Lets Talk About Fascism

Fascism, you ask? For heaven sakes, why? Didn't we eradicate fascism during World War II? Didn't that die with Mussolini's black shirts and Hitler's goose stepping SS?

Well, maybe. How would you know if fascism was still alive? Could you pick out the signs?

Every form of government has been researched and studies by someone. All we have to do is google fascism and look for a study. Surely someone has boiled fascism down to the essentials! And here they are: Fourteen characteristics of fascism:

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, 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. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and antigay legislation and national policy.
6. Controlled Mass Media -- Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or through sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in wartime, 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 is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
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.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption -- Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions, and who use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections -- Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against (or even the assassination of) opposition candidates, the use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and the manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections. ¹

OK. Great!

Nationalism, flags. Like an amendment to make it illegal to burn the flag?

Disdain for human rights. Torture, summary executions, long incarceration of prisoners?

Enemies/scapegoats. Perhaps muslims?

Supremacy of the military. Didn't I hear the other night about how much we needed to expand military spending? And Rand Paul was creamed for talking about sensible military spending.

Rampant sexism. Male-dominated governments. Rigid traditional gender roles. Opposition to abortion. Thank heavens, not in America!

Controlled mass media. Censorship in wartime. The pentagon never does that! And we know that we have a free and open media here. Even if it is all owned by 6 companies.

Obsession with National Security. Fear as a motivational tool. Maybe after 9/11, but we got rid of the Neo-cons, right?

Religion and Government are intertwined. Hey, we've got separation of church and state. It says so, in the Constitution! Apologies to Dr. Carson.

Corporate Power is protected. Yeah, we make it hard on the corporations, with our high corporate taxes. Didn't I hear a bunch of proposals to cut, or even abolish our corporate tax structure?

Labor power is suppressed. Hey, we still have unions! I know, because I always hear about how they are destroying the marketplace. Scott Walker said so!

Disdain for intellectuals and the arts. Well, if you include scientists in their (maybe they are intellectuals) then I guess, maybe.

Obsession with crime and punishment. Not America. We only incarcerate those that need it. And thereby incarcerate more people than any other nation, even Russia!

Rampant cronyism and corruption. They don't call it crony capitalism for nothing!

Fraudulent elections. The use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries. Voter ID laws. Gerrymandering.

Now I'm not saying that America is a fascist state, or that Republicans or fascists, or even that the Republican party is a fascist party. I'm thinking, though, that the argument "It can't happen here!" is only so good as the people who can recognize the signs and MAKE SURE IT DOESN'T HAPPEN HERE. Because a recent poll showed that 34% of americans thought that the first amendment goes too far in guaranteeing free speech.² With a third of americans thinking like that, pretty soon we'll be voting all of our rights away.

^{1. Dr. Lawrence Britt Free Inquiry magazine, Spring 2003.↩}

^{2. http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/34-say-first-amendment-goes-too-far.↩}