"a stolen election is usually just the start"........What is FASCISM Alex?

[cyberpj]

I saw that on pinkobuttons.com site (thanks Mo) and purchased some buttons.

And then I thought this would be a GREAT place to post this reminder about the definition of FASCISM. Read 'em all. Every last one. Then write your Congresspeople to remind them what it looks like because I think some of them are forgetting.

Fascism
a political system based on a very powerful leader, state control and extreme pride in country and race, and in which political opposition is not allowed

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=28083&dict=CALD

Definition of Fascism
The word fascism has come to mean any system of government resembling Mussolini's, that exalts nation and sometimes race above the individual, uses violence and modern techniques of propaganda and censorship to forcibly suppress political opposition, engages in severe economic and social regimentation, engages in corporatism, i.e. merges state with corporate power.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism#Definition

Fascism,
modern political ideology that seeks to regenerate the social, economic, and cultural life of a country by basing it on a heightened sense of national belonging or ethnic identity.

Fascism rejects liberal ideas such as freedom and individual rights, and often presses for the destruction of elections, legislatures, and other elements of democracy. Despite the idealistic goals of fascism, attempts to build fascist societies have led to wars and persecutions that caused millions of deaths. As a result, fascism is strongly associated with right-wing fanaticism, racism, totalitarianism, and violence.

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761568245

[Bill MI]

1. Don't get mad, get LOUD!!!

We need to flood the Judiciary Repuglicans with e-mails, letters, and phone calls in order to get them to understand how important this is. They MUST hold FULL investigations with subpeona powers.

<http://judiciary.house.gov/contact.aspx>

The idiots have megaphones, but we have numbers!

The Senate Democrats were cowed, this time by their constituents, into doing what they should have done in 2000. We can't stop now. The Fight has only begun!

[cyberpj]

2. SLEEPWALKING INTO FASCISM

SLEEPWALKING INTO FASCISM

Since the early hours of November 3rd, 2004 the United States had been in danger of sleepwalking into irredeemable Fascism. The minority who backed Bush were asleep anyway, lost in dreams of empire, crusade and thinly-veiled military revenge.

http://www.breakfornews.com/articles/RebornCivilRightsMovement.htm

[renaissanceguy]

11. Even many Democrats out there

are sleeping, thinking it's back to "business as usual." The thing is, many don't care about their right to vote, many don't care about surveillance. Two excuses I frequently hear: "Oh every politician is the same, what's the point in voting?" and "Well if you're not doing anything wrong, what do you have to hide?" The one I hate the most is "We've never changed presidents in a time of war." Well, then I ask, what happens when * invades Iran, or other countries? What then? Will he want an amendment that will give him a third term?

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues.16200506

[orleans]

3. 14 defining characteristics of fascism

I heard mike malloy mention this (i think); did a google search and this must be what i was hearing about. if you read it to someone and leave out the words fascist regimes/nations and insert "the government" or don't insert anything, then ask them what country/ies or nation/s this refers to i bet they tell you it is america.
Free Inquiry
Spring 2003
5-11-3
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.

[centerzu]

5. Oops, Sorry Orleans

Sorry for reposting the 14 characteristics article...maybe you posted while I was writing and editing...I'm new, still trying to get the hang of it. DUers are so fast!

[centerzu]

4. Superb Strategy! and for summary data, don't forget the late Dec. du post

(by whom only the cybergenie knows) of
MacGregor's fabulous summary article on
Neo Fascism in America at

http://www.surfaceonline.org/essayamerica6.htm

snip

"It has personally taken many years of slow awakening from the matrix narcolepsy for me to find an inverted reality where what I thought was the truth was a dream, and what I have awakened to is the reality of a true nightmare. Too many people believe fascism is only about goose-stepping, jack-booted Nazis. Too many people believe that American democracy is so strong that fascists could never take control of America. If you are sympathetic to those views, I invite you to consider the possibility that you are mistaken - ...

snip

“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived. But if we rise up to meet it head-on, then history need not be re-lived. When we as a people fail, or worse yet, refuse to stand up to the injustice of historical past, then that injustice becomes an ever-present constant in our daily lives.” - Cia Bannar, film maker and human rights activist...

snip

“In two centuries the Western world has come full circle from tyranny to tyranny. The tyranny of monarchs was overthrown in the Enlightenment and semi-democratic republics were established. Two centuries later those republics are being destabilised and a new tyranny is assuming power - a global tyranny of anonymous corporate elites. This anonymous regime has no qualms about creating poverty, destroying nations, and engaging in genocide.

“Humanity can do better than this - much better - and there is reason to hope that the time is ripe for humanity to bring about fundamental changes...

Article includes very compressed historical facts tracing fascism in America, clearly links the Skull & Bones connection to the * so-called "family". He also includes the 14 defining characteristics of fascism published by Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist - research on fascism in which he examined the fascist regimes of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each fascist State...

(The 14 defining characteristics article has been posted before, but I haven't seen it in any threads recently.) Article appears in Free Inquiry journal of secular humanist thought. http://www.secularhumanism.org

back to Macgregor: snip

"Abraham Lincoln stated, “I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me, and causes me to tremble for the safety of our country. Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people, until wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the republic is destroyed.”

"The small, but ruthless, group of men, the “money power” described by Lincoln, has stolen democracy from the American people. An ever-growing number of informed Americans, however, are fighting a brave, but desperate rear-guard action to retrieve that democracy. Will we give them our total support now, or simply sit back and watch as the entire planet is taken back to the dark ages? “The only thing necessary for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing.”

