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Self & Society
Is America a Facist State? by Chuck Richardson With the war in Iraq, and innumerable social problems unchanged, questions arise about the identity of America not only to the rest of the world but to it's own citizens. What has America become under the leadership of Christian conservatives [sic] and the Republican Party? Is it still the land of the free and the home of the brave? Does it still welcome the Earth’s oppressed, her tired, huddled masses to its teeming shores, if not by law at least in spirit? Or has it always been this way? Do the Democrats, in the words of Gore Vidal, "bribe the masses"? Have they become like Republicans, ruling through coercion? Are we still a nation, as we were before 1980, in which religious people and clergy are worthy of being held in high esteem? Or have we become a nation that the views of such people are dangerous because of their suspicious political activism and morally bankrupt worldviews? One need only compare Pat Robertson to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to consider the contrast. We know what the Rev. King’s dream was by heart, but what about Dr. Robertson’s? What’s his dream? Facism in History America is on the verge of not only becoming a one-party national security state (which it has been, arguably, for some time), but a national security state with distinctively fascist characteristics. Mussolini defined fascism as "the merger of corporate and government power". That’s a rather broad definition, but fascism is, actually, a rather broad ideology. Nazism was something of an anomaly that fell upon the margins of mainstream fascism, and serves as a fascinating distraction from its fundamental, universal tenets. Spain under Franco, the Marcos’ Philippines and Indonesia’s Suharto – these are good examples of how fascism can operate successfully for a while in various cultural settings. Each regime, in cold political terms, was fairly triumphant at maintaining its nation’s power apparatus for a generation until collapsing under the weight of its own moral bankruptcy. The Ideology A method common to all fascist regimes, however, is to define a national ideal that puts forward a particular type, or class, of citizen as a measuring stick by which all other types, i.e. losers, fall naturally short. So you have the white hats vs. the black hats, cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, white folk bearing their burdens, the Galactic Confederation vs. the Klingons, the chosen people against their heathen oppressors, and so on, all waging war against the enemy to maintain social order. The good guy never blinks and the seeds of fascist mythology are sewn. In time, a superman emerges from the mud, inseminating the culture that will grow its cult, making it personally fruitful and fit for dominion over a world pregnant with opportunities. The differences between "good" and "bad" people depicted by fascist societies would be laughable if they weren’t so tragic, being always defined by superficial traits like race, creed, class or sexuality. Hubris inevitably leads the hero to overextend himself and suffer defeat much to the anguish of those who’d been sucking his tit for their chemically enhanced, synthetic nourishment. With fascism, whackos rule the roost, stacking lies upon layers of propaganda rooted in phenomenological misinterpretations of reality. The regime controls the average citizen, who’s too easily manipulated, being severed from his or her political economic reality. In such a society, truth has been forever extinguished. Only a drastic change in the system that re-defines its form of civilization can offer freedom-loving people any hope of behaving responsibly, as they could if they were honestly informed. Unfortunately, history reveals that failed fascist regimes (whose follies ended tragically for their people, as they tend to be blind to long-term consequences) pursued imperialistic agendas. However, it must be noted that the most successful fascist regimes were commonly puppets of a larger fascist establishment that extended beyond its own boarders, making imperialism a moot issue for many of them (e.g.: Marcos, Augusto Pinochet in Chile, Panama’s Gen. Manuel Noriega). But past failures have not extinguished this tendency toward domination. Rather, it has largely changed form and evolved into a more protean entity, or force, that can be witnessed when one nation or group of nations extends its authority through trade agreements that favor the common private interests backing it. Rather than blitzkriegs, we observe NAFTA, WTO and GATT. When this regime is attacked, the underpaid and underemployed enlist for the fight, misunderstanding what they are actually defending. Common Misconceptions The most common error about fascism is the assumption that a democratic republic, by definition, cannot be fascist. But the reality is it becomes fascist once the government abandons or ignores its most deeply held values, and the common person no longer has any real say in what their government is doing. In a society that has adopted fascism, consciously or not, the ruling elite is petrified that if the people beneath them, i.e.: