14 CHARACTERISTICS OF FASCISM / WE HAVE THEM ALL

[Demeter]

Original Article at http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_allen_l__060831_14__characteristics_.htm


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August 31, 2006

14 CHARACTERISTICS OF FASCISM / WE HAVE THEM ALL
America has all of the 14 defining characteristics of Fascism and, like sheep, we passively endure our fleecing : Allen L Roland

With the four horseman of hubris ( Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and Bush ) in full gallop, shouting their war cry of 'Islamic fascism' and systematically misquoting and demonizing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ~ it's time for America to review the 14 characteristics of fascism and, in the process, face our own growing neocon fascist state.

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 ~ and America has all of them.

Allen L Roland


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, Islamic fascists, 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.

From Liberty Forum
http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?cat=&;board=news_constitution&number
=642109&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1&t=-1



Authors Website: www.allenroland.com

Authors Bio: Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on Conscious talk radio www.conscioustalk.net

[wakeme2008]

1. I love the Flash of this

http://www.bushflash.com/14.html

[Demeter]

2. My God! That's Chillling! Imagine (refer to John Lennon)....

If this ran for 3 days on the mass media...Bush would be no more.

Thanks for the link.

[Marrak]

10. That's a

Kick!:kick:

[liberal N proud]

3. The regime stands there and calls others fascist

What a bunch of criminal bastards

[livvy]

4. I read this list about a year ago.

At that time, there were a few of the characteristics that I couldn't find a fit for in the events of the times. That's no longer true. Now I can think of an example for every single one. That's telling as far as what direction this pretzelnut and his cronies are taking this country.
It's interesting who is currently using the terminology. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Propaganda at its best, or worst, whichever way you prefer to think about it.

[hughee99]

5. Haven't seen this list in days...

"Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each ~ and America has all of them." Unfortunately, those characteristics are not UNIQUE to those governments. This list also fits pretty well for Soviet Russia, and even pretty good for American during WWII.

If someone wants to use this list to PROVE that the current government is fascist, IMHO, they will only be able to do so by selectively picking their facts and ignoring (or declaring irrelevant) any inconvenient information.

[Demeter]

6. I'd Like To See the Inconvenient Information

Even one point of data will do: how about it?

[hughee99]

7. Inconvenient information...

Like the fact that this list matches up with any number of governments that aren't considered fascist?

But since you'd like a specific example...

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.

The current government is not almost exclusively male-dominated, at least no more so than previous administrations. While there are some in power that give a lot of lip service to "family institutions" the federal government is not passing all sorts of laws to outlaw or greatly restrict divorce, abortion or homosexuality. While we certainly have a long way to go, I find it hard to argue that either women or homosexuals have it worse now than they used to.

[Demeter]

8. If You Listened to the Women and Gay Folk

you'd find out otherwise. Things are worse. And having Condi instead of Madeleine Albright, or Harriet Meirs instead of a competent woman, are only two examples. It isn't just the sex, it's the power and the competence. Bush has wet nurses, Clinton had powerful and respected women.

Think about Ashcroft draping nude statues, and Bush's dress code that women couldn't wear pants. It's sexist, all right. Think about that fundamental right of determination: woman's autonomy. It's blatantly sexist.

Hitler had his women--the film maker/propagandist, the whore. He was still blatantly sexist. Consider the raping of women to produce Aryan children. It happened. We just call it Right to Life and it's all beautiful.

And just because the laws aren't yet passing, doesn't mean they haven't been trying (and cheating in the process).

[hughee99]

9. Hold on...

"And just because the laws aren't yet passing, doesn't mean they haven't been trying"
Just because the laws aren't passing is EXACTLY the "inconvenient data" that you are ignoring. How many times did the Nazi initiatives get blocked by the Reichstag or the people? If you want to draw analogies between repuke PROPOSALS and the fascists, you'd have a much better case than this list which is used to "demonstrate" that it's already been implemented here.

If you want to talk about the way things are, then you're talking about the government, not just the administration. People like Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer and even Hillary wouldn't have ANY power in a sexist government. And for the repression of women, it's NOT about the competence, it's about the power. Are women trusted with positions of power, and given the authority to use that power? Sure, there are examples of sexism in this government, but is this government imposing it's sexism all over the nation? Ashcroft drapes a statue and women can't wear pants, I don't like it, but how is this "worse" than 50 or 100 years ago where there were almost NO women in any positions (government or private sector) with any power.

I do listen to women and gay folk, and yes their upset (again, I said we have a long way to go on those issues), but they've always been upset about this. This isn't anything NEW to the * administration.

As for the woman's autonomy, sure it's blatantly sexist, just as it was blatantly sexist 5 years ago, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 50 years ago... This isn't a new issue, it's been around a long time. Is abortion illegal? Is it more difficult to get an abortion now than it was 30 years ago, 60 years ago?

No one ever considers FDR's administration sexist, but it was MUCH more difficult to get an abortion back then, and homosexuals had to remain in the closet if they wanted to keep their jobs.