America has all of the 14 defining characteristics of Fascism and, like sheep, we passively endure our fleecing : Allen L Roland
With the four horseman of hubris ( Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and Bush ) in full gallop, shouting their war cry of 'Islamic fascism' and systematically misquoting and demonizing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ~ it's time for America to review the 14 characteristics of fascism and, in the process, face our own growing neocon fascist state.
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 ~ and America has all of them.
Allen L Roland
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - 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.
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, Islamic fascists, 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.
Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on Conscious talk radio www.conscioustalk.net
Fascism and Bushism. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Providence brought me here...
A.Hitler
I speak to the Higher Father..
G.W. Bush
Our pundits, the ones that write for money are pathetic crooks and malignant posers. Whenever they write about any events they always try to emphasize the psychology, the ' people', the 'masses'. It is amazing how those proponents of the free market use and abuse the classical Marxist language, As if they studied in the Soviet schools al those clichés of the communist propaganda to use those in any case and for any occasion. What a crock!
Thus, when they talk Hitler or Bush or, God forbid, try to draw a connection, they always talk about the 'German national pride' or 'American traditional conservatism', about the 'fervor of the Nazism' or about the 'consistency of Bush and Republicans', so whoever reads or listens to that nonsense becomes convinced that there was and is some historical inevitability taking place, something powerfully destined but at the same time unpredictable, so who are we to try to stop it? That is, of course, bullshit. Bushism uses the classical fascist methodology exactly because it resembles its predecessor as a societal anomaly; in no way it represents anything but the cancerous cell on the body of Humanity and as any cancer it had its causes and can be cured at an early stage. If it is not contained it spreads until Humanity takes care of it, sometimes with big sacrifices. But it is not an inevitability at all.
Bushism has a lot in common with the Hitler's fascism in its methods, although in its goals it is a doppelganger, an evil reflection, something bizarre, topsy- turvy. Maybe the best definition for it is a genetically altered fascism, a freak formation, some kind of an urban legend coming to life. But the big three- Motive, Method and Opportunity are the same as it was in 1930s. And those present the striking similarities.
Motive.
In both cases the motive is FEAR. In 1932-1933 in the Weimar Republic it was the fear of the ruling German aristocratic/military/industrial oligarchy of the rising Social- Democratic workers' movement. It was not that they were threatened in their very existence. But they felt that they had to start sharing power, the one they maintained for centuries. Germany was threatened from within by the growing discontent of the poor and from outside- by the foreign industrial competition. Their profits were falling and traditional ways to prosper did not work anymore. They had to change, to adapt, to agree to the representation of the trade- unions, also to include into their closed power elite strangers and nouvo- rich Jews. Otherwise they were facing a growing influence of the communists. In that situation they brought in and used the dark force of the far – right to do the dirty job for them.
Fear was also the primary motivation in the efforts of the group that brought Bush to power in the US. Only it was the different kind of fear. It was the fear of the people of the US, the fear of the nation forming at last. For decades the big business and political elite ruled the disconnected country by manipulating the differences. They did all they could so that people did not unite in common cause, whatever that cause might be. They used the entire propaganda machine to direct the people's energy and skills towards the individualistic goals and instigated the irrational fear of communism as a reason for the freaky militarization. They directed the administration, whatever it was; they controlled Congress and, to some level, the judiciary. With respect to the common people they were very good in making them dependent, destroying their way of influence and fiercely disconnecting them as a nation by instigating the idea that every group had its own, special interests to fight for.
All of that started to change in 1960s and especially in 1990s after the official collapse of communism. It became obvious even to the most stubborn people that the people of the US had to turn inwards to solve their national problems put aside for a long time. And to do that they first had to become a nation. Nation has one voice. It is the voice of those who represent it. People started to look at their governing system, their representation more closely. They started to ask questions. They initiated national trends, like a plight for a universal healthcare or an affirmative action. They craftily used the law to promote the national goals. People of America woke up and started to move. They were uniting nationally, races and groups aside. It was only a matter of time.
