Fascism redux — 70 years later

JOE MAYER

Fascism – 1. A political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a central autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition. 2. A tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control.

Hearing the word "fascism", we tend to associate it with the brutality practiced under the regimes of Hitler and Mussolini; we also usually forget that they were both elected in countries deemed to be democratic. Also, both ruled nations that were Christian, they claimed to be Christian in their actions, and they used religion to build their power.

Both of these men, in consolidating power and in initiating an aggressive foreign policy, rallied their countrymen around nationalism and ethnic pride. In the 1930s and 1940s, while Italy and Germany became fascist states with Aryan superiority programs, the remainder of the world watched with fear. This same frenzied nationalism (patriotism) that is lauded in the U.S. today is feared by the rest of the world as they watch the erosion of our human and civil rights, an erosion that we deny.

Our president is addicted to certain buzzwords and phrases. These are used repeatedly to conceal his true intentions. One of those buzzwords is "freedom". But, how can there be freedom in the marketplace of ideas, in the discussions within and about democracy if there is no factual information for these discussions? This secretive administration, besides claiming "national security" to withhold information, also budgets and contracts to propagandize the citizens. (A recent poll produced astonishing results: A strong majority of the military personnel serving in Iraq believe we should leave immediately while at the same time these same soldiers believe that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.)

With the above definitions in mind consider the Bush administration's approach to governance; the government needs to know everything about its citizens but withholds knowledge of government operations and intentions from its citizens. Add to this the claim that all powers rest in the executive branch. How is this different from the tactics used by authoritarian and totalitarian regimes throughout history? "We are the good guys, the good nation, the blessed ones" doesn't change the facts. If it looks like a duck…

Democratic or authoritarian?

· Abduction and imprisonment indefinitely without trial
· Assassination of foreign officials
· Secret military trials for non-combatants
· Abductions and shipment to foreign regimes for "special treatment"
· Use of torture while denying torture
· Treating international law (documents we signed) as not applicable
· Boldly claiming presidential right to disregard U.S. law
· Assumption of the right to invade any country at any time
· Repression of dissent and protest

We live in a nation where the few control the many, not by physical brutality (exceptions above) but through the use of fear – fear of WMDs, race, homosexuals, immigrants, South American "leftists". While the nation, led by an obedient press, ponders these side attractions, the powerful few among us steal democracy.

We've given one man control over a military with the largest budget in the history of humankind. We lead the world in the number of our fellow citizens we allow to be imprisoned and executed. We claim security as our "Bill of Rights" is eroded. We feign ignorance as our government tramples human rights around the globe.

We blame Hitler. We blame Mussolini. Do we ever blame the German and Italian citizens as they silently watched (even cheered) their countrymen being spirited away and their own rights eliminated? We can blame Bush and company, but do we silently….


(For a related story, see "The Rise of Fascism in America" by Gary Alan Scott, an associate professor of philosophy at Loyola College in Maryland and currently the Director of Loyola’s International Study Abroad Program in Leuven, Belgium.)