, homeland, brought from an earlier time in Germany. Is this de javu?
To propose a law so diametrically opposed to the Constitution sent my heart into a tailspin and to see the congress breach their oath to defend the Constitution with a bevy of excuses that would stump a teen. It makes me sick.
Fear is a cancer, safety is not freedom and only freedom under the Constitution would guarantee what safety we would have. This is not politics to me, this is the most serious of attacks undermining this nation. The road to an oven.
Support the troops? So long as they are someone else’s. Is not this a nation of 300 million and in war are not all to sacrifice? Show me where this is so. It is an abomination. The German said: They came for other different peoples but not him until finally they came for him. He did not speak up and there was none to speak for him. Will they come for you?
Read ‘em and weep, Tony
Samuel Adams:
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom,-go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
Give me a break, this country was founded on the genocide of thousands of native born (citizens, inhabitatants, PEOPLE) whos land was stolen and placed on worthless waste land. Does the author ever wonder where all the native people went or why no one even mentions them…the only difference is the names have changed and the viable land that has not been trashed, polluted, over populated or paved over is now sold as improved. The 800,000 forclosures in my area are nothing to be concerned about…move along…nothing to see here.
WE WERE NEVER FREE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!!!
I’d like to chime in on one point that always gets made but hardly ever questioned: that we had good ol’ days in the USA with freedom and goodness.
History is very much about perspective. In perspective, the US has drought, starvation, unemployment, violence, poverty etc etc, but maybe not on the scale of other places (I’ve never been there). The State and the Military/’Justice’ System have always had power over the ‘common man’ and it is/was common for that power to take the sides of the monied, the finaciers. The WE of we the people had, IMO, 2 main factors in time that allowed them to be more ‘free’ then their European counterparts (remember for most of history we’ve had Tribalism and Feudalism):
1. ‘We’ got a lot of space - It was ‘easy’ to kill indians. Most of the ‘unoccupied’ land was ‘property’ of the elite/financeiers. But they needed actual people (serfs) there to CREATE money (go learn how wealth is actually created, and what money actually is). Remote was the key word. Many people benefited, but ‘the state’ was always soon on their heels. It did manage to create and spread wealth- but still much of it was concentrated with the elite.
2. ‘We’ got a middle class - again with the creation of wealth and wealth distribution a lot of people rose out of poverty- more than anypoint in history. but as the room ran out, so to is the middle class going. Where are our unions? How many people do you think have the wrong idea which class they are in? How many people do you know who are 1 month away from ‘poverty’.
I like to take the word ‘freedom’ into perspective. Sure, I would consider my situation vastly superior that my 1000 b.c. counterpart, but if WE the people actually have the capability to affect our future for the better, but are prevented to do so… how free are we? (note: if you don’t mention sides, most people in this world would go against Nafta, oil, pollution, concentration of wealth, war, facism, police states, etc etc. Yet we do not embrace that we- though now being used- are the wealth creators. That ‘money’ = labor, and we have been hoodwinked or threatened into being managed by the elites.)
Is a 10th generation trustfund baby my elite for the mere right of birth? Did we not believe the revolution was about (partially) we needing no kings?
You and your children, and your children’s children are free to pay off the the 9 trillion dollar national debt, that is after you pay off the 2 trillion dollars in personal debt, and pay for your health care and drug bills, and basic energy charges, and your plasma tv warrenty, and your….
Excellent approach, Stacey. Thank you.
I’ve been reading David Neiwert’s lengthy must-read analysis of fascism [1], lately, and it’s helping me both cope, emotionally, as well as react and promote less fascistic acceptance (and even behavior) among my peers by addressing the defining elements rather than the whole picture… and thus avoiding evoking the patient “nutcase in our midst” blank stares.
[1] -http://www.cursor.org/stories/fascismintroduction.php
The word “fascism” has other problems aside from the historic horrors it evokes.
Since the 60s (at least,) this group and that have been accusing the United States government of being “fascist.” As a result, two generations are so used to hearing that “accusation,” it no longer registers as something scary, or even a scary possibility.
“Yea, whatever. My dad’s been callin the Feds fascists since Nixon.” And, since an overt Mussolini hasn’t assumed overt dictatorial control over We The People, it’s nearly impossible to even start a conversation at this point.
“The sky is falling.” “Yea, right.” “No, really, this time it’s falling. The sky.” “Okay. Whatever.” “Seriously, look up - see that? That’s the sky. See it falling?” “I see the sun, some puffy clouds, and a bird. No falling.” “I’m telling ya, the sky is totally falling.” “Yea, okay. Lemme know how that works out for ya.”
Let me add: FREEDOM WITHOUT POWER is nothing.
Do not confuse personal power with civic power. Yes, you can open your mouth and dis the goverment, but the last few to do so with any chance of creating significant change were shut down (I mean the pres candidates who dropped out… not even going into the whole who-can-actually-get-to-be in the goverment issues). Our ‘freedom to shop’ is even an illusion. You can die you hair green, but can you actually secure your property- or even have property- against a threat?
We can clothe, feed, house, educate, protect and nurture ourselves. Again, our main power is our numbers. The elite control the banks and corporations which control the goverment which have the guns.
Right on Saffiyah.
There are those amongst us who continually whine bout the lack of respect that most CDers accord (or not) to the Dems.
Sometimes, they are so insistent in the face of overwhelming evidence that a difference exists between the Demuglicans and the Repocrats.
They are either deluded by the fascist ’spin’ MSM or they are active ’spinners’ for the fascists. I could be wrong but if it is not one it has to be the other.
Lest anyone think that fascism is new, need only look to the late 30’s when the wealthy elite tried to bring the US into the European conflict on the side of the Axis. Check out the Bush family history (Especially the Walker banking side), the Ford dynasty, Lindbergh and the rest and their political discourse and open support of the Third Reich.
But the ’system’ are comprised of actual people who need the will to use violence to keep the system going, and that will is based on a belief the system will preserve order, peace and protect us, maybe even benefit us in other ways. That belief system is what the elite have always used to control a large number of people to control the rest. It is based on Fear.
