We like to fit political systems into neat categories. Democracy. Fascism. Communism. Socialism. Theocracy. Monarchy.
Trouble is most societies don’t fit neatly into the categories.
Take our own, for instance. Right now many Republicans are taking extreme umbrage over a Democratic charge that the U.S. has become "fascist."
A lot of this latest pushback began after Keith Olbermann issued a "special comment" following a Donald Rumsfeld speech saying, in part, "there is fascism indeed." How dare he, sniffed the right. Harrumph. Harrumph. One, Mark Stahlman, wrote:
These guys are simply conservatives (with a few neo-cons mixed in), who are
close to the center in current US politics — which is why they got 50%
(+/-) of the votes.
But that doesn’t prove anything. The content of your policies isn’t proven (or disproven) by their popularity.
A man named Lawrence Britt then tried to analyze America on the fascism meter. Mainly this led some to mutter, "Who’s Lawrence Britt?"
That question doesn’t matter, either.
What seems clear is that there have been systematic attempts by this Administration to humiliate dissenters, to control what people know, to stop whistleblowers, and to create wide-ranging surveillance systems aimed at stopping people from doing anything the current Administration decides it doesn’t like. This is called "fighting the war on terror," although no one has been drafted (still) and taxes have actually been cut, not raised.
The point critics make, and quite rightly, is that freedom has been
diminished in our time, and is being steadily attacked from within the
government. Whether that government is conflating it with license, or
with anti-Americanism, doesn’t matter. The policies matter. The results matter.
On the other hand, the current Administration has botched this, just
as it has botched everything else, because reality is moving in a
different direction. Reality is moving toward more openness, more
transparency, more connectivity — not less. The degree to which
societies endorse this, even encourage this, defines their success as
societies, and this Administration has been actively discouraging it.
Yet it increases nonetheless.
We have a bigger "commons" today than ever before, thanks to the
Internet, and it’s growing every day. The most powerful new economic
models harness altruism, as in the open source movement,
blogging-as-journalism, amateur video. We can no more stuff this in a
bottle and cork it than the Chinese can, and we have just as much a
need to resist as the Chinese do, because this is where our economic
growth is going to come from, nowhere else.
Are we more fascist than before? Yes. Are we Fascist? No. But the line is murky. The real question is, how much further toward that
line do you want to go?
Ask your public officials that this fall. And vote against any who
try to dodge the question, or who like the hippies of 40 years ago just say
"Further."
If this were really a fascist country, those who claim it is wouldn’t be free to say so. As they can freely express their opinion with no fear of reprisal, they’re clearly wrong.
If this were really a fascist country, those who claim it is wouldn’t be free to say so. As they can freely express their opinion with no fear of reprisal, they’re clearly wrong.
But do you really have no fear of reprisal?
But do you really have no fear of reprisal?
The only reprisals I have ever faced for airing political views have come from people who tried to screw with my employment. And I’ve been airing political views since the 60s.
So yes, I have no fear of reprisal. And neither does Dana, or he wouldn’t post a picture of Bush/Hitler on the Internet.
The only reprisals I have ever faced for airing political views have come from people who tried to screw with my employment. And I’ve been airing political views since the 60s.
So yes, I have no fear of reprisal. And neither does Dana, or he wouldn’t post a picture of Bush/Hitler on the Internet.
Fascism involves more than merely the inability to speak one’s mind. Fascism is a confluence of corporate power and political power. We have seen our personal rights and liberties squashed in order to ease the burden of the corporations. Fascism also involves a state religion. In this case, the nouveau capitalist/evengelical militia fit nicely.
To say that Fascism doesn’t exist merely because we can express that view is a bit naive. It’s a creeping process built on fear, lies and ignorance.
Fascism involves more than merely the inability to speak one’s mind. Fascism is a confluence of corporate power and political power. We have seen our personal rights and liberties squashed in order to ease the burden of the corporations. Fascism also involves a state religion. In this case, the nouveau capitalist/evengelical militia fit nicely.
