2006.02.05
14 Signs of Fascism
I am confident for the long-term survival of America, but I do worry about the short-term health of a nation walking the seductive and slithery path to fascism.
Via Philosopher Crank comes an article by Laurence W. Britt called Fascism Anyone? Mr. Britt examines several expired fascist regimes and finds 14 elements common to them all.
1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.*
2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.*
3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.*
4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.*
5. Rampant sexism.
6. A controlled mass media.
7. Obsession with national security.*
8. Religion and ruling elite tied together.*
9. Power of corporations protected.*
10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.
11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.
12. Obsession with crime and punishment.*
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.*
14. Fraudulent elections.*
Goto this link to read the details of each point.
I know that my conservative friends just won’t see how any of this applies to America today. After all, this is America! The land of the free! We have the Constitution as a bulwark against this sort of thing!
Not every one of the fourteen points is being met but I’ve put an asterix next to all the ones I could make a strong case for; ten of the fourteen trends. Liberals will jump all over the list (and probably fail to do anything about it) and conservatives will cry foul (but still march step in line) but I would imagine any historian or researcher could corraborate the list. They are common sense. Any American with a modicum of intelligence should see that.
Unfortunately humanity is easily seduced by fascism, especially in the early stages before it can rear it’s nasty vicious face. Many Americans, eager to have their beliefs come to the fore of state policy, are blindly buying into many of these fourteen points. They are not not strong enough, self-confident enough, or far-sighted enough to see where their desires might lead us all.
I am confident for the long-term survival of America, but I do worry about the short-term health of a nation walking the seductive and slithery path to fascism.
4 Comments Categorized: political thoughts
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4 Responses to “14 Signs of Fascism”
- NHK says (February 6th, 2006 at 19:58:55 )
Hmmm…..I’m not sure I understand your confidence in America’s “long-term survival”. Not that I think we’re certainly doomed, just that it’s an utter crapshoot. Enough liberties have recently been taken (or, in some cases, taken away) by our gormless government that I – personally – find I can no longer take for granted an honorable future for our nation purely based upon the cyclical nature of politics and social mores. The slow, progressive climb up the hill? We wouldn’t be the first society to take a serious tumble; and our democratic heritage does not indemnify us against that possibility.
That said, I really, *really* hope you’re right. Time will tell.
- Uncle Roger says (February 7th, 2006 at 17:44:05 )
Me too. I’m not so confident about this country’s chances for long-term survival (at least in the way it was originally envisioned.)
I understand you only marked the ones that have a strong case… but I’m thinking #11 should have an asterisk as well. A teacher was run out of Colorado for showing excerpts from the opera Faust… your own post about HR 683… There are lots of examples.
Most of the others could be argued as well, although perhaps not so strongly. But you know that.
Bummer. It was such a noble experiment.
- douglas says (February 7th, 2006 at 23:58:12 )
Yes, #11 could probably stand to have an asterisk as well. I put that together kind of quickly. I still think America is a noble experiment. The ideal is being tested. It will only fail when we really give up on it and, as you’ve probably guessed, I haven’t given up on it.
- douglas says (February 24th, 2006 at 00:33:06 )
Mookee reacted to this article here. He has some interesting points, but I think he is also off base in many instances. I replied to him at the link. Check it out if you have a moment.