Will we learn to reason past our fear- that we can rely on ourselves? that people should be evaluated on their actions, and not their class or any other grouping?
jbroadwater April 15th, 2008 12:46 pm
Thanks for the link. I can see why Altemeyer was unable to get his book published as it is an outright attack on the Bush administration and few publishers would accept a scientific book that supposedly proves that Bush is a Hitler-wanna-be and that a huge percentage of the populations in the U.S. and Canada are storm trooper-wanna be types.
America better make a hard left at some point down the road. I understand the arguments against voting Democratic, that you are still playing the same game, but the other side’s take on the game is just way too vicious. If you don’t vote Democratic then there will be one more unmatched vote for this fascist, Republican mindset. Unfortunately, this is the state of our political arena today. Two players.
Let’s put the oxygen mask on ourselves first and then help those around us. I believe we can be “Democrats” and Green. It is way too high a leap to the ground to just vote for the Green Party and bypass the Democratic party. First we step down from this ladder leading up to falsity and get our feet on the ground. We then apply a determination towards saving the world that the Republicans have towards destroying it by going all-out Green (and fast).
An honest Democratic president will give power to a much needed Green push in America. I think Obama is tuned in. That’s where I’m going to insert my nickel. At least it’s something I can do.
A key ingredient to this problem is the affliction referred to as “America Exceptionalism.”
As I understand it, this is the commonly held belief that America is special, exceptional. America is exceptional because we were the first and most advanced democracy. We spread that principle to the world. We conquered the totalitarian political foes Fascism and later Communism. Finally, our favor in the eyes of God is confirmed by our tremendous success in acquisition.
The idea that the government of America today could accurately be described as “Fascist” is so repugnant to the prejudice of American Exceptionalism that there is no chance Americans could look at it objectively and have an honest moment in the mirror.
You can just hear the internal cognitive dissonance, “Wait a minute! We’re the good guys! We defeated Fascism!”
The antidote is an education that leads to historical context and critical thinking.
Of course, there are some that would give the Cheney response — so? I know some that admit that Nazi Germany was onto something and have no problem with it.
The point of fascism is that it was created to be a third way – all the “benefits” of capitalism plus all the “public interest” of communism. So we have “democratic” governments becoming “partners” with industry and all notion of “checks and balances” being circumvented in the process as the American version of the “third way” becomes the rhetoric of liberalism. As for conservatives, they were in bed with fascism in the days when it dominated Europe; American captains of industry having played a role more significant than instrumental in its emergence in Germany. Americans have deluded themselves about the span of choices available.
Fascism would never have gained a footing in this country if it truly had a free press.
WTF states it so succinctly !!!!!!!
And thanks, class act, for the right to the point classy description of fascism and how it came to pass.
Just another way for the haves to not share with the have-nots.
mirf59 April 15th, 2008 2:15 pm wrote:
“The idea that the government of America today could accurately be described as ‘Fascist’ is so repugnant to the prejudice of American Exceptionalism that there is no chance Americans could look at it objectively and have an honest moment in the mirror.
“You can just hear the internal cognitive dissonance, ‘Wait a minute! We’re the good guys! We defeated Fascism!’”
Sure, Americans think they’re the good guys, but what really bothers them about fascism is that someone else beat them to it.
To Denial David:
The notion that Obama will bring bring us out of this new improved version of fascism, i.e. the neo-con one, is ludicrous. If he were able to, or for that matter even interested in doing so, then he wouldn’t be where he is. Besides, you don’t unelect a coups. It doesn’t work like thet.
See Defining Characteristic 14: fraudulent elections.
Fascism is not only creepy, it’s creeping right into our govt, thanks to the Rethuglicans. In fact, in many ways it’s already here. How many people knew that Scalia’s father was the leader of the American fascist party, or that Poppy Bush loved doing business with Nazi Germany. It all kinda fits doesn’t it?
ColdWarBaby47: No nation that is based on the libertarian concept of complete private ownership and the “every man for himself” paradigm can ever be expected to produce anything beyond the fundamental two class system of masters and slaves.
It’s true, we need to squish “every man for himself”, and what more effective way than impeach the cannibals in the White House for their many high crimes?
A Voice Apart: Globalised neoliberal capitalism is by definition, undemocratic, whereas, local economies supported by their communities are always based on democratic values. Is is any wonder that the countries of the Global North are losing their democratic tendencies?
Dispersed economic/political power by way of dispersed industry is beautiful in the way it impacts the social structure. Small independent tribes are known to have developed the most egalitarian of rules driven by the need for cooperation to survive. This may be observed in rural communities everywhere. Ironically, in the US these communities tend to support the right wing, the hierarchical, zero-sum fascist wing, against their own better interests. This is because in the US to acknowledge cooperation is taboo, even while rural communities continue to practice it. It does appear that this cooperation within communities is slated for total destruction, to be replaced with total dependence on the hierarchical, zero-sum fascists.
A Voice Apart: How many cobblers, dressmakers, farmers (family-type), dairies, member cooperatives, etc., are there in your communities? It is these diverse economies that keep a nation democratic.
Diversity in industrial output is certainly a challenge in shifting the economic structure from global back to local. The global economy offers a lot of diversity and that has proven desirable for various reasons. A successful shift from global to local probably relies on an opening up of trade secrets and free information flows to all communities, so that the generalist craftsman is more able to produce a wider variety of wares and still maintain quality. The generalist can replace the specialist when we decide we want to make the change from global to local, to keep the political/economic power local and out of the hands of the fascists, and most generally, the elites.
I’ve been saying this for 8 years, since the day the Supreme Court gave the creatures the White House but no one wants to hear! Use the word FASCISM or FASCIST and people close their ears. They don’t want to know. I’m tired and very very discouraged.
You have to start thinking and acting in a different way…it is difficult at first but you won’t be so tired.
in a nation stifled by fear and ignorance.
You are jesting of course. I see none of this in any part of the country. And as far as the freedom to speak out against the government, I don’t see anyone being constrained.
Maybe you should read this board sometimes or many others. Read some publications. Listen to Air America. PBS…..
Saying things like this that are not valid in support of a valid argument plays right into their hands.
And before ya’ll start throwing things again, just remember whos been kicking our hindquarters all over the country for the last 35 or so years.
Better to use focus than shotgunning it.
The only terrorists we need to worry about are Osama bin Bush and Osama bin Cheney! They are evil! Impeachment is too good for them!
