These have been posted elsewhere and often, but they seem an appropriate place to start my blog. I was and am still stunned when I read them and note how the Bush administration has applied them in America. Though I have always considered myself a Texan before an American, I do consider myself "patriotic" and often wonder what happened to the ideas and ideals I was taught in my early days. Comments follow some, perhaps all of the points...
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.
I am all for patriotic displays, but the American flag, as all flags, is not "sacred" nor should it be hailed as such. The redneck truck I saw circling parking lots on 9/12/01 with a large American flag flying did nothing save assuage the drivers' own sorrow. How much better if he had traded that truck that very day for something that got better gas mileage. If we keep drinking oil like water, well, the terrorists win.
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.
Habeas corpus, a fundamental basis of democracy has been denied to American citizens. Sure, they are the "bad guys" locked up at Guantanamo, but how long is it before dissenting voices are declared terrorists? Dissent is a hallmark of America and American freedom.
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.
This happens in many ways. How often do we see news items about this or that "terrorist plot" being broken up, and trumpeted across the front pages, when weeks or months later the plots are determined to be nothing, news that is buried in the back pages, if noted at all.
America has always needed a scapegoat, an enemy. Stalin, Hitler, Kruschev, Ho Chi Minh, Pol Pot, Qaddafi, bin Laden, Saddam Hussein... and waiting in the
wings... Ahmadinejad.
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 question liberals ask often, what else could be done with that money, is always a good one. I submit that the money spent bombing Afghanistan and Iraq could have solved "the problem" without bombs and bullets.
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 anti-gay legislation and national policy.
A blatant example of this is the Jessica Lynch affair. How often was she portrayed as a waif, or tiny or other diminuitives. The subtext is that we must protect our "wimmenfolk" from "evildoers". This goes back to at least the American Civil War and the rise of the KKK, whose major premise was to "protect our women" from the evil "darkies," who were, of course, just scapegoats to further white male dominance.
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 sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
The censorship we're seeing today is the most insidious of all, the self-censorship of the mainstream media in their reluctance to go after the truth, no matter where it lies. The Lynch affair is evidence again. If not for European journalists we might not have known the truth. Some of those truths, incidentally, were the facts that (a) she was not raped, (b) she was not held against her will, and (c) the "daring rescue" lasted six minutes and no one was injured, and no shotrs were fired. Again, this was all uncovered by European journalists.
7.) Obsession with National Security
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses
"We must stop them over there before they attack us here."
To which I respond, a very wise and esteemed man once said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
Fear, as any psychologist will tell you, is the ultimate unreasonable motivator. The human animal will do things out of fear he would never do otherwise.
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.
When, in his 2003 State of the Union speech, Bush used the phrase "power, wonder working power", Christian ditto-heads could be heard singing the old hymn across the country.
What would Jesus do? A more pertinent question is indeed, who would Jesus bomb?
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.
This has been a theme of the Bush administration since the very early days, pre 9/11, when Dick Cheney convened his still secret energy council. One wonders if that is in fact where the Iraq war really began.
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.
I haven't actually seen any examples of this... which is not to say it doesn't happen. Unions today have almost no power.
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.
Professors with dissenting voices have already lost or been denied their tenure. And when you have a president who says things like "Our childrens does learn", ignorance becomes acceptable. And when people will accept ignorance, they will accept anything.
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
Blackwater didn't just come up in Iraq. They were dispatched after Hurricane Katrina, and those were the people accused of shooting looters.
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 one is so obvious I deign to address it.
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.
The very least that can be said about the last two presidential elections is that they were suspect.
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