the brutes, were allowed the necessary reforms to improve their lot in life, they would seek revenge on those who’d previously exploited them. The people seriously outnumber the privileged who manipulate the economy, legal system and governmental policies to work in favor of the status quo. They have reason to be afraid, South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a miraculous exception to the rule thanks to the moral integrity of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and President Nelson Mandela (both of whom are harsh critics of America’s aggressive foreign policy). Social Darwinism The Bush regime’s characterization of its enemies as "terrorists" and "barbarians at the gates of civilization" is an attempt to justify its own brutality. By dehumanizing the enemies of American global domination as terrorists and calling them evil, the mass of people under the sway of a fascist regime can accept its moral justification for human rights abuses at home and abroad. The losers are deserving of what they get in the minds of most people, who commonly feel no responsibility for what is done in their names and interests. Like Pontius Pilot, they have washed their hands of the blood that’s staining them. In many cases, they accept fascism as a primal form of justice commonly referred to as "Social Darwinism". Yet this isn’t the America that many Americans know and love. Our friends, family and neighbors, most of them, are not bloodthirsty Nazi who actively endorse the slaughter of savages on the other side of the world. They are, however, oblivious fascists. How did what dawned with the Reagan revolution evolve into a nation on the verge of becoming a fascist republic? Rather than persuasion, reason and other lawful methods, propaganda was deployed in the name of all that was holy and sacred. Right-wing propaganda was successful because it was so difficult for the average person usually a good, humble Christian to recognize. A colleague brilliantly likened the situation to fish swimming in water – the fish aren’t aware of it until the liquid they are breathing begins to boil. Marriage of Corporation and State in America Fascist propaganda creates a belief among the nation’s "good" citizens that "bad" behavior among the underprivileged is somehow a mixture of genetics and cultural inferiority, representing innate flaws and/or social deficiencies unique to their group (explaining its social status), rather than being a natural reaction to tyranny. This succeeds in a democratic republic when the majority feels its bad behavior is justified by its innate superiority over those it is brutalizing. For e.g. few people think of slaughterhouses and the inhumane treatment of livestock while eating their meat in large quantities. Among the most common warning signs that a State is becoming fascist are:
More Classifications Dr. Lawrence Britt, a scholar on Facism, outlines 14 defining characteristics of fascism, 13 of which the U.S. possesses: 1) Fascist regimes nurture ubiquitous patriotism and virulent nationalism. Symptoms often include flags being flown everywhere, national symbols being pinned, tattooed, painted, sewn or woven into and onto various surfaces and textures, and political pageantry propped up by popular slogans. 2) Disregard for human rights. 3) Defining a common enemy to unite the people. 4) Military spending is disproportionate to social spending even when domestic problems are numerous and widespread. Military service becomes not a job, but an adventure to which one can escape from the quiet desperation of one’s lower class life. Combat is profound and glorious. God is on our side, obviously, as the homeland is the greatest, most powerful nation in the history of the world. 5) Mass media, which is corporate-owned, is greatly limited by government enforced corporate restrictions on content. They are also run by people whose ideologies are sympathetic to the aims of the ruling elite (see Venezuela), since they are the ruling elite. Censorship, disinformation and propaganda are commonplace. 6) The entire nation, it is reported, is obsessed with national security. 7) Government and religion are finding ways to conjugate for the purpose of social engineering (see President Bush’s faith-based initiative, and funding to fight AIDS in Africa). 8) Corporate power is protected. Nearly everything is incorporated or up for sale or sponsorship. 9) The influence of labor unions is suppressed at every turn. 10) Artists and intellectuals are disdained and marginalized. 11) The middle class, feeling threatened and experiencing cognitive dissonance, projects its anxiety outward as an obsession with crime and punishment (and I’m not talking Dostoevsky, more like Jerry Bruckheimer). Fascist regimes empower law enforcement to police the people by any means necessary. And the people, most of whom are hoodwinked, willingly ignore police abuse and the violation of civil rights as their patriotic duty. Fascist regimes always employ national police forces with virtually unlimited power to secure the homeland and maintain the status quo. 12) Prevalent cronyism and depravity. 13) Phony elections. 