To say that Fascism doesn’t exist merely because we can express that view is a bit naive. It’s a creeping process built on fear, lies and ignorance.
A confluence of corporate power and political power is a very serious problem and one I think we are facing, but it has nothing to do with Facism. Indeed, in a truly facist state, corporations would have very little power. I think we do not live in a facist state, but at the same time that doesn’t mean the current administration doesn’t have facist tendencies.
A confluence of corporate power and political power is a very serious problem and one I think we are facing, but it has nothing to do with Facism. Indeed, in a truly facist state, corporations would have very little power. I think we do not live in a facist state, but at the same time that doesn’t mean the current administration doesn’t have facist tendencies.
Is a fan of Facebook a “facist?”
Seriously, I haven’t noticed any loss of civil liberties since the 60s, with the exception of the child support enforcement system, arguably the greatest violation of civil liberties since slavery.
But administration critics never complain about it.
In the name of child support enforcement, you see, the government examines bank and utility records every month, arrests people without warrant, puts them in jail indefinitely, and tries them without right to counsel. The family courts routinely issue gag orders and dictate religious instruction for children. These things do real damage to civil liberties, but the Bush-haters never complain.
It’s an odd world we live in, brothers and sisters.
Is a fan of Facebook a “facist?”
Seriously, I haven’t noticed any loss of civil liberties since the 60s, with the exception of the child support enforcement system, arguably the greatest violation of civil liberties since slavery.
But administration critics never complain about it.
In the name of child support enforcement, you see, the government examines bank and utility records every month, arrests people without warrant, puts them in jail indefinitely, and tries them without right to counsel. The family courts routinely issue gag orders and dictate religious instruction for children. These things do real damage to civil liberties, but the Bush-haters never complain.
It’s an odd world we live in, brothers and sisters.
Here’s a short list that I posted to a different forum recently in response to a challenge to enumerate some rights of which Americans have been deprived by the current administration:
When bush signed the Patriot Act in 2001, I lost the following rights:
I lost the right to consult an attorney if I recieve a demand for information from the government via a National Security Letter.
I lost the right to challenge a government-issued subpoena (via NSL) in court, as well the gag order that prevents me from seeking councel.
I lost the right to engage in private communication with an attorney. And if the government compels my attorney to release private information, the attorney cannot even tell me about it. Ever.
Section 505 of USAPA allows the FBI to demand records, outside of judicial review, from people who are not even suspected of wrongdoing. Some of these provisions were struck down as unconstitutional by various courts (notably some of NSL provisions), and others had to be fought over in the renewal legislation passed this year. In all cases, the changes were fiercely resisted by the Bush administration.
According to presidential briefs filed during prosecution of Yaser Hamdi, I have lost the right to Habeas Corpus if the president can accuse me of acting as an “enemy combatant”. This goes siginicantly beyond Ex parte Milligan, which stated only that congress can
declare enemy combatants.
These encroachments are the very stuff of fascism to my mind.
Here’s a short list that I posted to a different forum recently in response to a challenge to enumerate some rights of which Americans have been deprived by the current administration:
When bush signed the Patriot Act in 2001, I lost the following rights:
I lost the right to consult an attorney if I recieve a demand for information from the government via a National Security Letter.
I lost the right to challenge a government-issued subpoena (via NSL) in court, as well the gag order that prevents me from seeking councel.
I lost the right to engage in private communication with an attorney. And if the government compels my attorney to release private information, the attorney cannot even tell me about it. Ever.
Section 505 of USAPA allows the FBI to demand records, outside of judicial review, from people who are not even suspected of wrongdoing. Some of these provisions were struck down as unconstitutional by various courts (notably some of NSL provisions), and others had to be fought over in the renewal legislation passed this year. In all cases, the changes were fiercely resisted by the Bush administration.
According to presidential briefs filed during prosecution of Yaser Hamdi, I have lost the right to Habeas Corpus if the president can accuse me of acting as an “enemy combatant”. This goes siginicantly beyond Ex parte Milligan, which stated only that congress can
declare enemy combatants.
These encroachments are the very stuff of fascism to my mind.