The response to my article has been engaging, and I’m busy reviewing and absorbing. Obviously, a nerve has been hit.
This article was inspired mostly through the artwork of a friend, Donald Archer, who himself attempted to articulate what has been occurring in our government through commentary. It made him ill. So he took up his brush and had a painting frenzy, creating 29 paintings he calls, “State of the Union,” which can be viewed at his website: www.donaldarcher.com. I thank Don as much as anyone for clarifying the present state we’re in.
He was kind enough to allow us the use of one of his paintings, “Puppets,” for the April cover of The Rogue Voice, which can be viewed at our blog: www.theroguevoice.blogspot.com.
Thank you for this dialog. I hope it continues.
Thomas More, you said: “And before ya’ll start throwing things again, just remember whos been kicking our hindquarters all over the country for the last 35 or so years.”
Please remind me. Just who has been kicking our hindquarters for the last three decades?
If fascism provides jobs for the American people, it will be accepted and voted for under all kind of pretty names and reasonable assumptions. Sparlinx above has a reminder about the ongoing unequal application of the laws.
A well-respected US political scientist, Bertram Gross, authored a book in the ’80s, “Friendly Fascism.”
Because it was the first book in the US censored by its publisher, you have find the Southend reprint to get the uncensored version.
Many of you at CD have even lost your historical knowledge of those social scientists who radically ananlyzed the US and predicted its future path based on analysing its long-term tendencies.
Do any of you know who is considered one of our greatest social scientists?
In Europe many scholars consider Thorstein Veblen to be one of them? Did any of you know many of the critical concepts we use today were of his invention: conspicuous consumption, vested interests, etc.?
Of course, the work of C. W. Mills (The Power Elite) was built on Veblen’s work. We have so many interesting past radical thinkers and very few of us are analitically guided by them.
LIBERTAS FUGIT saved me task of writing out modern Political Theory’s definitions of Fascism. Thanks, LIBERTAS. The chacteristics you listed are structurally accurate, and they are the features that most non-Fascist professional political theorists agree upon.
As someone who teaches political theory, though, I think the deeper nut to crack is and has always been centered around answers to the following:
What is finally happening in the individual emotional brain of abusively misgoverned persons that allows for such easy mass acceptance of counter-intuitive reality distortions, propagated by manipulative, anti-democratic state leaders?
Why do most, average human victims of state-institutionalized physical, emotional, social, and economic abuse, who often perceive the illigitimate authority of their abusers, nevertheless bond with, affirm, and further empower their abusers?
Are there human organizational insights that can be brought to better illumination, focus, and reform utility for the average person, by democratic spokespersons within the popular culture, who are outside of the corrupted instututions of legitimation? And if so, How — to any usefull effect?
I have found that, anymore at least, my insights offfered from standard Political Theory and Political Science about Fascism’s formal characteristics and the human abuses those formalities create, don’t move either my students or my neighbors. Increasingly, I’m looked upon as someone who’s seen as challenging the blueness of the sky.
The only thing that’s helped break through this hynosis occasionally, is having my students and neighbors read publications like The Journal of PsychoHistory; a quarterly zine that, more than any other I’ve come across lately, speaks to individuals, and thier motivations, directly, however sometimes abstractly; about what all humans are as Creatures-generally-good, but increasingly re-wired to act against themselves by a tiny minority of their sociopathic but cleverer fellows.
When there is government by a handful of easily subverted representatives, it will eventually corrupt into fascism, communism or other dictatorship.
Global Online Democracy (G.O.D.) with no professional politicians is the only way to stable democracy. It starts with the referendum.
Dear commondreamers, this article is a sad joke. That USAland has been (once upon a time) freedom’s lighthouse is a myth that only USAlanders can swallow; we dark-haired americans from south of the river know very well its true meaning: expoliation and dictature.
Too bad for USAlanders that the evolution of their own way of life is throwing them into the vise, too bad; but, what can we say for the people that happily voted for Reagan, that elected and RE-ELECTED Bush?
Thomas More’s post is the perfect bookend to this discussion, as all the other posts are from enlightened people who really do see that fascism has, in fact, already arrived in America, by definition alone (see the 14 characteristics of Fascism in post #2, quoted from Dr. Lawrence Britt). Thomas is the typical American - ignorant, blind, stupid, and completely oblivious to (and, probably, uninterested in) the radical changes that have been made to our country in the last 8 years. As he states: I can still post my opinions on these boards, I can still go to the office and say almost anything I want to, and I don’t see anyone arresting me or jackbooted brownshirts in the streets or pounding on my door at midnight.
And that’s really the whole point: fascism CREEPS. It is already here. It won’t show up when you wake one morning suddenly. You won’t look out your window and see a swastika on the local cop car, or a newspaper headline stating that Congress has been disbanded. That is the sick beauty of fascism: it entwines itself so slowly and steadily, by slow degrees, into the national consciousness, that it is actually ACCEPTED as status quo by the vast majority. The point, Thomas, is not that you can still speak out against your government. The point is that if they wanted to, the government could completely legally whisk you away in the dead of night, lock you up for the rest of your life, and never let you see the light of day again. Ever. Read the Patriot Act II. Read the Military Commission Act. REALLY read it. There is no habeas corpus. There is no 4th, 5th, or 6th Amendment in the Constitution anymore. The government can listen in on your phone calls, if they want to. They can arrest you without probable cause. They can hold you indefinitely. They can even torture you (I’m sorry, I mean “use enhanced interrogation techniques,” my bad). IF THEY WANT TO.
THAT is the point, Thomas. Those things would have been impossible a decade ago. There is no way the U.S. government could ever get away with doing those things, legally, 10 years ago. Now they can. Because you don’t see it happening to your next-door neighbor isn’t the point, Thomas. The point is, they CAN do it now.
You are an idiot, Thomas. You are the reason the government has been able to successfully get away with creating laws like the Military Commission Act, and shredding the Constitution. Because of your ignorance, and your “hey, it aint’ happening to me, so who cares?” attitude.
One day, they will come for you, or someone you know. That’s the thing about unbridled power: it must be used. It doesn’t just sit around and remain unused. Once you’ve built a bomb, you’re eventually going to set it off, or “test it.” Once you’ve loaded a gun, someday you’re going to have to try firing it. Once you have filled the Mediterraneon with 2000 battle ships, someday you’re going to do something with all that firepower. You’re not just going to say “turn around, go back home.”