14) The only one of Britt’s characteristics of fascism that the US lacks is rampant sexism, which has found a new voice in heterosexualism or the belief that homosexuality and other sexualities which are not strictly heterosexual and intended for making babies, is a sin. So if Britt were willing to accept this slight variation, the U.S. would be at least on the verge of becoming fascist, if not already there, on every count. Economics Upon Ronald Reagan’s election to the presidency in 1980, America’s executive branch of government assumed a corporate libertarian ideology, though Jimmy Carter’s presidency had set the stage by pushing for tightened domestic spending while stressing higher personal responsibility, something that caused Ted Kennedy to oppose Carter in the primaries, angering the President to the point of an uncharacteristic outburst: "I’m going to kick his ass," [in the primaries], which he did. When President Clinton took office in 1993, the Reagan revolution morphed into the Contract for America, which fueled the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994 and Clinton’s swing to the right, which couldn’t prevent his eventual impeachment a huge distraction from very real national security concerns. After eight years of failing to topple Clinton, the Republicans gained control of the White House after Bush was selected by a 5-4 vote of a perilously conservative Supreme Court. So what does this political situation have to do with economics? Everything. Free market ideology -- a belief in the necessity of perpetual economic growth -- has been cuddled by what can only be described as a fundamentalist religious fervor. Adherents are wide-eyed, ignoring the big picture and possessing faith in the forward march of their eternal progress. These ideologues view government’s role as being the supplier of the infrastructure from which private, commercial interests that finance the careers of public officials may benefit. These folks believe that greed is a natural human quality and a good motivator, that acting on the desire to do better than one’s neighbor (i.e. competition rather than cooperation) is the highest form of self-expression, and that the feverish rivalry to consume the most leads to a real meritocracy, and that it is pragmatic, or prudent, to elevate these values to attain utilitarian ends. Corporate fascists view globalization and free trade as historically inevitable, and believe it’s in the best interests of oppressed people everywhere to accept the new world order. How conveniently we have forgotten that slogan from Bush Sr. Corporate fascists make no room for shades of gray or ambiguity, as they instinctively seem to operate in a world of black and white extremes where the only things in the middle of the road are dead liberals. Corporate fascists are the extreme right wing of the corporate class, which consists of wealthy investors, corporate managers, financial brokers, lawyers, public relations specialists, consultants and mainstream news media personalities. These individuals profit from advancing the rights of corporations. They are also bound by an ideology that favors business over government while releasing commercial interests of any economic accountability regarding the public costs of their anti-social behavior. These corporate fascists, or corporate libertarians, back their ideological agenda with significant financial resources, injecting a Machiavellian ethos and moral philosophy to advance their private political economic interests. The rights of common folks play second fiddle to those of elite financial stake-holders, and regular people are powerless to make their government hold corporations accountable for the public good. Culture Americans are easily the most violent, militaristic people on Earth. Ironically, that makes us the inhabitants of that "shining city on the hill" barbarians. According to the German pacifist politician Karl Liebknecht’s 1907 lecture, Means and Effects of Militarism, patriotism signifies a constant readiness to pitch into the exterior or the interior enemy whenever commanded to do so. A state of utter stupidity among the people enables the fascist regime to lead them like a shepherd to the slaughter; they’re sheep defending the interests of the status quo. The silence of the lambs is deafening. War against the foreign foe requires men, said Liebknecht, war against the foe at home, slaves [and] machines. Militarism supplies corporate libertarianism, or fascism, with a submissive workforce shackled by political economic exploitation and the frustration of not being able to do much to alter its situation without great hardship. Militarism also created the corporate military-industrial complex, which during the cold war developed a system of propaganda that it used to saturate the whole of public and private life with patriotism preachers, teachers, popular journalists, neurotic literary figures like Ayn Rand, and prestigious military leaders like Colin Powell, Stormin’ Norman Schwarzkopf, John Wayne, Patton and Rambo, that served to successfully brainwash hundreds of thousands of young people to enlist in a military comprised, for now, of volunteers. Each of these archetypes, or cultural memes, served to veil the colluding parties with a perverse, polluted