Sorry, snipping got a bit carried away...but Macgregor's article really illuminates... as does the idea of circulating definitions of fascism to all "elected" representatives of We, the People.

[cyberpj]

10. Thanks - one (nervous) little thought -

I decided to use the various dictionary definitions because as soon as I quote or send anything done "on the net", officials and many friends tend to write it off as someone's rantings. People don't yet understand that "the net" is our last hold on freedom of the press.

[centerzu]

6. This idea for the Educate Elected Officials Thread

The thread at
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=262387&mesg_id=262387

is looking for ideas. Seems to me your post would make an excellent addition to the thoughts over there. I'm new, don't really know how to make a cross-post properly.

[mordarlar]

7. Tired and angry....

>>>This means they are going to sacrifice thousands more of our troops to keep the fear of terrorism alive.<<<

Not if this incredibly stubborn, infuriated, mother can help it. What is the bitterest pill is that i like many, many others have been working round the clock for months on multiple boards to try and bring this all forward. The immoral ones who sleep well at night with blood on their hands do NOTHING but break down every point we make with lies, conjecture and their lame talking points. Having to repeat info over and over so that their murderous, blatantly irresponsible lectures are not taken as fact, by those who might want to know truth, is mind meltingly frustrating. My children do not get books read to them lately. They have dinner at the table while i eat here. All the while saying go mom! I have a deep growing hatred, not only for those who would steal my government, but those who would for the sheer sake of entertainment, mock any effort we are making to protect not only ourselves but them as well. I am sorry, that this does in fact sound like whining. I am exhausted. I can clearly see where we are headed if we do not fight and fight hard, RIGHT NOW. And as long as so many choose to laugh it away, i must continue to fight. I am deathly terrified of the place we are headed.


>>>Warning From a Student of Democracy's Collapse
By CHRIS HEDGES

Published: January 6, 2005


PRINCETON, N.J.

FRITZ STERN, a refugee from Hitler's Germany and a leading scholar of European history, startled several of his listeners when he warned in a speech about the danger posed in this country by the rise of the Christian right. In his address in November, just after he received a prize presented by the German foreign minister, he told his audience that Hitler saw himself as "the instrument of providence" and fused his "racial dogma with a Germanic Christianity."

"Some people recognized the moral perils of mixing religion and politics," he said of prewar Germany, "but many more were seduced by it. It was the pseudo-religious transfiguration of politics that largely ensured his success, notably in Protestant areas."<<<


>>>He stops short of calling the Christian right fascist but his decision to draw parallels, especially in the uses of propaganda, was controversial.

"When I saw the speech my eyes lit up," said John R. MacArthur, whose book "Second Front" examines wartime propaganda. "The comparison between the propagandistic manipulation and uses of Christianity, then and now, is hidden in plain sight. No one will talk about it. No one wants to look at it."

Dr. Stern was a schoolboy in 1933 when Hitler was appointed the German chancellor. He ran home from school that January afternoon clutching a special edition of the newspaper to deliver to his father, a prominent physician.

"I was young," he said, "but I knew it was very bad news."<<<


>>>His schoolmates were swiftly recruited into Hitler youth groups and he and other Jews were taunted and excluded from some activities.

"Many of my classmates found the organized party experience, which included a heavy dose of flag waving and talk of national strength, very exhilarating," said Dr. Stern, who lost an aunt and an uncle in the Holocaust. "It was something I never forgot."<<<


>>>"There was a longing in Europe for fascism before the name was ever invented," he said. "There was a longing for a new authoritarianism with some kind of religious orientation and above all a greater communal belongingness. There are some similarities in the mood then and the mood now, although also significant differences."

HE warns of the danger in an open society of "mass manipulation of public opinion, often mixed with mendacity and forms of intimidation." He is a passionate defender of liberalism as "manifested in the spirit of the Enlightenment and the early years of the American republic."

"The radical right and the radical left see liberalism's appeal to reason and tolerance as the denial of their uniform ideology," he said. "Every democracy needs a liberal fundament, a Bill of Rights enshrined in law and spirit, for this alone gives democracy the chance for self-correction and reform. Without it, the survival of democracy is at risk. Every genuine conservative knows this."<<<

We have to fight this end. And we cannot wait to do it.

[AntiFascist]

8. "Oh, we've seen it all before in other countries...

The thin end of the wedge. Before we know where we are we shall have the full apparatus of totalitarianism...The people - the common people - must know... must see. There are great traditions of liberty to defend. The tradition of liberty is all. The common people will let it go. They will sell liberty for a quieter life - that is why they must be led... driven, pushed!!!"

[davidgmills]

9. While these definitions are helpful they slightly miss the point

I wrote an article last month on fascism that was published on Informationclearinghouse and Dissident Voice. Even Britt slightly misses the point, but I use his 14 point analysis.

You may wish to read it here:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7260.htm


Here's the title and thesis:

It's the Corporate State, Stupid

"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.

David G. Mills

11/10/04 "ICH" -- The early twentieth century Italians, who invented the word fascism, also had a more descriptive term for the concept -- estato corporativo: the corporatist state. Unfortunately for Americans, we have come to equate fascism with its symptoms, not with its structure. The structure of fascism is corporatism, or the corporate state. The structure of fascism is the union, marriage, merger or fusion of corporate economic power with governmental power. Failing to understand fascism, as the consolidation of corporate economic and governmental power in the hands of a few, is to completely misunderstand what fascism is. It is the consolidation of this power that produces the demagogues and regimes we understand as fascist ones.