Kinda like the Leafs.
Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Tue, 2010-04-27 13:36
#52
Tue, 2010-04-27 14:53
#53
Yes and the British empire was great and I suppose then the American must also be wonderful. My bad, imperialism is not evil it is just the more powerful spreading the benefits of their superior system to the untamed masses.
Tue, 2010-04-27 14:59
#54
With whom, exactly, are you arguing?
Tue, 2010-04-27 15:17
#55
I was replying to Fidel's view of history.
Have they provided material gains to the rest of the world on a level with Roman plumbing or Grecian democracy?
Grecian democracy was that a lot like slavery for everyone except male landowners? And none of the eastern empires like the Persians ever had plumbing before the Romans. I thought it was strange to hear those empires being praised by someone who generally attacks imperialism especially the Roman empire which by all accounts was a brutal, brutal experience for all but the Roman elite.
Tue, 2010-04-27 15:50
#56
I was replying to Fidel's view of history.
Have they provided material gains to the rest of the world on a level with Roman plumbing or Grecian democracy?
Grecian democracy was that a lot like slavery for everyone except male landowners? And none of the eastern empires like the Persians ever had plumbing before the Romans. I thought it was strange to hear those empires being praised by someone who generally attacks imperialism especially the Roman empire which by all accounts was a brutal, brutal experience for all but the Roman elite.
I get the feeling that people are trying to tell us that today's vicious empire is an improvement over previous vicious empires. We seem to want to credit today's vicious empire for simply being successors to the British and world empires before them. And if there were awards for best vicious empire of all time, I suppose today's vicious empire would win hands down.
Democracy is the merger of corporate and state power. - today's closet empire loyalists
Tue, 2010-04-27 17:16
#57
I get the feeling that people are trying to tell us that today's vicious empire is an improvement over previous vicious empires.
Why, because today's empires have a mission civilisatrice that previous empires lacked? A common trait among empires is that they are a positive force for their subject peoples.
What isn't a common trait is that empires are fascist, and there isn't much point in conflating fascism and imperialism.
Tue, 2010-04-27 19:40
#58
I get the feeling that people are trying to tell us that today's vicious empire is an improvement over previous vicious empires.
Why, because today's empires have a mission civilisatrice that previous empires lacked? A common trait among empires is that they are a positive force for their subject peoples.
What isn't a common trait is that empires are fascist, and there isn't much point in conflating fascism and imperialism.
Since WW II Yanqui imperialists have bombed more than 25 countries. Which of them is more democratic for it today besides none? The USA has been a fascist state since the national security act of 1947. The USA has become the USSA, a corrupt and criminal empire on the wane.
Wed, 2010-04-28 11:34
#59
Why, because today's empires have a mission civilisatrice that previous empires lacked? A common trait among empires is that they are a positive force for their subject peoples.
What isn't a common trait is that empires are fascist, and there isn't much point in conflating fascism and imperialism.
You are joking right? You are not really saying the British empire was good for its subjects? How about the Ottoman Turks or the Romanov's?
Wed, 2010-04-28 11:39
#60
You are joking right?
Duh.
Wed, 2010-04-28 11:52
#61
Sorry AlQ but we get new posters regularly who might have thought you were serious and some who would likely agree with your statement.
Wed, 2010-04-28 12:47
#62
Just don't accuse of them of false flag on 9/11. Apparently that's going too far as well.
Wed, 2010-04-28 14:25
#63
I find some of us in this thread type a lot and say little at the same time.
Wed, 2010-04-28 14:26
#64
You're writing in tongues again Fidel.
Sorry AlQ but we get new posters regularly who might have thought you were serious and some who would likely agree with your statement.
I don't see how a "new poster," or anyone, could miss the meaning of, "Why, because today's empires have a mission civilisatrice that previous empires lacked?" What follows is obviously irony.
Tue, 2010-05-04 23:16
#65
[url=http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18980]Covert Economic Agenda Beneath Immigration Reform[/url]
Because of the economic crisis, massive unemployment, corporate bailouts, home foreclosures, and criminal activity of Wall Street, the majority of people in the U.S. have never been as passionately anti-corporation. But the corporate owned media plus the wealthy, elite-controlled Congress reacted quickly to these intolerable circumstances and fought back.They took the fight over public opinion to the airwaves, and massively pushed the blame for the dismal state of the U.S. economy onto those unable to defend themselves — immigrants.
That'd be number three on Lawrence Britt's list of 14 defining characteristics: Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause.
