Must read
by Volker Weber
Political scientist Dr. Lawrence Britt recently wrote an article about fascism ("Fascism Anyone?," Free Inquiry, Spring 2003, page 20). Studying the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile), Dr. Britt found they all had 14 elements in common. He calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism.
[via Simon]
Comments
Too true, too many coincidences...
... except "The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated" ... I believe that Mrs. Rice is the real brain behind this all. The other guys are too dumb for that.
There's an interesting text by Umberto Eco on the topic of fascism. I only know the German title: »Der immerwährende Faschismus«. It can be found in the DTV publication called »Vier moralische Schriften« (all by Eco) – highly recommended!
Oh, I just read that there's an original English version of the text called »Eternal Fascism«. It was a speech Eco gave 1995 in New York and it was published in the New York Review of Books Nr. 42/11 on June 22nd, 1995.
Since it seems that other commentators are suggesting that the US carries parallels to a fascist state (an observation made by Leonard Peikoff in 1981 - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0452011175/qid=1086188609/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-8620719-8602565?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)...
"Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion."
Not widely done in the US, in spite of the personal religious beliefs of government officials. The only area where this has been done lately is with regard to same-sex marriage.
"Labor Power is Suppressed"
Last I checked, labor unions were still heavily propped up by the government in the US, most recently including Bush's tariff plan to prop up the US steel industry, garnering votes from the steel worker's union.
"Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts"
Colleges and universities are as supported in the US as ever. There is no suppression of opinion in academic environments (in fact, it's more fervent than ever.) Whether governments *not* funding the arts is somehow fascist is extremely debatable, but the NEA is alive and kicking.
"Fraudulent Elections"
Well, there was obviously much debate over the 2000 election. Frankly, I think all two-party elections are a sham, so why this one should be any different escapes me.
Actually, the most clearly fascist behavior by the US government in the last decade has been the creation of the "Department of Homeland Security." That in itself is enough reason to emigrate.
