posted on May 28, 2005 12:57:48 PM new
Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to 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.
7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
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.
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.
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.
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 and letters is openly attacked.
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.
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.
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.
posted on May 28, 2005 05:48:26 PM newSocialism is Fascism
by
Matt Giwer (c) 1995
revised
I know the assertion in the title upsets liberals in that they know they are closet socialists and do not like hearing the truth.
I have read their objections and now I am going to do a more complete treatment of this subject.
There is no question that both Mussolini and Hitler considered themselves practical Marxists. There exist sufficient quotations from their own words and writings to support that contention. Where they differed from Marx, and as we know there are as many ways to implement Marxism as there are failures of it, was that they openly admitted that Marxism could not be imposed with any pretension of democracy. Thus they were unapologetic dictators.
And it is clear that people are not Marxists at heart. It is not in human nature to live equally with all others without competition. All socialists and US liberals agree that social differences much be minimized. As with the present opening volley on affirmative action, they are supporting equality of results.
The only way US liberals differ is that they are still not freely admitting that it is only by force that social differences can be minimized. What they hide behind is what they can not get democratically they will accept by judicial fiat that is undemocratic.
They, like Mussolini and Hitler, fully understand that they must use the force of government to attain their ideals.
The primary means of refusing to admit Socialism in Fascism is to point out that Fascists were dictators. But as just discussed they fully accept the use of democratic and undemocratic force to attain their ideals.
What they focus on is the lack of democracy in Italy and Germany in those days while ignoring the use of force to impose social ideals.
A side note here, the US Supreme Court was not granted the power in the Constitution to find laws unconstitutional. Nor was it granted any power to initiate judicial remedies. Its only power is judge the cases brought before it.
This refusal of liberals to focus on the use of government force and instead focus upon the democratic, but at best extra-constitutional, use of force to impose their ideals, is only a diversion. They do support the use of the coercive power of the government to force people to behave as they wish. In this manner, they are promoting the idea that the government should have unlimited powers just as did those two unashamed dictators.
The next obfuscation is to claim socialism is not a form of Marxism. The best they can do to support this claim is to point to some obscure social thinkers while ignoring where they got their ideas. But even granted that, the socialists early this century gave no signs of having ever heard of these obscure writers either.
And the final obfuscation is to claim that socialism existed before Marx and therefore could not be founded upon Marx. This is one of the more interesting ones. Their examples are of communal living that in all cases failed save when there was some from of discipline, usually religious and most always iron, imposed upon the group. The early Christians are reported to have shared in common. Acts does not record why they abandoned the idea. From other examples in history we can see why.
posted on May 28, 2005 06:21:51 PM new
Load of BS But one in particular :
""A side note here, the US Supreme Court was not granted the power in the Constitution to find laws unconstitutional. Nor was it granted any power to initiate judicial remedies. Its only power is judge the cases brought before it.""
Ya, tell that to bushy and Priscilla Owens...they disagree!
posted on May 28, 2005 06:24:40 PM new
Now, linduh why don't you take your "good" self over to Jackswebb's thread and mock his service with a stanza of Kumbaya....or are you saving your voice for Monday?
posted on May 29, 2005 07:08:02 AM new
Your article does make some valid points Linda and not one I had thought about before.
Most people, myself included, think socialism and communism are very closely related.
As they both want an equal distribution of wealth, even for those who have not rightfully earned it.
Where as in my thinking facism rewards those who do work the hardest.
Sort of extra heavy capitalism. But under strict government control.
If Hitler had not turned out to the be the crazy he was, he could of ruled Germany for many years and had the strongest economy in all of Europe. But as we know history showed us that power can corrupt.
When you build your economy on a war machine, you have to use it I guess.
posted on May 29, 2005 07:10:14 AM newBut as we know history showed us that power can corrupt. When you build your economy on a war machine, you have to use it I guess.