Wed, 2010-05-05 22:09
#66
I guess imperialism does have a more respectable ring to it than dirty old fascism. To fit the bill for a fascist state, supposedly it must be a one-party dictatorship. Otoh, tens of millions of Americans do not vote, and the general consensus among many Americans is that it does not matter now which party is elected, they know there will be phony war waged abroad, torture and renditions ongoing for decades to date, and that spying on Americans(FISA-NSA-telecoms immunity) will continue unabated. The problem has become one of rule by a single-party dictatorship made to look like two for cosmetic appearance sake. A handful of superrich Americans control both of wings of the same party of warmongering plutocrats. Elections in America(and Canada for that matter) are all for show and have very little to do with modern democracy. I think the USSA has actually redefined fascism since the national security act of 1947.
Thu, 2010-08-12 17:18
#67
I get the feeling that people are trying to tell us that today's vicious empire is an improvement over previous vicious empires.
Why, because today's empires have a mission civilisatrice that previous empires lacked? A common trait among empires is that they are a positive force for their subject peoples.
What isn't a common trait is that empires are fascist, and there isn't much point in conflating fascism and imperialism.
I don't think it's conflating the two so much as it is pointing out that there are distinctions. According to wiki, the intellectual origins of the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilizing_mission]Civilizing mission[/url] dates back to the middle ages. In other words, the the civilizing mission pre-dates the emergence of modern fascism as well as political conservatism, liberalism, socialism etc. Fascism generally arises as opposition to socialism and communism(see French Revolution, birth of modern political and economic theories etc)
Iow's fear of socialism has tended to bring about fascist corporatism and military dictatorship. The USA imported fascism by the mid 1940's according to Gore Vidal as a result of rising fear of the red menace among American and European elite. The US actually became a paranoid fascist state with the signing of the national security act in 1947. The fascists in Washington don't just spend twice as much on military as their next two largest military rivals as was the case with British imperialists of old. The US spends more on military than the rest of the world combined. How much more fascist and paranoid can they be? And there are other ways in which the civilizing mission does not applyto American empire. In some ways US fascists are not worthy of the description of imperialists driven by a civilising mission.
Thu, 2010-08-12 18:49
#68
I think Chomsky is right about the RISK of fascism. Let's keep an eye on the nutbars out in the hills. But let's not call it a "paranoid fascist state with the signing of the national security act in 1947." A decade later their departing president and battlefield leader warned about the growing threat of a military-industrial complex. No sense exaggerating Chomsky's take on the situation and making "fascism" into another meaningless political descriptor. Unless you think Chomsky is behind the times.
Thu, 2010-08-12 21:34
#69
I don't consider Chomsky behind the times. He's the Babe Ruth of leftwing commentary and made a career of correcting the historical record. Which is why some of his leftwing colleagues don't understand his reluctance to tackle the 9/11 Commission cover-up. False flag terrorism is a common theme among fascist states past and present in propping-up military supremacy, and JFK once said that it is the appearance of things that matter. Knowledge is power in the modern fascist state. No other fascist state in history has the intelligence gathering apparatus and state of the art methods for spying on the lives of its own citizens as well as internationally. In a number of ways the US has achieved and even surpassed Lawrence Britt's 14 defining features of fascism.
Fri, 2010-08-13 05:06
#70
In a number of ways the US has achieved and even surpassed Lawrence Britt's 14 defining features of fascism.
Except of course for the regular competitive elections part.
Fri, 2010-08-13 08:46
#71
No Yards
In a number of ways the US has achieved and even surpassed Lawrence Britt's 14 defining features of fascism.
Except of course for the regular competitive elections part.
You forgot the "roll eyes" smiley ... careful, if that statement were not so outrageously false someone might have taken you seriously.
Fri, 2010-08-13 15:56
#72
In a number of ways the US has achieved and even surpassed Lawrence Britt's 14 defining features of fascism.
Except of course for the regular competitive elections part.
The two party elections in America are actually not very competitive. Billionaire oligarchs pre-select presidential candidates from both of the two parties beforehand, and all other democratic voices are effectively shut out of the contest by big money interests. As Gore Vidal describes it, elected heads of the executive branch represent cosmetic government in Washington. The country is actually run by the military and intelligence agencies, and by Wall Street with revolving door access to Washington. But elections in the states are not even as fair as a three-guesses shell game. Elections in the US are surely as corrupt and maniplulated by rich and powerful elites as the elections in Latin America and around the world were rigged by the CIA and US Military throughout the cold war era and continuing today.