That time was not to be given to them. The dogs of the elite sung a threat like those canaries in the mines. The nation of the US meant the end to the old order. The big and powerful could not stand it. They got scared. And from that Fear came Bush.
Method.
In both cases the power was seized by the political intrigue.
Weimar Republic was a Presidential Democracy. President Hindenburg, though old, was a loyal tool of the powerful rulers and in full control of the Reichwer, the German army. In 1932 the Nazis in Coalition with the Nationalists won the majority in Reichstag, but, per previous agreements von Pappen, the nationalist was appointed Chancellor with strong military support. Hitler and his party were pushed aside by the big money. They had to find a new way. That way was found through corruption. The perspective of the scandal associated with the uncovering that Hindenburgh got a gift from the rich landowners in a form of the Noideck estate shattered the coalition. Hitler approached Hindenburgh again and promised him that if he became a Chancellor that story would be buried. Hindenburgh this time decided to let it be and appointed Hitler a Chancellor. Thus a simple greed in combination with the political disarray made it possible for Hitler to take power without trouble. The people didn't even notice anything for a while.
The Republican intrigue in the Y2000 started in the Y1999 with the Clinton's impeachment case. Of course, the goal was not to impeach Clinton but to cripple Gore. If Gore became a president after the impeachment he would have won the Y2000 elections easily. No, the idea was to paralyze Clinton and tarnish Gore. It worked. In an unprecedented Y2000 Democratic campaign the incumbent President sat aside and did nothing to support his Party's candidate. The main ace was taken away from the Gore's deck.
Still, the calculation nearly failed due to those stubborn voters. Bush lost the popular vote and in Florida it became more and more obvious that fraud was on the way. The correct and lawful way was to announce the revote in Florida. Instead of that someone approached the Supreme Court and practically forced them to interfere on Bush's behalf. We will never find out what happened for 50 years or so. Incidentally, no reporter pursued the story. But it is pretty obvious that there was an intrigue and due to that intrigue GW was suddenly elevated to the position he was not worthy of and of which he would never dream about at normal circumstances.
Opportunity.
In both cases the next step was to either paralyze or dismantle the democratic process, so that to guarantee the ruling elite that it would have its domination for quite a while. The promises had to be fulfilled.
Hitler had to solve this problem on both sides. Parliamentary democracy and nationalists' control over the army did not allow him to go forward with his plans of national revival as he saw it (at least he had some vision, though insane). At the same time the elite was displeased with his SA comrades, his old guard, who wanted to use the power for their own enrichment. The opportunity brought a deal: Hitler decided to betray his own comrades in return receiving a 'free hands' option from the elite in his treatment of the Parliament. Goering's henchmen burned the Reichstag and communists were immediately accused. Hitler assumed the emergency powers and ordered new elections. 99% of the voters voted for his party this time and the power seizure was complete. Hitler proclaimed the '1000 years of the 3rd Reich'. At about the same time in the " Night of Long Knifes', Hitler killed Rem and many of his former friends as well as some of the prominent anti- Nazi generals like von Schleicher. Reichswer became Vermacht and Hitler became its new Commander-in Chief.
In the years 2000-2001 it became more and more obvious to the ruling elite in the US that Bush was unfit as a leader. He was a pathetic shadow of his father. He also was unstable, moody and lazy. All of that meant that either another candidate was to be sought or some opportunity was to be developed to transform the Bush's image from the bumbling nothing to something more suitable. Such opportunity could only be some crisis, preferably war, big enough to redefine the Bush's role and small enough not to rock the boat too hard. The 9/11-terror attack was a perfect thing.
Again, we most likely will not know the truth about 9/11 for 50 years or so. But the plausible hypothesis is that although there was no conspiracy in the US government to perform that act, there was a 'deliberate blind eye' policy. Signals were ignored, information hidden, actions delayed. There was a lot of deliberate negligence. At the same time it looks like at least the act itself caught everyone with their pants down: the elite wanted something like that to happen but not that big, that destructive, that deadly. The ' smart' were outsmarted by the events and fell into the fit of black rage and fear. Of course, they had to move quickly to avoid being held accountable. That's why we never had a trial of 9/11. That's why we had Patriot Act. That's why we have wars. That's why our Pretzel is now so adored. Billions of dollars were poured into the propaganda machine to use an opportunity and redirect the people from the real painful questions: who, why, to whose benefit. Of course, the goal was achieved; we now have a 'divine- guided simpleton' adored by 'the nation' leading us all to Hell. He has no vision like Hitler and the only people he can sacrifice are we. That's what he is doing.
