America loves democracy. In fact, we love democracy so much so we're all too willing to foist it upon those in other countries who have no understanding of or foundation for it. Even a momentary exposure to the rhetoric from the Bush administration would assure anyone (who takes such things at face value) that "freedom is on the march," and "free peoples love democracy." As the stalwart defenders of the people's right to elect their own governments, we've fought the forces of fascism in all corners of the world. We hated Franco in Spain, Pinochet in Chile. We went to war against Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy. Most recently, we've routed Saddam Hussein from Iraq, and planted democracy seeds in the Middle East. Proud of our achievements, we've rested complacently within our borders, content to point fingers at dictators in other parts of the world, but only do war upon them if they had oil, or in other ways were of economic interest to us.
(Lots more text after the jump, but worth the read in a creepy sort of way.)
Meanwhile, here at home, our rights as citizens are eroded. Free speech is regulated, and we have corporate rule in the House and Senate. Our president has presided over the largest infringement of civil and human rights in this country in decades, and Americans would rather obssess on Michael Jackson or the Runaway Bride than be bothered with their civic duties.
Within academia, however, there are those who ask questions. Among those questions was the one that prompted this blog entry today:
What qualities or characteristics define a fascist regime?
Dr. Lawrence Britt did the research into this question, and the answers he found are sufficient to put a chill into the spine of anyone who's paying attention to current affairs in America today.
This article appears in its entirety in Free Inquiry Magazine -- a journal of humanist thought. But just to get you warmed up, here are Dr. Britt's 14 Characteristics of a Fascist Regime:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 through sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in wartime, is very common.
- Obsession with National Security -- Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Rampant Cronyism and Corruption -- Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to
government positions, and who 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.
- Fraudulent Elections -- Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against (or even the assassination of) opposition candidates, the use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and the maniulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
Now, just in case you might have missed the haunting similarities to the current American regime, let's go through it by the numbers again, this time supplying concrete, irrefutable examples of each characteristic:
- The ubiquitous flag pins on Republican lapels. The "Mission Accomplished" banner. Those equally ubiquitous ribbon magnets on the backs of almost every SUV and Hummer seen on the road...
- Guantanamo Bay (aka "Gitmo"). Bush dismissing Amnesty International's report on our treatment of the detainees at Gitmo as "absurd." Or how about this quote from one of Guantamo's judges: "I dont care about international law. I dont want to hear the words
`international law' again. We are not concerned with international law." Or our public endorsement of torture as a means of gaining information from terror suspects. Or our "buddy-buddy" relationship with China despite their particularly egregious human rights abuses. The list for this one is nauseatingly long.
- Um, let's see. Sean Hannity's book, "Deliver Us From Evil," which scapegoats liberals; Michael Savage's book "The Enemy Within," likewise; anti-Muslim hysteria after 9/11; the many abuses of rights and power in the USA PATRIOT Act.
- Bush budget: Military wins: Bush proposed a $2.57 trillion budget for 2006 that would erase scores of programs, cull savings from Medicaid and cut housing for the disabled and many other
programs. Its fate will be decided by Congress over coming months. Pentagon spends 75 billion on three new brigades (in the face of declining recruitment numbers, mind you) while Bush wipes out vocational and gifted education, and gives the shaft to special education.
- You can once again be fired for being gay; a woman's right to control her reproductive ability has been eroded significantly; Bush appointed W. David Hager to be chairman of the FDA's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee -- a man who is and was known to refuse to prescribe contraceptives for single women, does not do abortions, will not prescribe RU-486 and will not insert IUDs. In 2003, the Partial Birth abortion legislation passed without provisions protecting the life or well-being of the mother. You can find many, many more examples for this one here.
- Downing Street Memo, the "smoking gun" of the Bush administration's lies leading the nation to war in Iraq, largely ignored by corporate mainstream media. Right wingers given chairmanship of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, who immediately began efforts to monitor and censor "biased" (read: unfavorable to the administration) programming. Now PBS
stands to have it's funding cut by 25%, a move that would do in rural stations and those in low-income areas.
- The use of the by now predictable raising of the color-coded terror alert system when the administration needs to silence public dissent. See Safer, but not Safe in the archives for an example of fear manipulation in action. Dick Cheney said during the 2004 election campaign that if Kerry was elected, the US would suffer "a devastating attack" by terrorists. And just where are those WMDs in Iraq, anyway (remember Condi's "mushroom cloud" statements)?
- Justice Sunday. HR 2357, entitled the Houses Of Worship Political Speech Protection Act, which makes it okay for churches to endorse political candidates and still maintain their tax-exempt status. Continuing flack over monuments or icons of the Biblical "10 Commandments" being placed in federally funded locations (like courts and schools). Christian conservatives' pressure on the Senate to do away with the minority's right to filibuster extremist and activist judicial candidates.
- The examples here are also legion. Halliburton. ENRON. The Supreme Court overturned the conviction of the Arthur Andersen accounting agency, that agency which had overt and outright complicity in the ENRON fraud. The latest "bankruptcy reform bill" was written by credit card companies. Ten major American corporations settled serious criminal charges with deferred prosecution, no prosecution, or de facto no prosecution agreements over the last two years. The oil industry is exempted from the Clean Water Act.
- The Governator of California has recently stepped up the attack rhetoric on labor unions. Congress and the Department of Labor are trying to change the rules on overtime pay, eliminating the 40 hour work week, taking eligibility for overtime pay away from millions of workers, and replacing time and a half pay with comp days. In February 2001, President Bush signed his name to four executive orders on organized labor, including one
that cuts the money unions will have for political campaign spending.
- Bush's new budget cuts funding for arts and education (despite the unaptly named "No Child Left Behind" act). A group of more than 60 top U.S. scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates and several science advisers to past Republican presidents, accused the Bush administration of manipulating and censoring science for political purposes. Colleges and universities across the country are under pressure to "de-liberalize" their classes and course structures.
- The USA PATRIOT Act. The "The Safe Access to Drug Treatment & Child Protection Act of 2005" provides for a two year jail sentence if you observe or come across information about drug distribution near colleges and do not report it to authorities within 24 hours and provide full assistance investigating, apprehending, and prosecuting those involved.
- The appointment of James Baker as US envoy to Iraq. John Snow, ex-CEO of the CSX corporation, was appointed to be Secretary of Treasury. Companies awarded $8 billion in contracts to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan have been major campaign donors to President Bush, and their executives have had important political and military connections.
- Florida in 2000. Ohio in 2004. Electronic voting machines with no independent way to audit votes cast (i.e. a paper trail). Click here to download The Conyers Report on election fraud in Ohio. The Republican National Committee funded voter suppression in at least 5 states in 2004. Rolling Stone reported that "Election officials all over the country are erecting illegal barriers to keep young voters from casting ballots."
There isn't much else to say here, except to urge everyone who reads this to agitate as loudly as you can for change. Vote, and urge your neighbors to vote too. Even after you leave the ballot box, your job isn't done. Your democratically elected representatives need constant oversight to see that they actually do what you elected them to do. If you were the putative minority who didn't vote for the candidate, stay loyal and continue to stand up for what you believe.
A fascist regime can only rule by the complicity of the people. There are large segments of our country today who are taking steps to reclaim our democracy -- get involved. Take your governement back. It's yours, elected of you, by you, and for you.
Cross-posted from Metaphors For Life -- and Living.