Do us all a favor, Thomas, and take your life. One less fascist enabling sheep.
The Spirit of Tyrants, like Hitler and his Nazi criminals live today, in George W. Bush and his NeoCon Administration.
We must IMPEACH both BUSH and CHENEY……..TODAY
If they are not stopped TODAY, the freedom and democracy that we have known, guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, will be permently destroyed.
Bush, Cheney, and their Insane NeoCons Gang are Facist Criminals…….They must be stopped TODAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!
That the US is creeping toward something like “fascism” is something most progressives would affirm. I prefer the words “police state” as envisioned by Directive 51. But I think within such agreement the crucial distinction is not whether it is or isn’t fascism or a police state, but whether or not it is too late.
To read about what “too late” looks like read Sebastian Haffner’s book Defying Hitler. This account by a progressive, Aryan German from 1914 to 1933 provides an up close examination of when “too late” happened. It has to do with the use of force against domestic resistors. We are not close to too late, but that is the trajectory.
I think activism is fine. And I also think constitutional rebellion is very good too. That is, an approach based on amending the Constitution to give Americans the choice to, for example, recall any public official, such as a president and vice-president. One amendment can do this. The states can do it by themselves. The states can even amend Article V itself to make it easier to amend the Constitution in the future.
Sanford Levinson’s book Our Undemocratic Constitution is a good place to learn more. So is the book by Larry Sabato called A More Perfect Constitution. Also, Steven Hill’s book 10 Steps to Repair the American Democracy. In the case of a constitutional rebellion, knowledge is power. We need to study and act on legal means to fulfill the Preamble and create a constitutionally empowered citizenry. Many states have it. California recalled Governor Davis recently. This is the worst fear of would-be US dictators like Bush. And this is what we can do.
How? Start or join a progressive caucus in your state. Pursue constitutional changes that empower people over the rich minority currently in power.
“fascism isn’t just about jackbooted thugs and state-sponsored industry built on slavery and death to one’s enemies.”
No, but it eventually leads to that.
The trilateral presidents/vp’s of Carter, Bush as VP and President, and Clinton put in place all the tools that GWB, or should I say Cheney as VP needed following 9/11 plot and put in place the Patriot Act. As Bush said in December 2000, the job as President sure would be a lot easier if I could be a Dictator. After 9/11, Mission Accomplished.
Obama, Hillary, McCain, doesn’t matter, there will be no change, not unless people wake up, and I see no real evidence of this, as people are still pretending their is hope for change if a democrat wins. There is one party now, and they are committed to Global Fascism, thats what the globalization agenda is about. Fascism is the son of Communism, both created by the same illuminati elite who rule us today.
I think we need to revisit the whole US vs. China thing. They own much of our debt, they depend on our hyper-consumerism. Our businesses depend immensely on their cheap labor, their government to keep (repressive) order, military security, etc. of “our” factories there.
Anyone else besides me notice that many of the Chinese police during the crackdown on Tibetan protesters wore black uniforms with “Police” (written in English — not Chinese) on the back?
The other (good, but naive) point in this article “The time is ripe to turn the United States back to its original radical design of guaranteeing the individual liberties of all its citizens, including the right to speak out against the government and to turn tyranny on its head.”
I take issue with “back”. I do not subscribe to a happy Eden, and subsequent Fall. I don’t think we ever had a great time in our short history. In practice, we’ve never lived up to our ideals.
Look at the list of federal agencies that have been completely asleep on the job for the entire BushCo term—on and on it goes, and every disaster at America’s doorstep is directly caused by them. The GOP—with NO BOTTOM to its cynical brutality—is in fact trying to destroy the last vestiges of FDR’s New Deal: making government so inept and undependable that, hopefully, citizens will just give in to a dictator and his business-pig henchmen. It’s called The Texas Government Model. The more you fuck the people, the more y’all doin’ a heckuva job!
So many fine postings. Thank you.
JAY BONES: Speaking to the subject of WHY persons consent to their own psychic imprisonment (for that is in part what fascism/police state is about), I’d like to relate a few sources.
First, with the speed of modern life, the talk of global warming and/or End times, UNCERTAINTY has come to replace SECURITY. This is where the desire for a “strong” head of state may come in. That brings me to a second insightful source as per your rhetorical (?) question. John Dean. I got a great deal from reading “Conservatives without Conscience” because it related the prevalence of a TYPE of person who really wants to follow rules, and will allow someone else to tell them thus and so. Understanding that a percentage of the population is amenable with this type of “strong” government explains why the fascistic pattern recurs throughout history in a great many societies. We thought our own was immune given its inspired beginnings, and the fact that public education made a majority of citizens AWARE of the pitfalls, what CAN happen if the necessary viglance if not applied.
Third, I would relate Wilhelm Reich and his radical insights on human sexuality, and what happens (think Catholic Church and “original sin”) when NATURAL drives are disowned, and the citizens left to live lives at war with their own internal rhythms and instincts, forcibly turn to an OUTSIDE source/authority to tell them what to do.
These and the narrowing of the great pie into smaller and smaller crumbs which the elites monkey around through their control of law and its orchestrations provides some reasons for “What’s Wrong with Kansas” and beyond.
Sorry, but Stacey Warde has got it wrong. America is not yet fascist. Certainly there are elements that are fascist, such as the prison system. But as a whole, the society and political system is not yet fascist. How do I know? I’m reading his article on CommonDreams, that’s how I know. If America was fascist at this point in time, there would be no CommonDreams. So let’s get real here.
America’s political and social system is dominated by the multinational corporations. American imperialism has indeed propped up and in many cases actually install fascist regimes in the world, but somehow Stacey missed this history and presents the US of today as someplace that is different than what preceded it. Ask a village peasant in Columbia about death squads financed by the USA and he’ll tell you what fascism really is. Ask the Chileans who were rounded up in the stadium following the coup against Allende and they’ll tell you what fascism is really like.
