This might hurt your eyes...

[Zosimus]

...but don't let it effect your ability to speak up about it.

The 14 Characteristics of Fascism
by Dr. Lawrence Britt

Dr.Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, wrote an article entitled "Fascism Anyone?" that appeared in Free Inquiry magazine, a journal of humanist thought (2003 Spring issue, page 20). Dr. Britt studied the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile) and found the regimes all had 14 characteristics in common. Here is his summary list:

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. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

6. 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 sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in wartime, 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 is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

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.

__________________________________________________ ______

"What good fortune for those in power that the people do not think." --Adolf Hitler

"Through clever and constant application of propaganda people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise."-- Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1923

[El Blanco]

So.....FDR and Lincoln were fascist dictators?

[Zosimus]

Originally Posted by El Blanco

So.....FDR and Lincoln were fascist dictators?

how do you come to that conclusion? While all political leaders can possess one or more of these traits, it is but a handful of them that hold all 14 points.
I'm sure you know where I am going with this....or don't you?

[El Blanco]

Lincoln and FDR did all 14 of them.

I can also determine from your list that Fidel Castro is most deffinately a fascist.

[Zosimus]

El Blanco, if you just look up the word "fascism" you will quickly learn that the word itself did not even exsist prior to 1921. It is most probable that its origin links to the coming of Italy's "El Duce"/Mussolini.

Do some reading and come back; in the mean time, let me help you out a bit:

Fascism:
"1. (often capitalized) : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition"
Merriam-Webster

As for Lincoln and FDR, as much as they were racist, hypocritical and un-insightful, I think that calling either of them "fascist" is a little too much. Anyways, if you have been following the news the past 2,5 years you might, on the other hand, see how well all 14 of these discriptions fit onto a more current regime. Touchy subject matter, isn't it?

[Zhukov]

One of the main characteristics of fascism is that it arises when "normal" forms of capitalist rule through democracy and elections can no longer contain the sharpening of the class struggle. That is why a whole section of the ruling class hands over power to a military leader which establishes the rule of the sword, that is a military dictatorship to guarantee the maintenance of capitalism. This is a key feature of fascism (and national socialism is just fascism by another name). Fascism is also based on the mass mobilisation of the frenzied petty bourgeoisie which fears losing everything and rallies around a strong man. Fascism can only come to power through the smashing of the organisations of the working class, and that is precisely one of the reasons for its existence.


If the US economy were to crash tommorow, George Bush would most definatley launch some kind of "state emergency".

"Fascism may more correctly be called Corporatism, as it is the blending of state and corporate power" - Benito Mussolini (Not to be confused with a Nationalised and planned economy!)



"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country... corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. "
- Abraham Lincoln, predicting the betrayal of his own party, Nov 21 1864


And that list does not prove Fidel to be a Fascist. I think number nine hits that home.

[El Blanco]

El Blanco, if you just look up the word "fascism" you will quickly learn that the word itself did not even exsist prior to 1921. It is most probable that its origin links to the coming of Italy's "El Duce"/Mussolini.

Yes it originates from fascistii (sp?), which, if memory serves me, was Mussolini's party. Even if the word didn't come into existence until just prior to WW2, that doesn't mean people before that couldn't fit the description.

I've done plenty of reading. If you did some more than the communist pamphlets they gave out after your recess break, you'd know how bullshit and arbitrary these stupid lists are.

As for Lincoln and FDR, as much as they were racist, hypocritical and un-insightful,

They were none of these, but hey, you got that "I'm a 14, angry, overprivalaged white kid listening to too much Rage Against the Machine" rant going, so why stop now?

I think that calling either of them "fascist" is a little too much.

Of course it is, but both men fit the criterea of your list.

Anyways, if you have been following the news the past 2,5 years you might, on the other hand, see how well all 14 of these discriptions fit onto a more current regime.

There are a lot of regimes in the world right now. You really need to narrow it down. And most of them are older than 5 years.

Touchy subject matter, isn't it?

It must be. You are apparently affraid to get to the point, if you ever had one.

That is why a whole section of the ruling class hands over power to a military leader which establishes the rule of the sword, that is a military dictatorship to guarantee the maintenance of capitalism. This is a key feature of fascism (and national socialism is just fascism by another name).

Actually, most private bussinesses in every regime we can call fascist so far ended up nationalized or under very strit government control (military overseers on the bords etc). Sounds kind of communist, doesn't it?

If the US economy were to crash tommorow, George Bush would most definatley launch some kind of "state emergency".

Well,ya. What you have him do? Sit back and say "the proletariate can fix this" and dismantle the government?

[VinceZeb]

Ouch. El Blanco owning people left and right is a pretty nasty sight.

[Zhukov]

Actually, most private bussinesses in every regime we can call fascist so far ended up nationalized or under very strit government control (military overseers on the bords etc). Sounds kind of communist, doesn't it?

