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Old 11-03-2004, 06:05 PM   #1
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Just passing this on... it is a little chilling though.

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The 14 Defining Characteristics Of Fascism
By Dr. Lawrence Britt
Free Inquiry Magazine / Spring 2003

Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, studied the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile). He found the regimes all had 14 things in common, and he calls these the "identifying characteristics of fascism". The article is titled 'Fascism Anyone?', and appears in Free Inquiry's Spring 2003 issue on page 20.


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 homo-sexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

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 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.
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Old 11-03-2004, 11:34 PM   #2
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wow thats a pretty accurate description of another "great" copuntry.
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Old 11-04-2004, 01:27 AM   #3
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here here! it is very worrying that there are so many identifiable characteristics with western democray's
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Old 11-04-2004, 02:48 AM   #4
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Interesting...but I would say just lining up the characteristics and eyeballing a country without taking into account other factors is asking for something equivalent to calling an anteater an elephant.

Checking down Dr. Britt's list, I'd say that other great country doesn't match up with either #6, #10, #11 or #14.

If our Mass Media were controlled, do you think there would have been a frenzy about Bush's not showing up for Guard duty? Or Clinton's Lewinsky affair? Or Abu Ghraib? Nope, as a Journalism School graduate, I can assure you many reporters LIVE for a scoop that will expose government scandel.

If Labor Power were surpessed, then it would not be the huge political donation force it is today, nor would my own company had 3 unions voted in for various workgroups during the last 5-6 years.

If there were widespread disdain for the arts, then the Grammys, Academy Awards and local art festivals would not be as popular as they are today.

If there were fraudulent elections, would Kerry have had the grace to concede so quickly?

Britt's list is an interesting talking point and a good basis for analyzing tendencies...but as a Field's Recognition Guide for nations it is flawed. Our country is most definitely NOT fascist. That we are having this discussion is only further proof of that fact.

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Old 11-04-2004, 09:03 AM   #5
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yeah, I don't think our country is fascist either, mike-- at least not yet... haha. But there are a couple of striking similarities between that list and the ultra-right wing agenda, which sadly has a stronger grip on us now.
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Old 11-04-2004, 09:15 AM   #6
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right. while i definately agree this is not a facist country, i understand that this list could be seen as a warning. red flags. i really believe that if the extreme right (as it is at present) had it's wet-dream realized, we would be much closer to being such a society. and talk about concessions..... it seems that sometimes a government will let you win on the lesser issues while keeping a firm grip on the real source of its power. everything is so damn complicated these days....... grassroots, people, grassroots!
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Old 11-04-2004, 10:15 AM   #7
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Every time I start missing the proverbial mother's bosom that is Iran, I just have to think, "a few more years, and we'll have a similar theocracy!" Ahhhh, c'mon Neocon Agenda™, make it happen for dear little me.

(tongue firmly in cheek...)
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Old 11-10-2004, 10:36 AM   #8
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Same list with supporting examples here...

I think Britt is simply saying that we are moving towards the fascist end of the political spectrum under Bush. That being one of ultra-nationalism with centralized power in the hands of a few. Which is all "fascism" is. Well, he's right.

Now, I wouldn't call us a "fascist" state yet, nor assume that we are necessarily going to become one. But, Nazi Germany didn't spring up overnight either - but slowly slid down a slippery slope over decades too. Not saying that we are going to end up like them, but one can more easily start to see how they did end up the way they did now. They weren't just some inexplicable psychotic anomaly - but the logical result of calculated precision mob psychological orchestration.

With key trigger events, media manipulation of the mass psyche, underlying social fault lines laid down by religious and other "cults," etc etc. it's not hard to imagine the eventual metamorphosis. In fact, a lot of legislative infrastructure for police state actions has already been planted here with the passage of the "Patriot Act" and formation of the Bureau of Homeland Security, etc - with ZERO public resistance. And while I doubt we'd ever have concentration camps - we already have internment camps under FEMA and REX84. And Michelle Malkin just wrote a book revising/justifying the WWII Japanese internment - gee, I wonder why now? Laying some groundwork for a possible future repeat?

Thing is, most of this stuff only becomes clear in hindsight. I could be wrong, but I doubt even Hitler referred to himself or Nazi Germany as fascist - or if so, put a positive spin on it. More likely, he didn't label his government at all and spoke fluent Doublespeak to seduce the masses. Similarly, Bush is not going to sell his wares to the public as "fascist," even if they are. That's up to the pundits to recognize on their own.
Quote:
Originally posted by Robert Hutchins@,
The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush.* It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.
Then again, maybe a more fascist state is what many in this country do need? It is what they're voting for. And, "democracy" hasn't exactly been a raging success in post-Commy Russia right now. Or India. In fact, their Commy neighbor, China, is actually doing "better" than both right now. Well, politics is just many shades of gray, full of tradeoffs and the lesser of many evils...so pick your poison.
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Old 11-10-2004, 11:07 AM   #9
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Sigh. I've been hearing so much of this sh*t lately around campus... At first, sure, it was chilling, but now it has the more the taste of sour grapes about it. Sure, three branches of the gov't are (or shortly will be- judicial appts) controlled by one party, and sure, the minority is almost half of the population.. But honestly. Bush won, let it rest. I was talking to some die hard liberal yesterday, and he is absolutely convinced that the US is heading towards a civil war or a revolution of some sort, since the gov't is representative of only little more than half the population.. He was saying that the constiutional system of checks and balances won't be able to work properly if everyone belongs to the same party (ignoring party factions) and that there hasnt been a situation like this since the founding of the country, blah blah blah... the people will rise up, etc etc...