But to suggest that rabidly anticommunist America only has a case of the imperialist sniffles would be like saying that the sick man riddled with cancer is actually suffering a case of consumption or even possessed by evil spirits. Those are not valid medical terms today. Doctors who use those terms would be considered quacks.
[url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERkirdorf.htm]Emil Kirdorf and the road to resurgence[/url] What they have in the US today is similar with dollar democracy and rich people deciding who will win elections. The most well funded war chest wins election campaigns and everyone knows it. And it's because deep pockets own 98% of the news and communications media in the US. TV and radio and newspaper advertising is big money. Joseph Goebbels understood the power and importance of propagandizing the public. Obamacrats did not win the last election by fluke. This business about Obama being a nationalist socialist is much a lie today as it was when Hitler and the Nazis were on the rise. Americans are lied to on a constant basis. It's a circus down there, and that's what fascism is, a three-ring circus. Coloured lights can hypnotize. Sparkle someone else's eyes now woman. Get away from me. American woman, mama let me be.
Fri, 2010-08-13 16:16
#73
quote: "It's a circus down there, and that's what fascism is, a three-ring circus."
That's a pre-condition for fascism, and it certainly describes America.
But fascism in power is no circus. No siree. You are still jumping the fascist gun, Fidel.
Fri, 2010-08-13 17:12
#74
But fascism in power is no circus. No siree.
You can say that again, George. I say, you can say that again.
"From 1945 to the end of the century, the United States attempted to overthrow more than 40 foreign governments, and to crush more than 30 populist-nationalist movements struggling against intolerable regimes. . . . In the process, the US caused the end of life for several million people, and condemned many millions more to a life of agony and despair."
Friendly">http://home.iprimus.com.au/korob/fdtcards/Cards_Index.html]Friendly Dictators often rise to power through bloody CIA-backed coups and rule by terror and torture. Their troops may receive training or advice from the CIA and other U.S. agencies. [color=red][u][size=16]"Anti-communism"[/size][/u][/color] is their common battle cry and a common excuse for political repression. They are linked internationally through extreme right-wing groups such as the World Anti-Communist League (see card 17). Strong Nazi affiliations are typical - some have been known to dress in Nazi paraphemalia and quote from Mein Kampf, while others offer sanctuary for actual Nazi war criminals.
If it walks and quacks like a duck, it's highly likely that it is a duck.
And their methods for instilling fear into the public mind are not so different today since the end of cold war.
Compare this
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v697/rabblerabble/stop-communism.jpg[/...
With this
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v697/rabblerabble/150-hsas.gif[/IMG]
![http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v697/rabblerabble/150-hsas.gif[/IMG]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v697/rabblerabble/150-hsas.gif[/IMG]){kind=link}
Whether the fascist state foments fear of Jews or fear of Muslims, it's the same thing. We can only surmize that a band of marauding Jewish-Muslim communists would be both their worst nightmare and best wet political dream at the same time. The adrenaline levels of Americans must be maintained at some unhealthy level and wallets open to the idea of propping up military expansionism. Today it's all about warding off the invisible enemy. As we know by now, George, Soviet communism was never a threat to us personally. It was all a lie
As Jack Kennedy once said, it's about the appearance of things. The only way to properlu describe American fascism as a three-ring circus in these discussion forums is to actually make the discussion a visual representation of a three-ring circus. They have bread and circuses. It's circus maximus. And their goal is not one of a civilizing mission. Fascism is a political changeling and attempt to recreate the expansionism of pagan-fascist Rome or Byzantium. It mouths the words globalization while copy-catting the maritime power of imperial Venice ruled by Plantagenets in a European feudal order of things. It's all about projecting American power.
Fri, 2010-08-13 17:30
#75
I'm sensitive to the bloody history of U.S.imperialism...and not just in the postwar period. The United Fruit Co. pre-dated Truman. But you are right, of course, in accounting for the human toll... of really good people. The best, the most progressive, the humanitarians. And I really thank you for reminding us of this reality.
I'm still with Chomsky on this definition of fascism, however. America ain't there just yet. We'll all certainly know when it happens.
Fri, 2010-08-13 17:35
#76
Lard Tunderin Jeezus
...will we?
I mean, percieve it clearly as it's happening, and not just recognise it a couple of years later in retrospect?
Fri, 2010-08-13 18:03
#77
That's a good point, Lard Tunderin' Jeezus.
