Fascism In America

[Wild Bill]

This subject came up in Kingpinn's thread about his his personal battle against oppression and rather than muddy the waters there it seemed like a new thread was warranted.

 

mibrains made a very astute observation;
 

the Nazis didn't start out killing jews.

 

they started out by stripping away their rights

they started out by isolating them and slandering them

they started out by destroying the fabric of trust amongst them and forced them to turn on each other.

 

Doesn't that seem familiar? Something we see in this country every day? It has long been my belief that the United States has been moving toward fascism since 1913 and has made it almost 100% in 2014. It will take more than voting for "the lesser of two evils" to get us out of this mess but it will certainly help if we know what we're really up against.

 

This is an excerpt from an article in American Thinker.

 

June 4, 2013

Fascism In America

By Richard Winchester

 

When fascism comes to America, what will it look (and feel) like?

 

Very much like what we have now, because a version of fascism is already here.

 

Fascism is associated with Hitler's brutal dictatorship in Germany between 1933 and 1945, or Mussolini's milder version in Italy between 1922 and 1943, Franco's in Spain between 1936 and 1975, or a host of lesser-known personalities in various countries at different times.

 

Fascism is a totalitarian political system, in which an all-powerful central government directs a nation's economy. Virtually no aspect of society is independent of the state, which is a one-party regime, dominated by an omniscient leader. Although heavily influenced by populistic themes, fascist ideology is at once anti-democratic and collectivist.

 

At first blush, the American variety of fascism is different. For one thing, the traditional institutions associated with government in the United States are still in place. Sadly, however, the primary principles of American governance -- especially limited government, federalism, individual liberty, personal responsibility, and so on -- have been severely compromised.

 

Ours has become a system of virtually limitless central governmental power. Whatever one thinks of the IRS and Justice Department scandals -- targeting conservatives and evangelical Christian and orthodox Jewish organizations, spying on AP reporters, and labeling a Fox News journalist a potential felon -- their common theme is that the federal government can do anything it wishes.

 

Think back to Barack Obama's comment that the main problem with the Constitution is that it is a charter of "negative liberties," because it primarily specifies what government cannot do to people. The Obamians want a charter of "positive liberties"; they want an organic law asserting what government can do to -- oops, sorry -- for people.

 

No discussion of fascism would be complete without considering ordinary citizens' role. One of the most disturbing books to come out of World War II is They Thought They Were Free (1955), by Milton Mayer, who traveled to Germany in 1952 and interviewed ten ordinary Nazis who lived in west-central Germany.

 

Mayer's "friends" mentioned that the Nazi transmogrification of Germany occurred in a series of small steps, none of which was so wrenching as to produce massive resistance. Had the Nazis moved too swiftly, and made major transformations of Germany, some people -- perhaps enough to make a difference -- might have changed history. (One can't help thinking about Pastor Niemöller's account of how he remained passive during early Nazi outrages, only to discover that, when they came for him, it was too late.)

 

One is also struck by Mayer's "friends" lack of curiosity about what was going on beyond their narrow sphere of interest.

 

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/06/fascism_in_america.html#ixzz2pvIOOa2V

 

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana
 

[Restorium2]

The most striking difference is that we don't have Hitler today. He was beyond any 'politician' that leads the world today. The likes of Hitler are either imprisoned, dead, or the leader of Syria.

[cristinew]

Please take the time to look at the US house of representatives  Look to the left,,, look to the right of the Speaker,  What do you see? You got it  symbols of world fascism  , Nobody sees this  but its right there

[Wild Bill]

The most striking difference is that we don't have Hitler today. He was beyond any 'politician' that leads the world today. The likes of Hitler are either imprisoned, dead, or the leader of Syria.

 

Hitler was an anomaly among fascist leaders. He and the Nazi Party were essentially thugs. Mussolini, who first articulated Fascist theory, didn't like Hitler.

 

Look at Fransisco Franco and Juan Carlos, brutal to their political enemies but not so much so as to arouse world condemnation. Hitler just took it too far to be ignored.

 

American fascism doesn't have the traditional all powerful leader. Our government is more of a fascist committee.

[Restorium2]

Well Bill, that goes directly against the definition of fascism. You, at least, need a dictator. No such thing as a committe of fascism. That's an oxymoron.

[cristinew]

Most scholars agree^[who?] that a "fascist regime" is foremost an authoritarian form of government,    BINGO

[Wild Bill]

Well Bill, that goes directly against the definition of fascism. You, at least, need a dictator. No such thing as a committe of fascism. That's an oxymoron.

 

Here's Mussolini's definition of fascism.

 

The foundation of Fascism is the conception of the State, its character, its duty, and its aim. Fascism conceives of the State as an absolute, in comparison with which all individuals or groups are relative, only to be conceived of in their relation to the State.

Edited January 9, 2014 by Wild Bill

[+Malamute]

Godwin's Law...

[Wild Bill]

Godwin's Law...

 

Exactly. I'm trying to separate the political theory from the poster boy.

[trichcycler]

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2014 by grassmatch

[Hayduke]

Chris Hedges makes the case in this documentary that you do not need a powerful leader to head towards facism.  They make a strong case in this pretty right on, but terrifying documentary….

 

[Wild Bill]

Chris Hedges makes the case in this documentary that you do not need a powerful leader to head towards facism.  They make a strong case in this pretty right on, but terrifying documentary….

 

What a great film! Too bad they won't show it in the schools.

Edited January 9, 2014 by Wild Bill

[trichcycler]

Orwell's 1984 rang these bells a few decades ago. great documentary, thanks Hayduke !

[Spartyon]

Hitler Mussolini and Stalin are all rolling over in there tombs and laughing there ars off we have become everything they envisioned or will be soon.

[GregS]

There are any number of systems, and they are subject to multiple variables. Take for instance Chomsky's self identification as a libertarian socialist.

 

Sure it's fun to speculate and hypothesize and extract from history. Fascism exists in many countries and can be expected, I think, to endure for a long while. I don't see that happening here because we have ostensibly free elections, and correctives are typically applied soon enough to keep the wheels from falling off altogether.

[Wild Bill]

we have ostensibly free elections,

 

Who gets to pick what your choices are?

[GregS]

Who gets to pick what your choices are?

Ain't it you? If not it must be grassmatch, or jointedone, or Redden, or...does anyone remember ROM? Yeah. It must be him.

Edited January 11, 2014 by GregS

[Insomniac]

I've heard this before. I don't think it's the government that we have to be concerned with though.

 

The problem is the government is owned and operated by money interests. It's not "going to happen" it happened years ago. We're just now noticing it.

 

They have us from multiple directions, the biggest "weapon" they have is the public relations industry, take a peek at sourcewatch.org. The way it works is, if the plutocracy can't get their laws passed via campaign donations alone, they enlist the support of the PR industry.

 

The PR industry in turn has a wide range of tools at its disposal, including the media. (but certainly not limited to that) after they have their way, 51% of US citizens (or more) start to agree with what they are told. This is documented in a lot of places, but I think Noam Chomsky "Manufacturing Consent" is probably the best one I've ever seen. I just wish he'd explored the PR industry instead of only the media industry.

 

The governments job is to facilitate the exploitation of resources and human labor by the nations owners in the most effecient way possible. I would say that fascism is useful (to them) if it helps them accomplish this, but it's not the problem in and of itself.