I do not understand what you are talking about, sorry. :/


I put State Emergency in quotation marks because I meant that Bush would send troops and tanks onto the streets to smash protests and strikes, all while he cuts peoples rights to pieces, and gives more power to himself. It would be a "State Emergency" so people would sit around and say "Well,ya. What you have him do?"

[KevinTheOmnivore]

Don't really mean to interupt here, but needed to make just a couple of points:

Originally Posted by El Blanco

They were none of these, but hey, you got that "I'm a 14, angry, overprivalaged white kid listening to too much Rage Against the Machine" rant going, so why stop now?

Well, I agree with you except on the racism matter. Lincoln certainly was a racist, and in fact was a part of the American Colonization Society.

The point though is whether it's fair or not to criticize him for it. He publicly denounced a coexistence with blacks, but that may have been greatly due to the political pressures of the day.

Actually, most private bussinesses in every regime we can call fascist so far ended up nationalized or under very strit government control (military overseers on the bords etc). Sounds kind of communist, doesn't it?

Yes and no. You hear this comparison a lot from the Right, that all Authoritarin regimes and dictatorships were in fact a result of Socialism, but this isn't completely true, IMO.

These Fascist states heavily controlled much of the industry, but it was a supply-side control, not an across the board redistribution.

EDIT: It's great to see Vince has firmly planted himself as I-Mockery cheerleader.

[ranxer]

old definition of Fascism in the American Heritage Dictionary:
"A philosophy or system of government that advocates a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of the state and business leadership, together with an ideology of belligerent nationalism."

Altered 'new' version of the definition: "A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism."

Gone are the references to "the extreme right" and "the merging of state and business leadership." Maybe the new definition at the American Heritage Dictionary had something to do with William F. Buckley on the editorial board at the time, but it certainly helps GW stay away from being defined as a fascist.

this is a repost from the old imock board last year sometime..

[El Blanco]

Is said communist not socialist. Isn't there a difference?


Just kidding. I didn't mean to imply they were actually socialist governments, just that they had just as many traits of one system as another.

As for the Lincoln issue, it all depends on your sources. You can take those public comments at face value, or you can point to the political climate. But, you still got my point.

[Zosimus]

Alright!

First of all, I want to say that I agree with you on the fact that just because a word didn't show up prior to an event, it doesn't mean that the concept does not exsist. I thought about that when I wrote my initial reply to you but didn't correct it...it was an incorrect postulate, and I apologies for that

I'm a 14, angry, overprivalaged white kid listening to too much Rage Against the Machine

If this satisfies what you think I am, then please, go ahead and believe that!

As Kevin mentioned, Lincoln's stance probably came to be due to alot of pressure and plain ignorance for their time.
I wrongfully applied this century's beliefs and standards to an America of 1858 and called Lincoln a racist. Lincoln's views on race and equality were actually progressive and managed to change the (intelligent) minds and the policy for the US today! I definitely do NOT agree that he was a facsist, not by the 14 points listed nor by the dictionary definition of it!

There are a lot of regimes in the world right now. You really need to narrow it down. And most of them are older than 5 years.

Of course there are regimes out there that are more than 5 years old! I told you that the one I was looking at was one that involves current events..
If you can't identify any of these points in regard to the current president of the US (a regime less than 5 years old) then you are not only blind dear, but also stupid!

It must be. You are apparently affraid to get to the point, if you ever had one.

Again, the point was there the whole time, you just didn't get it!

[Zhukov]

Just kidding. I didn't mean to imply they were actually socialist governments, just that they had just as many traits of one system as another.

Ho hum. Like I said, don't get confused about a nationalised and state planned economy.

[Zosimus]

Lost post....sorry!

[GAsux]

I have seen this before and it humors me. It sort of reminds me of those Charter hospital commercials. You know the ones that make vague generalizations that could really apply to anyone? So much so that by the end of the commercial you start thinking maybe you are depressed too?

Yeah, that's sort of what this whole gig is about. Vague generalizations to demonstrate that the Bush regime is a facist state comparable to those of Stalin and Mussolini.

Come on now. Are there similiarities? Absolutely. Tom Cruise and I have the same astrological sign, same shoe size, similar hair color, and the same taste in women. Does that mean I too, am Tom Cruise?

P.S., if you say yes, I love you.

[KevinTheOmnivore]

Maybe the same taste as him, but certainly not the same selection.

[El Blanco]

And why do you know his shoe size? :/

[Zosimus]

Originally Posted by GAsux

Come on now. Are there similiarities? Absolutely. Tom Cruise and I have the same astrological sign, same shoe size, similar hair color, and the same taste in women. Does that mean I too, am Tom Cruise?

P.S., if you say yes, I love you.

Well....if you LOOK like him and are into scientology as well, I might be really tempted to say: Yes GAsux

[GAsux]

Yeah yeah I can totally do that! I mean, I'm cool with scientology I guess. What was the other part?