An excerpt from [url=http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/511928.html]They Thought They Were Free[/url] The Germans, 1933-45
Milton Mayer
"And you are an alarmist. You are saying that this must lead to this, and you can't prove it. These are the beginnings, yes; but how do you know for sure when you don't know the end, and how do you know, or even surmise, the end? On the one hand, your enemies, the law, the regime, the Party, intimidate you. On the other, your colleagues pooh-pooh you as pessimistic or even neurotic. You are left with your close friends, who are, naturally, people who have always thought as you have."But your friends are fewer now. Some have drifted off somewhere or submerged themselves in their work. You no longer see as many as you did at meetings or gatherings. Informal groups become smaller; attendance drops off in little organizations, and the organizations themselves wither. Now, in small gatherings of your oldest friends, you feel that you are talking to yourselves, that you are isolated from the reality of things. This weakens your confidence still further and serves as a further deterrent to-to what? It is clearer all the time that, if you are going to do anything, you must make an occasion to do it, and then you are obviously a troublemaker. So you wait, and you wait.
George, when do you think they will wage blitzkrieg on Iran?
Fri, 2010-08-13 18:05
#78
I'm talking about the disappearance of freedoms for the residents/citizens.
I offer up Victor Klemperer's diaries as an example of what happens in that respect. No guesswork. I should imagine the same thiings occurred within ARgentina, Chile, et al.
Fri, 2010-08-13 18:53
#79
I'm talking about the disappearance of freedoms for the residents/citizens.
Cold war era spy novelist Robert Ludlum wrote that he felt we lost certain freedoms here in the west after 1991. And I think it's true in very many ways with the financialization of economies since 1975 or 80. Our own conservatives rammed that bill through parlament in 1991 which privatized what remained of the powers of money creation in Canada. We are all debt slaves to private soources now. Michael Hudson talks about neoliberals' reversal of eight centuries worth of progress in banking and finance that saw debtors rights placed above those of creditors by law.
And there are many other examples. Americans themselves are not free. Jesse Ventura is livid that Americans don't have the freedom to travel to Cuba. It's one of the few axes of evol countries where people aren't burning the American flag. Ventura says he realizes after visiting the island himself that Cubans love Americans but not their fascist governments in Washington. Because his money and position have allowed him to travel around the world, Ventura realizes just how brainwashed Americans have become by privately owned rightwing news media, which represents about 98 percent of all information news sources in the US.
I offer up Victor Klemperer's diaries as an example of what happens in that respect. No guesswork. I should imagine the same thiings occurred within ARgentina, Chile, et al.
But there are historical connections between those fascist dictatorships and US support. The US has propped up dozens of the most brutal rightwing military dictatorships of the recent past. This does not lend to the notion that the US is not there yet.
"But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That's the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked-if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in '43 had come immediately after the ‘German Firm' stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in '33. But of course this isn't the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D."And one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush in upon you. The burden of self-deception has grown too heavy,...
Fri, 2010-08-13 21:39
#80
My Cat Knows Better
Its probably too late to stop their slide into fascism already. Harper seems to be determined to mirror their errors. Every issue that the lunatic right brings up on Fox news seems to become an issue for our Federal government, the census, immigration, guns, terrorists, prisons, unions etc. etc. He seems to be ready and willing to buy every issue of the Republican political playbook to use here, whether Canadians have the issue or not.
Fri, 2010-08-13 22:16
#81
The neo-con is working from a very sound analysis of the psychological vulnerability of the masses...and the "values" that have always provided the security of property . That list certainly crosses political borders easily, eh, My Cat? Back in 1850, the propertied of Canada West argued for universal schooling in the name of security against mobs and guillotines. Thanks for the Sinclair Lewis piece. But of course, again, he could write that and have it published.... Then.
Sat, 2010-08-14 11:17
#82
Lard Tunderin Jeezus
I'm fascinated by people who want to claim that we don't have to hit bottom just because we're going down the slide.
Every kid knows you can stop on a slide, but it hurts, and one can only do it if the other kids aren't coming right down behind. It seems to me that instead of shouting "we're not there yet", these people should be shouting "STOP!"
Sat, 2010-08-14 11:22
#83
I'm fascinated by people who want to claim that we don't have to hit bottom just because we're going down the slide.
Every kid knows you can stop on a slide, but it hurts, and one can only do it if the other kids aren't coming right down behind. It seems to me that instead of shouting "we're not there yet", these people should be shouting "STOP!"
That's for sure. And it's probably what Chomsky is aiming at. Because when America has arrived, there'll be no more chatting.
