In my wanderings on the Web I came upon another article warning Americans about our countries slide toward Fascism. Naomi Wolf has written about this in her book, The End Of America and in several articles and interviews. Yesterday I came upon an article by Laurence W. Britt, Fascism Anyone?. If you google him you will find more articles. He is calling us to pay attention to where this administration is leading us. Here are his main points, check the full article out in my Another Viewpoint section on this blog:
1. Powerful and continual expression of nationalism
2. Disdain for the importance of human rights
3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause
4. Supremacy of the military
5. Rampant sexism and homophobic
6. A controlled mass media
7. Obsession with national security
8. Religion and ruling elite tied together
9. Power of corporations protected
10. Power of labor suppressed and eliminated
11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts
12. Obsession with crime and punishment
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption
14. Fraudulent elections
As you read through this list do any of them sound familiar to you? It seems to me that our leadership is in line with all of these 14 steps toward Fascism.
My take on these fourteen points goes like this:
1. Nationalism since 9/11 has been pumped to us by the media and the government as if we are the only country that matters. This blind march ignores we are all global citizens share this tiny planet in a massive universe. Nationalism is consider patriotic, and questioning what is going on is looked upon with contempt by those in power.
2. Human rights are constantly violated by this administration. Torture, imprisonment without trial, spying on Americans, the suppression of opposition and others numerous violations
3. We have lapsed into a country that blames. We blame terrorist, Muslims, gays, illegal immigrants, liberals, conservatives for all of our problems. Those are just labels but these labels are used by those in power to gain more power.
4. We not only have a strong military but look at our country’s budget with over half it going to support the military and the military-industrial complex. That budget doesn’t even include the war in Iraq. Blackwater and other private militaries are growing in there power.
5. The power of men and their domination is part of fundamentalism Christianity. In this country the fundamentalist are trying to dominate our government and our belief systems. Homophobia is a great fear of the fundamentalist.
6. Where has true investigative journalism gone? News has become sensational and entertainment driven. Why aren’t the major newspapers jumping up and down warning us about what is going on in the government, in corporations because they are own by corporations and support those in power.
7. National security has become a huge obsession in this country and a way to keep all the citizens concerned and in fear. Yet the leadership of this country goes to war and creates more enemies, robs us of our national guard units for this war, and the Homeland security department is a joke in how to manage our national security.
8. This, too me, is a very scary point. Those that believe everyone should think and believe like that do are so wrong. The entire Republican party has been taken over by a religious group calling themselves Christians. The fundamentalist point of view is scary and full of arrogance and elitism.
9. Corporation are running unchecked by our government. Who is looking out for the people? Why is the pursuit of a profit allowed to rationalize every kind of mistreatment of the people and the planet? Why do we put up with this? As you can tell by my questions, I am deeply concerned about this point.
10. Do you hear much about labor unions these days? No because they represent the needs and concerns of the workers. As benefits are reduced and more hours expected of the workers, who cares about the people? I know a young engineer who is expected to give free hours of work to his company for the good of the company. This is happening everywhere.
11. The problems I see here is again the beliefs are suppose to dominate science. That creationism is the way; not science of evolution. This is ridiculous. Beliefs are just beliefs and don’t have to reflect reality. The using of the mind to think objectively and critically is supposed to give over to a set of beliefs? No I don’t think so.
12. This country imprisons a higher percentage of its population then any other democracy. We are obsessed with building more prisons. Have you heard about the private prisons that are being built by a Halliburton subsidiary? This country is dominate by those who want to make people pay for their crimes rather than help those who are in need of rehabilitation.
13. Has the notion of conflict of interests, as something we should be concerned about in this country, been totally eliminated? Cheney and Halliburton, Bush and oil. War profiting is unchecked. There is so much here that needs to be looked at and it is not happening.
14. The election in Florida belonged to Gore and it was stolen. All the recounts of those votes had Gore winning. The last election in Ohio and across the country was full of dirty tricks by the winning party. The facts are there if you care to look. The electronic voting machines can be manipulated so a paper trail is essential if you want a free democracy.
There is so much else I could right about these points. You decide. Should you be concerned? YES you should, without any question in my mind. What can you do? Get involved, starting talking to people, support organizations and NGO’s who are working to protect our freedom, write and call your elected officials. Don’t give up because we are all needed.