on the side, does anyone know about this- whether the gov't has been completely controlled by any one party since its founding? I am waaay too lazy to look it up.
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Old 11-10-2004, 11:25 AM   #10
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^ Well, it's not possible to just "let it rest", regardless of who wins any given election. It would be a gargantuan understatement to say that republicans didn't just let it go when Carter or Clinton got into office. Just because Bush won the election doesn't mean that the people who oppose him are going to throw up their hands and say "well, shit. That didn't work-- I guess if we can't beat 'em, we'll join 'em!" If anything, it makes the opposing groups work that much harder. And if I remember correctly the country has never experienced one party completely controlling the government since the advent of the multi (haha-2) party system.
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Old 11-10-2004, 12:21 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally posted by bellelass@Nov 10 2004, 07:07 PM
Bush won, let it rest.
This is on a tangent - but that sounds like the Stockholm Syndrome. Also often seen in beaten wives. Basically, after someone (often a woman) is "broken," she sympathizes and sides with her oppressor/captor. Might is right.

This same technique was used in white slavery* in Portland (learned this on the Underground Tour there). They would capture a woman and lock her in a tiny closet with a stool underground in total darkness. Usually within 48 hours, this would "crack" her and she would then easily do as ordered - which usually meant getting shipped to a wh0rehouse in San Francisco or NY never to return.

* Note - named "white slavery" because all the enslavers were white, not because they had white (amongst other) "slaves." Although, that explanation confuses me because how would that be different from "black slavery" where the owners were also white? I may have to email the guy back on this one...
-----
Anyways, I think our country is far too apathetic as a whole to revolt. And the gov has come down very hard on any militias and such that even begin to try to. Of more real concern to me is the steady move towards fascism and erosion of individual civil liberties.

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." - 4th Amendment

Section 213 (Authority for Delaying Notice of the Execution of a Warrant), also known as the "sneak-and-peek" provision, which effectively allows police to avoid giving prior warning when searches of personal property are conducted. Before the USA PATRIOT Act, the government had to obtain a warrant and give notice to the person whose property was to be searched.

"Section 215 authorizes the FBI to acquire any business records whatsoever by order of a secret U.S. court. The recipient of such a search order is forbidden from telling any person that he has received such a request. This is a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech and the Fourth Amendment protection of private property."


Gee, if this is the "Patriot" Act, then the CONSTITUTION must sure be anti-patriotic!

Basically with such legislation, the Feds can now do a lot more without your permission and backdoor through secret courts. A lot of individual rights and transparency has been lost. I know you may not think this affects you now - and it never may - but one day it might. So, I salute anyone who doesn't just "let it rest" and fights for all our rights.
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Old 11-10-2004, 12:48 PM   #12
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Quote:
And if I remember correctly the country has never experienced one party completely controlling the government since the advent of the multi (haha-2) party system.
The first president of the USA Mr George Washington did not believe in political parties and warned against them. Although many books and resources list him as a Federalist he would have been considered independent. John Adams was a Federalist Thomas Jeferson was a Democratic-Republican which controlled the presidency for 28 years. That was probably about the only time the gov't was controled by one major party as the Federalists had lost their poer and it wasn't until the late 1820's that the Democrats became a major party. Which then caused the fall of the Dem-Rep's and the creation of the Whigs (early republicans). The Whigs dissolved during the 1850's and were eventually replaced by the Republicans as we know them today. The first republican president was Abraham Lincoln.

Interesting fact... Since the election of Abraham Lincoln only twice has there been two democratic presidents in a row , and both times the 2nd succeeded the 1st because of death. Harry Trumen after Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson after John F. Kennedy. ,

Both Whigs that were elected president died in office.

If anything I believe that it is time for the people to create their own political party instead of begging for the scraps from the rich aristocratic democrats and the rich conservative republicans. Neither really cares about the underprivliged or is willing to motivate people. We need a good honest man like Abraham Lincoln or George Washington.
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Old 11-10-2004, 11:49 PM   #13
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The potential fascist you've really got to watch is Vladimir Putin. Some of his actions as of late are truly fascistic and dangerous. But the US does make a more entertaining target.
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Old 11-11-2004, 07:25 AM   #14
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exactly.
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Old 11-11-2004, 07:46 AM   #15
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Good points all.

It's hard to find the middle ground between guarenteeing our liberties -- which is the whole reason this country exists -- and defending us from fanatics who want to detonate a nuclear device in our cities and incinerate millions at a time. Very depressing stuff, for sure.

I DO object to Bush's wanting to hold everyone captured in the name of the war on terrorism indefinitely and without trial. They're either POWs or they're criminals. Treatment of one falls under the Geneva Convention, treatment of the other under our laws. There is NO middle ground. Bushie wants to have his cake and eat it, too.

I read some of his justifications in the paper and I think, "Under Bush, we're becoming the bad guys..."

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Old 11-11-2004, 12:24 PM   #16
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Quote:
I read some of his justifications in the paper and I think, \"Under Bush, we're becoming the bad guys...\"
yeah one of my biggest beefs with Bush is thatit seems that he wants us to do everything alone. Like we are trying to prove some point about us being better then everyone else and we don't need them.
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