Sat, 2010-08-14 14:03
#84
Sat, 2010-08-14 14:21
#85
This specific warning by students of Fascism is about a year old. Sara Robinson's series is pretty definitive.
What's the scorecard a year later? Good news: Health care passed. Bad news: No trials for the Bush administration.
Not having a second Great Deprssion probably counts as good news, having the Great Recession counts as bad.
Financial regulation is huge. The current critical issue is who runs the consumer credit regulatory agency. Appointing Warren would be a major boost.
Sat, 2010-08-14 14:22
#86
Its probably too late to stop their slide into fascism already. ...
This is why the Tea Party has traction; it does not appeal to those who wish to surrender but who want to fight (although it maybe a phantom enermy of a non-existent 'socialist' threat that they are poised to fight).
Too much of the Left today in North America is like the Left of Deutchland in the 20's; docile, enervated, dosey not wanting to accomplish or try.
What is needed is an open, direct attack on those in the Republican Party who flirt, dance with the Oath Keepers; it cannot just be Anderson Cooper who asks a few questions of them in the summertime.
Sat, 2010-08-14 14:31
#87
I'm not sure I understood that post. The Tea Party IS Fascist. Literally and technically.
The way to fight back is with successful government.
Sat, 2010-08-14 14:36
#88
Frustrated Mess
Pshaw. Fascism is triumphant in America (and Canada), They just call it corporatism. The Tea Party represents a new totalitarianism to which fascism, or corporatism, is quite comfortable.
Sat, 2010-08-14 14:59
#89
And so if warmongering plutocrats tell us that Iran needs a good shit-kicking because Iran has weapons of mass destruction and giving refuge to an invisible enemy, how many people will nod their heads up and down in rapid agreement to the fascist war agenda this time? It's like they prefer being lied to.
Hitler, Franco, Mussolini, Chiang Kai-shek etc were the biggest liars of the last century. Fascists continue to carry on that tradition of lying to the public in these times. The ground is as fertile for the big lie today as it was then. We are lied to constantly about everything from the economic "recovery"(Wall Street is dead, someone send a funeral wreath) while banking and financial ripoffs continue under the peoples' noses, to the big lie that Iran is a nuclear threat to peace and world security. They are now trying to convince millions that they are coming down hard on the financial crooks and banksters who have deliberately sabotaged western world economies a la fascism. The "new" liberal capitalism is fascism with the mask on. Charade they are.
Sat, 2010-08-14 15:28
#90
Technically Fascism is not yet triumphant. The oligarchic character of the US political system is bad, but not Fascist.
I realize I am figthing a losing battle in asserting that the meaning of Fascist is more specific than "I don't like it", but what can I say, I'm just a hopeless romantice.
BTW most of the time the correct word is "authoritarian".
Sat, 2010-08-14 16:08
#91
It reminds me of a Hollywood horror flick from 1975 when the Mayor of Amityville said:
I'm pleased and happy to repeat the news that we have in fact caught and killed a large predator that supposedly injured some bathers. But as you can see, it's a beautiful day, the beaches are opened, and people are having a wonderful time. Amity, as you know, means friendship."
"I'm not going to waste my time arguing with a man who's lining up to be a hot lunch."
Sat, 2010-08-14 17:11
#92
I'm not sure I understood that post. The Tea Party IS Fascist. Literally and technically.
The way to fight back is with successful government.
My point was about the culture of sublimination, defeat, that the Left has. Yes the Tea Party is fascist or has fascist elements but part of why they have the appeal they have is that they are willing to fight. The position of many on the Left as I quoted is that 'it is too late' or 'we cannot fight back' which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The Left has become too weak and part of that weakness, aside from the crisis of intelligence, is a crisis of will, of backbone.
Sat, 2010-08-14 18:40
#93
Exactly what do you mean by fighting back? Precisely how?
Sat, 2010-08-14 19:09
#94
The Tea Party is a populist phenom. Once upon a time, populist appeals to worker and farmer came from those antagonistic to big capital, banks, Wall St.
But as Krugman points out, for more than three decades the populist cheering section has only developed an anti-tax following. Which results in destruction of effective government intervention to solve the issues of the redneck community that's suffering from the globalization of their former jobs.
The problem of the liberal left is that it has let it go this far, dependent on handouts from big business and now unable to do without the business tit to win elections. And American nationalism no longer allows the citizen to be critical of the country's role as military interventionist...saving all from first "reds" and now "terrorism." Even if every fifth job in the U.S. is now to some degree dependent on defence spending. Ike's warning about a military-industrial horror show has arrived.