halo. Militarism is the most Machiavellian system in human history. Mass consumption justifies the services and productions of corporate libertarian institutions, and militarism is the vilest fuel informing that ethos. Good or real Americans are threatened and cajoled into maintaining their consumption habits while traumatized by various crises, and volunteer to kill for the privilege of covering their overhead expenses, both now and in the future. The military, meanwhile, is seen as the prime generator of technology and scientific advancement in its vast influence over the nation’s industrial resources thanks to their tactical significance. R/Evolution Much needs to be done if America is to once again find itself steering on the course toward ever-greater human freedom and dignity. Fortunately, the first thing that needs to happen may have already begun. Fifteen months ago, on Scott Leffler’s morning political talk radio show "Dialog", I predicted that if Bush went ahead and invaded Iraq unilaterally it would not only cost him the election, but the Republican nomination. I felt then that there had to be enough decent human beings left in the GOP to ensure it was capable of cleaning its own house. And recently, there are some indications they may be ready to do that [forgive me, for I was naive, or hopeful]. The 9/11 Commission along with Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, along with a few others, like Senate majority leader Bill Frist, R- Tennessee, are pressing ahead with serious investigations into the Bush regime’s handling of national security. Even neo-conservative spokesperson William Kristol has expressed reservations over how the war in Iraq is going. As things worsen, and they most likely will, the Republican Party will be defined by how it responds to the situation. Another fissure that seems to be widening on the right is between secular, business-oriented conservatives and religious ones. The battle resembles a snake pit, and like most snake pits, it’s occurring in dark, isolated corners around the country. The hope is each side will weaken the other enough for moderates to regain control of the party. Like it or not, Alexander Hamilton was partly right when he said "the business of America is business". Business people need representation in our government, and if they’re fair and honest they deserve fair and honest representation. That means the Republican Party needs to grasp this fundamental fact and start filling the void, or someone is going to snatch the reins of power from its snarling teeth. The Democrats, on the other hand, have shown few signs of being a party capable of doing it. That isn’t to say they wouldn’t be a vast improvement over the Republicans. If they were true to form, they would bribe the American people with a slue of changes that would make us only half as fascist as we are today. So the first phase of r/evolution would involve internecine warfare resulting in the reformation of the Republican Party, and the people turning to the Democratic Party to fill the void. The success of this phase will be measured by how much power the Democrats are able to seize from the Republicans in 2004. Bush’s defeat, of course, is required for advancement down a less warlike path. If this phase is sufficiently successful and the Democrats rule the executive branch, and find themselves within striking distance of taking over Congress, the midterm- election in 2006 would mark phase two. Considering that those who favor personal responsibility and freedom, and profound political-economic reform, are moderately successful and take over the Senate, and with a moderate Democratic Senate and liberal President, curbed by a Republican House of Representatives that is moving ever closer to the middle, the stage for phase three will be set in 2008. The country will either want even more of what’s being offered, about the same, or less. The people will, as always, decide. If phase three is successful, and we leftists are given an inch, we should strive to fairly gain a mile, and continue pushing ahead for ever greater personal freedom and responsibility, as well as fundamental corporate reform, so the system will continue r/evolving. That, in and of itself, is the fourth and final stage. R/evolution is the peaceful, democratic path toward necessary reform. Your Help is Needed Citizenship is not something to do while sleeping or half-awake. America needs to wake up and reclaim itself. American must believe in the basic rights in our Constitution -- and Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Assembly -- and learn anew to protest. Civil disobedience is our right. We must protest by not voting for politicians who abuse our trust. Let's not allow future elections to be swayed by lies. Instead let's protest why there is no holiday on election day or not enough polling booths, or why the election machines keep no paper trail. In order for American's to have a democracy that is functional and not a facism the citizens of the nation must function. Your help is therefore, needed. About the Author(s): See under Our Contributors to find out about the Author(s) of this article. |
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