The last time I looked, elections are going to take place in America. Damn I wish they were over by now! There is still an opportunity to start to turn things around. If the progressive movement in the US buys into the idea that fascism has already arrived, then it presents a mentality that the elections are futile and not worth being involved in and that is precisely what the corporate elite want to see. Read this for the historical opportunities that this election offers …
http://cpusa.org/article/articleview/928/1/152
If fascism will truly come to the USA it will only come about when a REAL anti-corporation alternative is being built and we’re quite a ways away from seeing that happening. And fascism will only come about if the people allow that to happen!
Stop the defeatism folks! Organize, agitate and use whatever tools are still available to turn the situation around. The opportunity to do so still exists without having to resort to a violent confrontation with the state. Be thankful.
In Solidarity.
To paraphrase from Mel Brooks ‘The Producers’:
“Don’t be stupid, be a smartie, come and join George Bush’s party!”
Mussolini said FASCISM in it’s early stages should more properly be called a CORPTOCRACY.
Like Fascism, Fear creeps into your soul, your ‘rear-view mirror’ phone lines; anyone think these threads are not watched?
Maybe Bush & Cheney will end up hanging from Meat-Hooks too-we can pray to their hate-god.
Veblen was like Noam Chomsky - An amazing intellect and as exciting as half a brick! My favorite was Henry George and his ’single-tax’ Had he become Governor of California in the 1880’s there would have been no run-away suburban sprawl. Or Eugene Debs, a real leader of the working man, and willing to go to prison rather then support a fascist war [WW 1]
Henry Wallace was the last main-stream politician to speak out against US fascism. He and his supporters were isolated as ‘pinko. liberal, Commies’ and shoved onto the side track of history.
It’s not that we have lacked heroes and leaders, it is the sullen insistence of the great unwashed that they too can become ‘elitists’! Of course, buying stock in the latest Wall Street Scam is the preferred short-cut to riches.
I especially like: ” The United States hasn’t always lived up to its promise as a haven of freedom, but it’s come close, and has built an even greater legacy of expanding and protecting those freedoms handed down to us from the Revolution, giving people around the globe reason to hope.”
Oh, this is obvious. Just ask any native American. White men came over and kicked these people off their land. How close this has come to the promise provided by our government in providing a true haven of freedom.
It is hard to take articles like this seriously when they quote such nonsense.
Some of us have been trying to point out the American fascist movement since Leo Strauss was at the University of Chicago mentoring people like Paul Wolfowitz and Abram Shulsky…
Strauss came over from Germany in 1938 and started selling his brand of fascism to the Jewish “Intellectuals” practically right away… ironic that the Jews would embrace the very same tactics used by Hitler and Mussolini, but on the other hand, who else would know how effective those tactics can be!
Wave the flag, tell the people that everything you do is for their safety, call anyone who opposes you a traitor or a dreaded “liberal”… glorify the troops… push religion as being “on your side”… manipulate the media… and take away ANY law that limits your power… it’s worked like a charm over the past decade.
…and look what it has done to our nation.
And a continuation of Strauss’s ‘neocon’ “teaching”
in today’s WaPo Lead Editorial-urging War w/ Iran
-That is Israel’s voice-
-Andn no ‘Neocons,’ No Iraq War. Period. And Neocon equals Israel.
We need to drape Israeli Flags over American coffins returning from Iraq-in honor of who they died for.
America is not fascist, throwing that word around so freely has caused it to loose all meaning.
I am surprised that intelligent people still choose to refer to Britt’s 14 Characteristics of Fascism as though they apply to the US today. Their bias is clear, using it (intentionally or not) as a self-serving political device to condemn and discredit mainstream conservative views as “fascist.” Mainstream conservatives, (as well as many oridinary Democrat voters) share several of these characteristics being very patriotic, supporting the traditional family, fearing crime, promoting national security and opposing funding the arts.
Fascism refers to a particular political ideology which was formed out of the union of syndicalism and nationalist revolutionary movements that existed in France and Italy in particular after WWI - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascist_manifesto - and to the authoritarian regime in Italy from 1922-43 (and arguably in Portugal, Spain and Latin America too)
If you contrast America to any of these societies you may see some cosmetic parallels in broad terms (such as an obsession with security) but in terms of degrees, America is simply not in the same league. Just because Fox News might lean centre-right or because a media company is a business or because Bush didn’t want a picture published does not make the entire media “controlled” by the State. If it were true, the media would be owned by the state (or surrogates), you would see no criticism of the government in the paper, and you wouldn’t have seen the pictures. Again, whilst you might criticise labour policies of the Bush administration, have they eliminated or suppressed unions? Last I heard they were amongst the biggest donors to the Democrats.
I am not defending fascism or the Bush Administration in any way, shape or form - just pointing out the inaccuracy of this self-righteous stereotype, fascism is a political ideology not an epithet. By all means criticise the egregious breaches of the Constitution and the unwarranted assault on liberty, but please give it its correct name, authoritarianism, rather than simply using fascism as an empty slur.
For an ‘empty slur,’ it got quite a response from you rebel_conservative!
Me thinketh thou doth protest too much!
Corptocracy, Fascist, Authoritarian; let’s split linguistic hairs-
P.S-what kinda Scum oppose funding the Arts?
re rebel_conservative 6:12am
strongly disagree. the media aren’t controlled by the state (sometimes it seems exactly the opposite). fascism as i understand it refers to a blurring of the lines between corporations and government so that they’re indistinguishable; for example, when energy lobbyists provide the text of laws to regulate themselves and legislators vote for those laws without bothering to read them, what room is left for the will of the people?
the present reality in the u.s. is a refinement of concepts that have been seen before. nazi germany allowed no opposition parties, but here we have at least the appearance of one. the soviet union allowed no other source of information but the state itself, but here we have at least the appearance of a diversity of views (jon stewart among others has shown the range of views that are available, with the cable newsreaders all using the same words, as “elitist” was recently used to frame obama’s lack of bowling skills).
the fascism we face at home is shaping up more like huxley’s than orwell’s, but to its numberless victims beyond our shores, the difference is unimportant.
Despite their fashioning of the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration Of Independence many of the “founding fathers” sensed the awsome potential of this new continent and accurately surmised that here could be built an empire to make the British Empire look like an amateur warm-up act. Many of these geniuses of the revolution had personal ambition of empire and tried to secure huge tracts of the unsettled continent for their very own feifdoms.
