Very Interesting Article - American Fascism

Okay, I read the article. I also did what I always do in an election; read the end credits and follow the money:

"Laurence Britt’s novel, June, 2004, depicts a future America dominated by right-wing extremists."

In defense of Mr. Britt, all that he noted can be attached to any government or regime at any time, including the UN and any of its minions.

Again, interesting read, although tainted by an agenda.

Thanks for posting

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SteveS @ Jun 28 2006, 11:05 AM) [snapback]278131[/snapback]</div>

Yes, if he used code words like 'right wing extremists'.

That colors any other perceptions that I may have gained elsewise. I do agree that some of the items noted, like the over-reacting to national security (not EVERYTHING is a dire issue), and the more recent examples concerning flag desecration are over the top. Homosexuals and women are not nearly as offically oppressed as some of them would have you believe, and I hope most can see through electioneering and pandering as what they are; attempts to get elected/reelected.

And, it is not new; that is another thing I will concede to the author, although we were far closer to an absolute dictatorship (however benign) under FDR.

I may have to reevaluate the article.

BTW: Did you read his book?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SteveS @ Jun 28 2006, 12:04 PM) [snapback]278153[/snapback]</div>

I must assume you to be about 82 years old to have experienced all that you state

Sadly, i am but 57 and lived an apparently sheltered and uneducated life by comparison.

Can you cite examples of corporate protectionism, consolidation of police powers, and incestual relationship between religion and government?

Just because you or anyone proclaims some facet of life, that does not prove it true, no matter how you phrase the charge or quote a Human Rights Watch document.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(wstander @ Jun 28 2006, 12:19 PM) [snapback]278169[/snapback]</div>

Questions like this are like a passenger standing waist-deep in water on the deck of the sinking Titanic and asking, "Water? What water? Show me where there's water."

SteveS already listed most of what I could come up with off the top of my head; with not much effort many more specific examples could be culled from Google; but I have to wonder if such questions really aren't just a weak attempt at bluff because it's impossible to read a newspaper or magazine, or listen to radio news, or even watch TV news without seeing all these concrete examples and more in vivid, living color.

I don't know what's more frightening, Bush threatening criminal prosecution of a newspaper, or citizens applauding and encouraging such action.

Here's what scares me, in approximate rank from scariest to not scary at all (roughly consonant with what I perceive as most likely to least likely):

Contracting a fatal or crippling disease
Death or crippling injury by accident (auto, bicycle, airplane, other, in that order)
Freedom of speech curtailed by Bush cabal's continued assault on civil liberties
Citizens' approval of same
Citizens' fear of terrorism deliberately inflamed and exploited to disable the constitution
Bush cabal amends constitution to retain its power permanently
Abrupt collapse of US economy due to Bush cabal's fiscal irresponsibility
Arrest for dissent, magazines I subscribe to, etc.
Nuclear holocaust initiated by Bush cabal in some pre-emptive adventure
Some other cataclysmic holocaust initiated by Bush cabal in some pre-emptive adventure
Loss of home and/or job to political upheaval caused by Bush cabal
Loss of home to earthquake
Loss of job
Loss of a family member or a friend
Loss of home to condemnation laws upheld to favor developers
Getting bit by a dog
Loss due to robbery of some kind
Getting bit by an escaped walrus
Getting bit in half by an escaped cloned tyrannosaurus
Death or injury by terrorist act


Mark Baird
Alameda CA

 

It's interesting that you would choose that article.

Here are some others.

Definition of Fascism

And another checklist:
"1.Instability of capitalist relationships or markets

2.The existence of considerable declassed social elements

3.The stripping of rights and wealth focused upon a specific segment of the population, specifically the middle class and intellectuals within urban areas as this is the group with the means, intelligence and ability to stop fascism if given the opportunity.

4.Discontent among the rural lower middle class (clerks, secretaries, white collar labor). Consistent discontent among the general middle and lower middle classes against the oppressing upper-classes (haves vs have-nots).

5.Hate: Pronounced, perpetuated and accepted public disdain of a specific group defined by race, origin, theology or association. (How often have you heard the words "Homo", "Gay" or "Liberal" used in such a manner?)

6.Greed: The motivator of fascism, which is generally associated with land, space or scarce resources in the possession of those being oppressed.