No wonder the American liberal can be admonished for aspiring to the impossible position of the Canadian health system. But of course, we have allowed the Libs and now Steve to reduce our tax intake to the danger point. It's part of a carefully constructed plan to reduce state involvement everywhere (except militarily) and replace it with stuff that can be marketed on Wall St.
Fighting back would have to involve development of an entirely independent media that could tell the American public just what was needed. Al Gore knew it would take an independent media. But it would take one helluva deep pocket or two to be effective.
Sat, 2010-08-14 19:46
#95
What we need is a united left. A united front formed in fascist Germany but too little too late. There was little in the way of united left in Italy leading to Mussolini. In Spain? Well, those are the kind of odds we have to face here in order to prove we are warm blooded vertebrates.
Sat, 2010-08-14 20:34
#96
My Cat Knows Better
One can argue the semantics of what it is that constitutes Fascism, but I can agree that the real point is that the US is rapidly sliding into an authoritarian system, whatever you wish to call it. One of the major American financial institutions, (I believe it was Goldman-Sachs), in effect stated in their annual financial report that the US was no longer a democracy but a plutocracy. In other words, they were governed by the wealthy. I don't find this statement altogether surprising. Corporatism is in control and those in charge are very adept as using weapons of mass distraction. The Tea Party in the US is a collection of delusional individuals whose main issue is taking up the cause of the far right monied interests to the detriment of their own self-interest.
Sat, 2010-08-14 22:02
#97
I think the teabaggers are a noisy diversion set up to distract everyone from the corporate and banking thieves who have been fleecing the US taxpayers lately. They hold the real power, and are behind whatever proto-fascist movement that is currently at work in the big ol' Republic down south.
Sun, 2010-08-15 00:37
#98
Part of the definition of Fascism is the use the monied interests make of the populist elements of the movement.
Tea baggers are bang on the definition.
The key is how to fight back. Sara Robinson's proposal is to centre the fight in the legislative arena. Make the system work better for the mass of people. That will break the "Government is always wrong" meme for the people currently sitting on the fence.
We are in a different place in Canada. We have a political party run by people who clearly wouldn't really have a problem with fascism, but there are no bully boys on the streets. OTOH the use of the police is a much simpler authoritarian system.
Sun, 2010-08-15 01:18
#99
Fascism has changed since WW II. It doesn't march soldiers into countries before it sends in regiments of marauding capital to destroy things first. We still have Montagu Norman types with us though, and the Fritz Thyssens, Prescott Bushs, Emil Kirdorfs and no bid contracts as political favours. We still have false flags like the Gleiwitz incident fooling millions into accepting pre-emptive war(Afghanistan and Iraq) and even "humanitarian warfare"(Hitler in 1939 and Schroeder-NATO in 1999) Smaller wars of aggression and weapons dealing are much more profitable today. They can murder a million people today and get away with it. Supremacy of the military was true then but even moreso with neofascism. The Nazis first used Keynesian-militarism to rebuild all facets of the economy and military, and the U.S. copied it after ditching laissez-faire capitalism by the start of the mid 1930s. They weren't going to wait for an invisible hand to resuscitate a lifeless American economy while Russia and Germany surged ahead. And as the experiment in the "new" liberal capitalism wanes, China and BRIC economies are using Keynesian methods to surge ahead with bustling economies and growth, once again.
Mon, 2010-08-16 00:10
#100
[url=http://crpx.net/gore-vidal-history-of-the-national-security-state/]Gore Vidal: History of the national security state[/url] video 3 min.
Truman said in 1947, Why not just stay armed all the time? Swear allegiance to the United States, or you're a commie!
"The United States had imported fascism." - Gore Vidal
And the U.S. has been run by the military and a few thousand corporations ever since. The US is still armed and creating its own enemies.
Tue, 2010-08-17 08:09
#101
Clearly, the American people have grown very comfortable with this situation. Oh, from time to time a groundswell of protest will rise up against adventures abroad - Vietnam comes to mind, and the growing disenchantment with death in the Middle East - but, generally, the development and deployment of those arms keeps industry humming and people working. That fact, and the complete capitulation to the myth of flag and country, maintain the U.S. on a course with a fascist outcome.
But while courts and constitutional freedoms exist, while Chomsky is still allowed to publish his ideas about the nature of fascism and the possibility of America succumbing to it, the beast has not yet fully emerged. With so many ignorant of the possibility, and so many others happy in their ability to consume conspicuously, it could be argued that it's just a matter of time.