Ted wrote: The following list gives me a lot of concern.
i have a lot of problems with the list. it's based upon selective vision, and exaggeration of tendencies.
1. Powerful and continuing nationalism employing constant use of patriotic slogans, symbols, songs, flags.nationalism is not bad. nationalism is good. extreme nationalism, and isolationism, are bad. there are tendencies by some towards extreme nationalism. there are also tendencies by some towards extreme globalism. that doesn't mean this country is top-heavy in either direction.
2. Disdain for the recognition of human rights because security needs outweigh human rights which can be ignored.
disdain? i disagree. there is always a balancing act going on between human rights and security needs. there is a tension there, and it'll always be there. in the main, human rights are very, very, very well protected here in the united states. there are, and always will be transgressions, ranging from the heinous to the merely uncomfortable. the recent problem at airports where security personnel began essentially 'feeling up' female passengers breasts, because of an incident where a suicide bomber filled a bra with plastic explosives (geez, i can think of a half dozen jokes that would go along with that one). on the other hand, there is a tendency to go the other way, in being so concerned about being accused of racial profiling that clearly middle-eastern/arabic looking passengers are as a matter of policy *not* more carefully screened than other passengers - which is just nuts. islamic extremists are almost all of middle-eastern extraction - screening them with a bit more rigor than others is *not* inappropriate.
3. Using enemies as scapegoats for a unifying cause.frankly, i'm baffled by this. how can a true enemy be a scapegoat? this country has enemies. people who wish to see our nation and way of life destroyed, because we are infidels. our 'unifying cause' is to protect our way of life from those enemies. if the 'unifying cause' mentioned is intended to suggest ulterior motives - turning this into a 'christian' nation, or fulfilling bible prophecy, or simply hatred of those swarthy arabs - well, there's always a conspiracy crowd out there to fill the need.
4. Supremacy of the military.
not here. perhaps this refers to china. or north korea. who knows. supremacy: supreme power/authority. no such thing exists in the united states. we have *military superiority*, but it serves the people. we don't have a military that on its own goes on expeditions and mounts battles and wars on its own, with no control by any other authority. last i checked, we still vote, have representatives, a supreme court, and a president.
5. Rampant sexism including more rigid gender roles and anti-gay legislation.rampant sexism? was this written in 1967? i'm sorry, i know few Mrs. Cleavers. those who do fulfill that role do so of their own choosing. Hewlett Packard's CEO the last several years was Carly Fiorina. i'm pretty sure she wasn't baking cakes for the board of directors.
anti-gay legislation? finally, a postulate in the list i can recognize! yes, there is a significant trend in anti-gay legislation. which goes very much against the principles of civil and individual rights this country has been evolving over the last few hundred years. frankly, i'm considering writing a book about the subject of gay marriage. i think the 'sub' title of the book will be 'why conservatives and liberals both have their heads up their asses on this issue'.
6. Controlled mass media.an ominous sounding statement. and hogwash. you can buy Mother Jones magazine at any bookstore. I think the John Birch society still publishes their tracts. The main, national TV news - amounting to 30 minutes per day by three networks - tends towards the left. another network, Fox, tends towards the right. oooo, thirty minutes a day of 'propoganda'! outrageous! talk radio? i don't listen to it personally, but i gather that there are a lot more right wing commentators than left wing. amazingly enough, the populace is *not* required to listen to talk radio, nor watch tv news, nor read newspapers. to me, Controlled Mass Media is not the problem, the problem woudl be Controlled Masses, with only one government provided 'channel' for "news". sorry, all hysteria to the contrary, no such illusory state obtains, or has obtained, in this country. i am Free to learn whatever i want about world events. there are sources of all stripe out there, and i'm not prevented in any way from choosing the ones i wish to review. if i want unadulterated news, i just read the reuters newsfeed - one of the few news organizations that really, truly cares about only *reporting* the news, leaving interpretation to the customer.
7. Obsession with national security driven by a politics of fear.okay. i'd hardly call it an obsession. or did we miss mr. kerry repeating over and over how something like 95% of all cargo containers coming into this country are never inspected? if we were obsessed with it, there would be huge fleets of cargo container ships poised offshore, being meticulously inspected, and massive, widespread shortages of goods, with long lines at stores and very short inventory.
there's a good deal of concern with national security. politics of fear? remind me, what happened on september 11, 2001? i can't seem to put my finger on it.
there's good reason for concern, and fear. has the fear been fed by politicians? see above. was mr. kerry serving the public good/safety by repeatedly using that fact to claim that the current administration was not scared enough, and not doing enough? who then was using the politics of fear?
8. Religion and Government are intertwined especially in rhetoric employed by its leaders.
there is no ban on religious rhetoric in government. most politicians will employ religious rhetoric to suit their needs to pander to whatever audience happens to be listening at the time. i think the recently released tapes of conversations mr. bush had with a friend before the 2000 election pretty much put the kibosh on that crap. bush was quite clear that he wasn't going to be a lackey for the conservative christians. does he invoke his *own* faith, and describe its importance in providing guidance to him? sure. as did kerry. as does every politician - again, see above.
9. Corporate power is protectedâ€industrial and business aristocracies put government leaders into power and keep them there creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
wow. we're really getting into 'black helicopters'/Secret Order/Cabal territory here. of course corporations have power, and have protections. people seem to forget that corporations actually employ real people, and produce real goods, which are consumed by the populace. how horrible! last i checked, we had a fair election for president, and i'm pretty sure that colgate palmolive didn't install arnold schwartzenegger as governor of california - the people did.
10. Labor power, which represents one of the few threats to fascism, is suppressed.
labor power represents 'one of the few threats to fascism'? i did not know that. i thought our federal republic pretty much handled that. and the second amendment.
i'd hardly say labor power is being supressed. i haven't seen any unions dissolved by the government recently.
11. Disdain for intellectuals and the arts and hostility to higher education along with censorship of arts or refusal to support the arts.
mmm. michael moore. need i say more? yeah, terrible censorship. the most profitable "documentary" of all time. actually, a skillful work of fiction, absolutely trashing the current administration. remind me, which showings were shut down by the national guard?
12. Obsession with crime and punishment.
i guess it depends upon your definition of obsession. curiously, if there's a lot of crime, people tend to focus on it. even more curiously, crime of all types has been dropping steadily and consistently for quite a few years now in this country. even through an economic downcycle, which many people claimed would cause rates to skyrocket. contrary to the hysteria of some, domestic crime is becoming less of a problem - the US is becoming gradually safer - even with the threat of terrorism.
so, maybe there is an obsession with crime and punishment in the media, and by the consuming public, but i'm puzzled by what deleterious effects that is causing, if crime is going down.
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.again, was this written in the 1960's? anyone checked out chicago's politics lately? compare the politics back then with now. cronyism still exists. it's a pale shadow of what it once was.
curiously, the current administration has has orders of magnitude fewer indictments for corruption than the previous administration. hmm.....
14. Fraudulent Elections.ah. we're back to that. bush stole the 2000 election. bush stole the 2004 election. the huge margin of victory in the popular vote doesn't count. it was all black helicopters and agents of the government stuffing ballot boxes and hacking electronic voting machines in ohio, that's what it was.
sigh.
If this is happening in the US. it should give all Americans as well as the rest of the free world a great deal of concern. Is the US. heading towards fascism? no, it's not, not even by the most jaundiced view of current conditions.
The list was compiled by Dr. Lawrence Britt.
here's the unedited list with the good doctor's commentary.
http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.pdf
First published in Free Inquiry Magazine.
i wonder if you can find copies of Free Inquiry Magazine on newsstands in Havanah?
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