7.Organized Propaganda:

a) The creation of social mythology that venerates (creates saints of) one element of society while concurrently vilifying (dehumanizing) another element of the population through misinformation, misdirection and the obscuring of factual matter through removal, destruction or social humiliation, (name-calling, false accusations, belittling and threats).
Homosexuals
Liberals

B) The squelching of public debate not agreeing with the popular agenda via slander, libel, threats, theft, destruction, historical revisionism and social humiliation. Journalists in particular are terrorized if they attempt to publish stories contrary to the agenda."

It's the Corporate State, Stupid.

While sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they still aren't out to get you.

Here are the fourteen points taken to extreme...or supported....depending on your point of view.

Fourteen points

And remember....it's only the lowly unwashed that live in a Fascist state...the Fascists themselves live in a Democracy.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(wstander @ Jun 28 2006, 01:49 PM) [snapback]278124[/snapback]</div>

Instead of following the money so that you can ignore what is said, it's more constructive to analyse the argument and determine its validity. One example is kids who ignore their parents admonitions not to smoke, because it's harmful to them, because the parents smoke. Saying that your parents' argument is invalid because they smoke is illogical and, in itself, invalid. It's an error in reasoning called 'ad hominem' and deciding that an argument is invalid because you've followed the money and the trail leads to someone whose agenda is supported by it doesn't mean that their argument is invalid. The insurance industry telling you that not wearing a helmet when riding a motorcycle is dangerous may be in the best interests of the insurance industry but it's also true.

America is scared sh*tless and when we're afraid, we lash out, we react without thinking while drawing inward and develop a deep xenophobia. As the character in MiB put it "A person is smart. People are dumb, dangerous, panicky animals and you know it." When we're as afraid as we are, fascisim is a landmine that we have to watch out for. The obvious inclination for people who, shall we say, lean to the right, to believe that when comparisons are made between America today and Germany in the 1930s that it's an attack on the current American administration is missing the mark. The actual comparison is between two countries who face or faced crises of moral and ethical dilemma because trepidation on a national level will lead to fascism. The current leader of the U.S. isn't Hitler and, hopefully, the U.S. won't make the same mistakes that Germany did when it succumbed to the siren song of fascism. So far, America has been reacting first and thinking later.

 

If all that you state is teue concerning the Fascism in the USA, why have'nt the majority of those commenting in PriusChat's FHOP been rounded up and sent to Gitmo?

Surely, 'W's goosesteppers have noted your seditious comments and of course, knows your addresses, telephones, blood-type, DNA markers, and the last time you had non-missionary sex.
Dick Cheney is just waiting to drill your backyard for more oil while loading more deleted uranium rounds in to his rifle.

Oh, in my commute through 4 cities today, I was stopped, cavity-searched, and required to show my 'papers' at each 'checkpoint'. How was your commute, similar?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jun 29 2006, 09:21 AM) [snapback]278621[/snapback]</div>

Thank you sir, you beat me to it.

We too often, in looking at the atrocities of history, look only at the extremes and naturally wonder how some portion of mankind could bring itself to commit such obvious evil. But such obvious evil was never initiated full blown out of nothing; the social contexts that made such evils possible crept up over years, one small change at a time.

What we should pay attention to is first recognizing and then resisting what steps lead to the abyss; these steps are often subtle, always controversial, and never clear cut, else we wouldn't take them. We should not, for example, show only films of the aftermath of the Nazi holocaust (other than to show the extremes that we can reach), but should show instead the far more significant cultural and legal steps that, rule by rule, led an enlightened and advanced civilized society ultimately over the edge.

The articles that started this thread and others added on are exactly that: a pointing out of some of the steps the lead societies to disaster - and we should pay close attention.

Mark Baird
Alameda CA

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jun 29 2006, 01:20 PM) [snapback]278696[/snapback]</div>

Historically, all hegemonies have come to an end. There is no guarantee that United states's hegemony will last forever. In fact, history says that odds are against this. Who will take her place? Probably no one individual nation, but Chindia comes to mind and Russia/Canada will become dominant suppliers of energy when global warming makes their countries habitable.

Would it be a great shame if our great grand children could no longer make the claim that they live in the most powerful country in the world? Ask the Romans and Germans and the British. It's probably no big deal.