Is the United States becoming a Fascist State?

Below are my comments to a study conducted by Dr. Lawrence Britt:

I think the point by point breakdown of fascism by Dr. Lawrence Britt was pretty close to accurate. Fascism in its simplest definition is basically extreme nationalism. It is the dichotomy to communism. Communism is on the extreme left, while fascism is on the extreme right. It is no surprise those who find their political philosophy leaning to the right would have some agreements or sympathies to fascism. What is surprising is how easily concepts of fascism are being embraced by many of American citizens who describe themselves as conservatives. When at the same time many of these same neo-con’s grandfathers and grand-relatives fought so hard to stop the spread of fascism in the world during World War II.

Below I will try to relate how many of these points have a direct relation and reference to the current path our great American experiment of democracy seems to be quickly leading. Dr. Britt's comments are numbered in bold.

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.

This point leaves out the condemnation fascist use against those who oppose the extreme forced nationalism. This brings to mind a very good quote from a famous fascist, who gave advice on how to treat those who stand in opposition to the fascist government:

"Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country"-Hermann Goering

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.

Boy this one sure does hit home, while seeming to apply directly to the present social conservative acceptance of torture and executions. The United States has the highest percentage of its population imprisoned, and even though our jury system is so flawed at the present many conservatives still demand to put people to death. Guess they figure its ok, as long as they are not the poor guy wrongly convicted of murder. I can not imagine no worse situation to be in; sitting on death row knowing you did nothing wrong.

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.

Hmmm…..lets see this would be the racist condemnations of migrant workers and the extreme belief society has some “God” given right to dictate whom can marry whom. In addition you can see this form of fascism on any neo-con’s face when they pronounce the word “liberal”. And the same disdain which in the past use to be associated with the word “communism” now is replaced with the word, “socialism”. They seem to forget the belief of Theodore Roosevelt when he said, “"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public"

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.

The U.S. military and Bush’s War has pretty much created a debt that my great-great-great grandchildren will still be paying on; while the idea of charity amongst many Christians seems to be forgotten in their neo-conservative political viewpoints.

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.

Again point five seems to describe the present government social structure neo-conservatives believe in: that it is their right to dictate and export what is morally correct to any law abiding citizens home, just because they do not agree with their sexual preference. However just a short comment on divorce, single divorced mothers or fathers who have custody of their children would be able to make ends meet a lot easier if the states aggressively pursued the dead-beat parents who get away without paying their child support. Some studies have shown that only 18 out of 100 single parents ever receive their full amount of child support. That is appalling and inexcusable, but states need more money to pursue these dead-beats, which that would mean the other evil word that neo-conservatives love to hate, “taxes”.

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.

The Murdoch Group, do I need to say more! The censorship which goes on in the present is by law not allowed to be reported by the media. Many times my friends overseas in England and Australia will ask me did you see this footage or that footage, and my answer is always a no, because again Bush & Co. have censored what Americans are allowed to view coming into our country.

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

Paranoia is rampant in our Country ever since 9/11. What I have found curious about this predicament is before 9/11 the neo-cons were the leaders of the free-trade globalization of our economy movement. Now they are at the forefront of being the fear-mongers using the plight of migrant workers as their whipping post, while denying the responsibility our government has played in the previous centuries of welcoming them into our economy. Funny how neo-cons do not wish to address the fact that most migrant workers from Mexico are descended from Native American Indians, guess they do not want to include the term “Native American” in their racist attacks against migrant workers, wouldn’t really fit.

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.

Religion and government have become almost synonymous in our nation ever since the rise of the New Right. About the only people who still believe there is a separation are those who have benefited and agreed the most to this movement; the neo-conservatives.

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.

I can not imagine any presidential candidate getting elected without the support of multinational corporations. Many of these multinational corporations are today more powerful politically than most countries of the world.

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.

Labor unions have definitely declined in numbers and strength. In fact the anti-labor movements have convinced many workers in the country they would be better off without them.

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.

This is an area that most neo-cons love to step onto the preverbal stump, claiming universities are full of left-wing liberal professors. I am currently a senior at Indiana University majoring in history. I have yet seen this phenomenon, almost all the professors I have had, I am never able to identify where they stand on issues. On the contrary, they go to great extremes to help students freely express their viewpoints regardless if they are conservative or liberal.

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.

I do think the 80s war on drugs is ridiculous, most people in prison right now are there on non-violent drug related charges. In addition the recent move by Bush & Co. to sacrifice many of our civil liberties in the name of security seems to forget the great advice Benjamin Franklin gave, “Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”

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 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.

This has Bush regime written all over it, he surrounds himself with “yes” men and a woman with no backbone. While Bush’s use of executive authority in the Scooter Libby case would reflect how he protects his friends, without adding any comments to his alliance to his Saudi and fellow oil buddies.

14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

Well this sounds like the first Bush election, although I don’t really believe Gore would have been any better, but that election will go down in history as one of the biggest shams in American election history.