Many have said that these first nationalists would not recognize the U.S.A. today. I disagree. I think many of them would feel quite at home here, and would recognize the culmination of what those who came shortly thereafter enunciated as “manifest destiny.”
rebel conservative - if you think patriotism and nationalism are the same thing, then you really don’t understand either.
mikepeters-
the use of the term is a pet-peeve of mine.
Fascism is authoritarian. Authoritarian is not always fascism. Communism was authoritarian, I certainly wouldn’t call it fascism.
And people oppose funding the arts for a variety of reasons, perhaps they believe artists should support themselves selling their work, or working to pay the bills and paint etc in their spare time, maybe they think that funding the arts is just not the role of the state, or that the state has other priorities, or maybe they resent funding the arts because it is no longer relevant to working class people, or perhaps it is because “artists” are getting taxpayers money for desecrating their religion such as putting a crucifix in urine.
hazmat-
that is the definition that seems to be bandied around, but I just can’t escape that that is not what fascism actually was. Fascism viewed the state as supreme authority - not a silent merger between state and business, state was supreme over business, even though it favoured business interests over workers interests.
Corporatism was merging of state, business and the workers interests. The corporations in fascist Italy were not businesses, but organisations designed by the state to run the economy in the interests of maintaining the social order, they were composed of representatives of both employers and workers. Of course, employers were over-represented and the state sided with the employers over the workers more often than not, but there were some improvements to workers conditions, such as the eight-hour workday. Strikes were banned, but so were lock-outs and the corporations provided unemployment, accident and health insurance for the workers. In theory, workers could appeal to labour courts if they had a complaint against their bosses, but in practice as employers were over-represented in the corporations, complaints were often dismissed. anyway, it doesn’t really matter, I know I am fighting a losing battle, the word has become so abused it lost all meaning long ago… I am just an anal politics graduate I guess…
The US is nothing like Italy or Germany in the 30s, there are opposition voices in politics and in the media (this site being one of them!) The reason the media use the same words is because they are a bunch of incompetent, untalented hacks, who have no originality, not because they are agents of the corporate elite. There are two main political parties in the US and whilst they may agree on some things, they by no means agree on a large swathe of important issues. There are certainly more distinctions between the Dems and Republicans than between the 2 and a half main parties here in Britain. Think of the contrast between Hillary and Ron Paul, or Kucinich and Rudy “9-11! boo! terrorism! argh!” Giuliani, or Obama and Mike Huckabee.
I’m not saying there are not problems, just no conspiracy or one party state… yet… sadly, we appear to be heading towards a dystopian nightmare, a potent mixture of huxley’s popular apathy, silent control and orwell’s totalitarian vision.
keyinside-
You are right that nationalism and patriotism are indeed distinct. I was referring to the loose definition in the 14 characteristics. Thank you for allowing me to clarify.
The definition of nationalism in the “14 characteristics” is as follows… “Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.” The looseness of this definition can lead people to conclude that innocent acts of patriotism are in fact examples of an insidiuous chauvanistic nationalism.
Furthermore, nationalism is not necessarily chauvanistic, an ethnic group can be nationalistic, supporting their own sovereignty, self-determination and independence without being jingoistic. Patriotism (love of country) and nationalism (self-determination) are essentially harmless; chauvanism (supremacism) is a separate category altogether.
There are some chauvanistic politicians out there, Rudy “9-11! kill! argh! terrorists!” Giuliani being the foremost contender. But be sure not to confuse mainstream nationalism (such as opposing NAFTA/UN for instance) with the chauvanism of the neo-cons (wanting to police the world).
Hope that clarifies things.
http://rebelconservative.blogspot.com
Thanks for the article. It is regrettable that the word “Fascism” is a no no in most conversations when discussing the United States. People forget that during the 1930’s there were forces and voices (Father Coughlin, the German-American Bund, etc.) in this country which admired and advocated a Nazi or Italian Fascist solution to the problems of the Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt was very aware of this potential threat as he moved (once in office)for the New Deal reforms of the capitalist system. There was even a plot by Wall Street bankers and financiers (what!!?) to overthrow the Roosevelt Administration using General Smedley Butler, formerly of the Marine Corps, as its leader. He blew the whistle, but the public never really heard the story at the time. So, it can happen hear and not just through a Seven Days in May scenario. Read FRIENDLY FASCISM, by Bertram Gross (1980) or Namoi Wolf’s THE END OF AMERICA (2007, or IT CAN HAPPEN HERE (2006), by Joe Conason if you need some convincing.
Nice article! Have you heard of a movie called “Liberty Bound?” I guess it’s like four years old now, but it was really good. I stumbled upon it at Netflix, but I just had to buy a copy for myself. The woman who made it had some interesting comparisons to fascism as well. Here is the website: www.libertybound.com
Our concepts of democracy never applied to people in other countries if we wanted something.
Domestically, it used to be that those who live or lived under de facto fascism (Native Americans, African Americans, for example) had at least abstract legal principles that could be invoked with the help of struggle and lawyers. These principles would include habeas corpus and right to a trial. They were tools that could be used in the never-ending project of expanding democracy.
Now those tools are officially gone for everyone. Someone somewhere can label you as somehow a threat to the country without presenting any evidence and you can be disappeared. The decider can decide that we have a national emergency and appoint a dictator. We have a Blackwater private army that does not have to follow any rules. Legally. Only question is when and if these prerogatives will be taken on a large scale.
I am not satisfied that Democrats did their job in stopping fascism from quietly creeping in on little cat feet. Democrats were passive and not creative. They could have blocked things from coming to the floor, they could have held up passage of legislation, they could have written articles and educated their constituency, they could have spoken on TV, they could have impeached and prosecuted war criminals and liars.
Neo-cons did this. Neo-libs let them.
It would be good if we could refashion the word Fascism to have more meaning here and now. Or find a better word. Fascism brings up images of Mussolini, which seem dated and irrelevant. We do not go into stadiums, salute and wave swastika flags. In fact we boo the president. Our fascism is different, stealthy.
endCapitalism wrote: But as a whole, the society and political system is not yet fascist. How do I know? I’m reading his article on CommonDreams, that’s how I know. If America was fascist at this point in time, there would be no CommonDreams. So let’s get real here.