As I mentioned before, Bushism is an imitation. It does not have any national aspect. It is as usurpation when power is seized by a shallow, selfish group of people, who have no long-term strategies. That does not mean they would not pretend that they have some. It is a game but a bloody one. The only thing those people want is to' rule as before', when the nation did not exist and the US government was just a source of money for the ruthless. Such strategy, of course, is doomed.
As methods are the same, the same is also the destiny. Though doomed the anomaly is dangerous beyond belief. It has nothing to lose and it has nothing to preserve. Bushists are destructionists. They are incompetent, stupid, cruel and scared. Such combination can easily destroy the whole country especially because they don't care. That is maybe a primary source of discontent. For the fist time in the history of the US its administration does not care for the nation's welfare. They don't care. If only our fellow- Americans understand that before it is too late.
by
Mark Sashine (46 articles, 19 quicklinks, 235 diaries, 3359 comments)
on Friday, September 1, 2006 at 7:44:13 AM
Nice vent, Panurg ~ It all comes down to this ~ Bush just doesn't care ~ so America needs to stop wishful thinking, end its co-dependent relationship with this moral coward, take away his Congress in November ~ and then endict him for flagrant abuses of executive power.
by
Allen L Roland (849 articles, 7 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 339 comments)
on Friday, September 1, 2006 at 11:46:40 PM
I'm with you on most of your points, but some of your arguments are rather weak. For example:
Flags have been widely displayed throughout much of the USA's history, certainly during my 46 years, not merely during these proto-fascist Bush years.
"Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause" is also a characteristic of non-Fascist regimes, including anti-Fascist regimes. During WWII, the USA and its allies correctly identified Nazis and Fascists as enimies, and we were united to fight them. To use your agrument against you, combatting Fascists made us Fascists. Come on! Are you saying that Communism during the Cold War was NOT a threat to the USA, ot that terrorists aren't threats now? Please!
Traditional gender roles in the USA are hardly particularly rigid compared to other countries, including western Europe, which tends to be more liberal than the USA. Actually, people in western Europe rightly laugh (or wince) at American feminism. Believe it or not, traditional gender roles are largely determined by nature and re-enforced by nurture. Differences in brain anatomy confirm this. Yeah, believe it or not, males and females are different. Acknowledging it doesn't make one a Fascist or sexist, just a realist.
The rest of your points were pretty much a bull's eye, but including statements that are so easily refuted tend to weaken one's overall argument.
R.C. Barrows
by
RRRRComposer (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments)
on Monday, September 4, 2006 at 12:07:49 AM
rrrrcomposer:Just because others use these tactics does not change the fact that those same tactics are a part of the fascist agenda.Propaganda is propaganda by any name.I prefer LIE when told as truth. 9/12/01 g.w.bush,"Do not listen to the conspiracy theorists,of which there will be many".
Why the need for this statement in his very first speech?
by
B.Tucker (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Monday, September 4, 2006 at 3:22:36 AM
Your arguments do not hold any water. About the flag issue, there are a lot more flags flying around the United States today than there were 10 years ago. Read the thing about enemies/scapegoats. It says those that blame the innocent to try and consolidate their power, it says nothing about if someone blames someone else for something, whether they did it or not, then the first person is a fascist. Also, a person who discriminates against a woman because she is a woman is sexist, no matter what you say. Oh, when you allude to the fact that women have smaller brains, the size of a brain doesn't matter but the amount of gray matter does. And women have a higher percentage of gray matter so the amount of gray matter is the same.
by
007s bretta (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 19 comments)
on Monday, September 4, 2006 at 1:16:04 PM