I suggest a dose of reality for yourself. Lets try an experiment. I suggest that you vocally speak out against the Govt (and not just here at CD with less than 10,000 regular readers) and see how long it takes for your name to be added to the no-fly list. Numbers are not released, but the ACLU estimates that there are nearly 1 million people on the watch list.
So when you have broadly exercised the First Amendment, and feel comfortable with computers monitoring your phone and email conversations, or watching your financial accounts and web-surfing habits, come back to us and tell us to get real.
re 8:55am
rebel_conservative wrote “Fascism viewed the state as supreme authority - not a silent merger between state and business, state was supreme over business, even though it favoured business interests over workers interests.”
this is backwards. businesses and the economic elites have wrested control of the state from the people for their own benefit.
the state is defined in part by having a monopoly on the legitimate use of force (cops on the beat, courts, agencies such as the irs, and of course the military). two recent examples of the use of state power for private benefit should illustrate my point: (1) this site just posted an article reporting that the irs was cutting down audits of big corporations in favor of auditing small and medium-sized businesses just to inflate their numbers; (2) states are now considering proposals to force people to buy health insurance rather than moving to a single-payer system for all and eliminating the non value-adding middle-man.
the all-too-frequent use of the military to protect and expand the interests of corporations should need no further elaboration.
Stolen elections are a primary signal of fascism -
and in the case of the 2000 election we have the GOP fascist rally outside of Miami-Dade Election HQs to STOP
the vote counting — !!
However, our elections have been being stolen since the mid-1960’s when the computers first began to come in.
Two journalists in Florida came to realize how the computers were being used to steal elections:
Jim & Ken Collier had wanted to do a story on the elections and decided that one of them would run for office.
On Election night they watched as their vote total failed to move and then jumped significantly —
followed by “a computer breakdown” and when the election news resumed, their votes had dropped back down again.
Sound familiar?
Jim & Ken Collier soon had a book deal with a major publisher but when their book hit the bookstores it was
immediately suppressed.
Their family keeps a website going where the book can be read or scanned –
http://www.constitution.org/vote/votescam__.htm
But, PLEASE, understand that these election steals didn’t begin in 2000 nor 2004.
************ ***************** ***********
hazmat-
“businesses and the economic elites have wrested control of the state from the people for their own benefit.”
to a certain degree, in our capitalist democracy they have indeed. But not under a fascist system, where the state is the ultimate authority.
“two recent examples of the use of state power for private benefit should illustrate my point: (1) this site just posted an article reporting that the irs was cutting down audits of big corporations in favor of auditing small and medium-sized businesses just to inflate their numbers;”
Yeah, just to inflate the numbers… exactly, it was not a corporate conspiracy, just a paper-pushing bureaucratic mechanism to achieve a set of mindless and inane targets set by other mindless and inane bureaucrats and politicians.
“(2) states are now considering proposals to force people to buy health insurance rather than moving to a single-payer system for all and eliminating the non value-adding middle-man.”
So? There are many reasons to oppose a single-payer health system (and there are also better ways to organise private healthcare than the current US system)
BTW - There are many better social health care models - look to European social insurance, rather than the British NHS. I live with the NHS, it has its merits, but there are problems. Firstly, it is one of the most bureaucratic organisations you are likely to witness, they spend more on key-tappers and paper-pushers than on nurses or cleaners. Secondly, you basically get what you are given, you have no choice about your healthcare, there is no ’second opinion’ you have to go your GP (Physician) and he/she will refer you to the local consultant at the local hospital. You can’t choose where to go or who to see. You are likely to be left on a long waiting list. Anyway, that is for another day…
To my mind, neither of your reasons point to existing or impending American fascism.
The US is becoming worryingly authoritarian and corporations have far too much influence over politicians, but fascist? nah, sorry, I don’t buy it.
“Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.” - Thomas Jefferson’
Just a few off the cuff comments:
u.s. 2 party system = republi-fascists and demo-mats
where is V when we need him? and where is MY mask?
rebel-conservative: hmmm, as stated by someone else, methinks thou doth protest too much. fascism is the marriage of govt and corporate power, enforced by an over-abundantly funded and murderous military/police force. simple as that. i know, i know, it hurts to hear such truth about your beloved country created by “wondrous, forward thinking founding fathers who so loved women, African peoples and Native/Indigenous peoples” (insert sarcasm here). my only question to you is: what would it take for you to be convinced that this country is, indeed, fascist? the outfits? german as the only language? bushcheney junta declaring that elections are not necessary? hitler’s birthday becoming a national holiday?
Peace and i am SO glad to read all of your comments, just wish this was a national discussion….
CS
The definitions of unlimited government power can be haggled over all day. We are faced with the unprecedented monstrosity of Global Corporatism. No wonder we struggle with antiquated terms.
Call it Despotic Corporatism or Corporatist Totalitarianism to get closer to identifying the nature of the Beast.
roguewarde April 15th, 2008 4:57 pm
This is strange. Neither of the links you give work!
The donaldarcher.com says Bad Request, Ivalid Hostname
The roguevoice one says Unavailable for all dates and mentions clearing up bugs.
Have you been closed down by powers that be???
Not sure why the links aren’t working. I doubt that the powers that be have anything to do with it. More likely my own ineptitude posting the links. I’ll try another route:
http://www.theroguevoice.blogspot.com
http://www.donaldarcher.com
If these don’t work, then I’d suggest the copy and past method and insert the address into your browser. Again, Donald’s series, “State of the Union,” is well worth viewing.
Thanks.
“Ask a village peasant in Columbia about death squads financed by the USA and he’ll tell you what fascism really is. Ask the Chileans who were rounded up in the stadium following the coup against Allende and they’ll tell you what fascism is really like.”
Not being a jerk, just pointing this out so you don’t make the same mistake in the future, it’s Colombia.
The problem with what you are saying is that you have to assume that those countries turned into fascist nightmares, which Colombia still is, overnight. US intelligence helped set up the paramilitary network in Colombia in the 1960’s. The same groups were still killing the majority of the people, they were just now more organized and more closely aligned with the state. What were and are the paramilitaries? Are they any different really than Blackwater? How long will we allow black water to exist? Forget their profit margin, why should they exist at all? What happens if there’s a strike, or a group that threatens some powerful capitalists and they hire Blackwater to intimidate or attack those groups? Are we really that far off from that, when Blackwater and similar companies have as many weapons, money and killers working for them, are funded by reactionary right wingers (who back the paramilitaries in Colombia) here? If that happens, by the time we find out it will already be too late. I don’t think that this country is “fascist” but if the economic system crashes there IS a power vacuum and our country doesn’t have a socialist or populist culture here to take it’s place. What we have is a giant, for profit weapons industry, a reactionary, removed from the general public and ideologically rigid elite that has near total control of the media. Yes, fascism isn’t here, the word is used so often that it’s beginning to lose meaning, but I also don’t think that we are far from it being put into practice. If we had something to take the place of the economic system here, to fight off the reaction the out of touch and reactionary elites here, I’d be more optimistic.
Rebel_conservative
“Mainstream conservatives, (as well as many ordinary Democrat voters) share several of these characteristics being very patriotic, supporting the traditional family, fearing crime, promoting national security and opposing funding the arts.”
Sorry, but this does not mean that conservatives and “ordinary Democrats” don’t have fascist tendencies. Most “liberals” and every single conservative I know supported the war, they usually do, they have no problem with corporations. Both the war and corporations are tyrannies, they’re just tyrannies that have benefited this country. Most conservatives and liberals don’t care tons if we kill innocent people in other countries, just as long as there’s a good platitude given by the government here (all of which, upon inspection in later years, turn out to be baseless garbage). They have no problem with economic imperialism, the same goes with the platitudes here, just give them a benign sounding phrase and they’re happy. What they want is an imperialism in which we more evenly share what is stolen. When it isn’t more evenly shared there’s a problem. No conservative I know objects to our foreign policy at its root, few liberals I know do either. They just want a piece of the action. In Iraq, there is no talk about what economic policies we’ve instituted, even from many on the right who know what we’ve done. We’ve forced failed and illogical policies on Iraq which has destroyed the economy and the country and they don’t care. If gas prices were lower and we were receiving more benefits from the invasion I seriously doubt people would even be all that against the war. If that MENTALITY isn’t fascist its at least a precursor.
In Germany, what were the first people that Hitler went after? Not the Jews but the leftists, communists, socialist, anarchists, even the social democrats who basically handed him power. The funding for the Nazis came from the business class. The Nazis, even when they were beating and intimidating the opposition, received no more than about 45% of the vote. Hitler’s forces actually lost millions of votes in the early 30’s, they were resurrected by the business class, the bankers, the big corporations, etc. One quote that stood out (I can find it later if you doubt, it’s in a book I got just yesterday called “The People’s History of the World”) from a banker was, as Hitler was losing votes, “If he fails, who is going to shield us from the communists? There’s nothing to stop them!” Hitler met with these big businesses tycoons, who funded and resurrected his group, throughout the war, the last time promising a business oriented future once the Nazis became victorious after WWII. Here in the US industrilists, many of whom financially supported Hitler, attempted a coup against Roosevelt in 1932, because HE was too radical. If it wasn’t for Butler we could have had fascism here. Whatever statist economic policies he and the fascists implemented was no different than anywhere else in the world, which was going through the biggest crisis in capitalism to this date. CAPITALIST countries like Britain, which was the financial center of the world at the time, elected more or less market socialists into office, others like the US elected populist capitalists, not country adopted “free market” policies at the time, even after WWII at the meeting in Breton Woods (when the IMF and similar institutions were created) there was talk by the CAPITALST countries to attack financial capital and to prevent basically what the IMF has since become. Not only that, but they wanted to make the debt the developing world owes to the developed world that we see today impossible. So whatever collectivist economic policies you can list, they were no different anywhere else in the world. In the US, many of them were actually instituted by capitalists because they wanted to preserve the system and thought that much more radical changes would occur without the expanded welfare state.
Regarding the media: Chomsky said it best, what makes this system much better than the Russian system is that people here don’t think that they’re being indoctrinated. In Russia, people knew that Pravda was the propaganda arm of the state, the state was used to beat people back because the people never had any rights to defend in the first place. Here, we currently have those freedoms, so controlling us isn’t with a club, it’s with the control of information. SIX corporations own most of the media, SIX. Almost every fact you know, if you only watch TV, is controlled by a handful of people and it doesn’t take a genius to see that what information we are given is filtered through a very narrow ideological spectrum. No corporate media company is going to undermine their profitability by being honest, for instance, about “free trade”, the healthcare system, or any other economically related issue because it isn’t in their best interest to. If they did THEY and the companies that give them most of their advertising revenue would be harmed, their shareholders would leave and invest elsewhere. That’s why there is no in depth, constant analysis of the full effects of NAFTA and similar deals, why our healthcare system is not continuously compared to other socialized systems, why the monetary system and financial markets are never explained (especially on how they basically make democracy impossible and allow capitalists to create wealth out of thin air by creating debt for the general public). The information we are given is controlled, we don’t think it is and therefore it’s much, much better than the Russian system. I, again, don’t think the country is fascist at this point but it has all the necessary ingredients. You’ll notice that fascism came into being when the economic system started to spiral out of control in each country. We’ll see what happens when it does here.
Passive resistance and peacefull non-cooperation…
I have been calling it Facsism for 8 years now….the only difference between Hitler and Bush is Bush cant speak German and has a better wardrobe consultant…oh, and Hilter was fairly intelligent, if somewhat warped.
bush is just a dancing monkey for the real emperial power
I have a presentation that explores the likelihood of American fascism - it’s called “If You Can Keep It: Care & Feeding of a Constitutional Republic.” I use a public health model to discuss the causes (etiology), symptoms, and prevention (prophylaxis) of fascism. The bad news, of course, is that the possibility is increasing, for all the reasons discussed so far and more; the good news, though, is that if you look at addressing the individual symptoms (like in Britt’s analysis mentioned above, or Naomi Wolf’s “Ten Steps” article), you see that there are many many people and organizations working against such developments. The fight against fascist tendencies is an ongoing one - the key thing is to never regard them as “inevitable.” (If you want more info on the presentation, contact me at smendler@yahoo.com)
Ninety-five comments later!
R.W. Posner- great post!
Dave Dubya