The U.S. and the 10 steps to fascism

[integral]

Naomi Wolf has written an article entitled Fascist America, in 10 easy steps which I think is a must read.
I found it chilling. I didn't know things were this bad.

Also check another article she wrote called American Tears.

[The Duke of Khal]

...I didn't know things were this bad.

That's what everyone is going to say. People have been warning about this shit for years. I don't think a mainstream writer suddenly getting a clue is going to change anything, because the thought processes that lead commoners to pay attention to mainstream writers in the first place guarantees political impotence. At best people will get in a tizzy for a little while and then go back to waving their American flag as Fuckedupistan gets nuked.

The article also doesn't account for the following,

ARE Americans practicing Communism?

Can YOU?

K

[Tomas]

Naomi Wolf has written an article entitled Fascist America, in 10 easy steps which I think is a must read.
I found it chilling. I didn't know things were this bad.

Also check another article she wrote called American Tears.

Had come across that some time ago.

Yeah, all "god-given" rights are enumerated on the back of the dollar bill.

democrat, republican, left, right, co-equal branches of gov't, fascist, communist, green, christian, liberal, conservative, tory, new-democrat

Alpha Bits cereal, Campbell's alphabet soup

Ain't life grand...



Tomas (the tank)
VietNam veteran - 1971

[Cybersmiles]

Naomi Wolf is one of the most fascist women in the US.
She's also a profound man-hater.
Her article is nothing but a projection of
the poison that exists inside her own brain and her own psychology.

[Dan Rowden]

Nothing in that article is new to me. I think the signs are quite stark that America as we know it being consigned to history and what is replacing it is deeply disturbing. America is showing signs of degenerating into neo-fascism. It's much worse than the McCarthy era and that was bad enough. The most revealing part of Wolf's article I though was this:

Professor Walter F Murphy is emeritus of Princeton University; he is one of the foremost constitutional scholars in the nation and author of the classic Constitutional Democracy. Murphy is also a decorated former marine, and he is not even especially politically liberal. But on March 1 this year, he was denied a boarding pass at Newark, "because I was on the Terrorist Watch list".

[Dan Rowden]

Naomi Wolf is one of the most fascist women in the US.

Not sure how you reach that determination.

She's also a profound man-hater.

Nah, I don't get that from her as much as some other feminist authors like Dworkins. But she makes most of the same mistakes.

Whatever she writes and/or says, is a nothing but a projection of the poison that exists inside of her own brain and psychology.

I don't think so in the case of that article. I agree with it completely; though, she's hardly the first to point these things out. She seems to have caught on rather late in proceedings. Maybe she needs some profile at the moment.

[Ataraxia]

'Neo-fascism' is probably overstating it somewhat.But the U.S has certainly gone down the overly authouritarian path quite seemlessly in the last couple of decades.It's that damnable Leo Struass' fault in my view.A drowning at birth wouldn't have been too over the top in hindsight.

Interestingly the 'anti-Straussian' in the Republican party Ron Paul's popularity appears to be going from strength to strength of late.His overtly capitalism inspired libertarian views may be quite distateful to many on the left but at least he is presenting a dissenting voice within the party.

[Unidian]

ARE Americans practicing Communism?

I'd certainly hope so.

But this highlights a problem with these lists. As sympathetic as I am to Wolf's thought and the idea that the US is proto-fascist, criteria can always be created or selected after the fact to fit the existing data.

[Toban]

While the situation in the US is definitely grim and deteriorating, there is a decent chance that the people might be able to turn things around through the Ron Paul revolution. Despite the media's attempts to keep him out of the race, he is breaking out. On Nov.5, his supporters organized a "money bomb" and flooded the campaign with $4.2 million, breaking the republican primary record for most donations in one day. His campaign is a people's revolution and he is now a serious contender for presidency.

Wolf also seems to be a fan: Finally, Action! Ron Paul Introduces Bill to Defend Constitution!

[Unidian]

Let's not and say we didn't.

The "Ron Paul Revolution" will come at the expense of health care, education, and social services. Ron Paul is a hardcore libertarian capitalist who will not hesitate to slash public spending across the board. The few extra dollars the average American will save as a result of this are not worth what they will ultimately cost. A nation which thinks it can do without social services is one which sells out its own future for short-term gain.

Ron Paul is not the answer. For a real revolution, a progressive one, we could not do better than Dennis Kucinich. Ron Paul will send us further down the road to regression, adding even more distance between us and the rest of the developed world. Dennis Kucinich, on the other hand, will finally make America a true first-world nation.

[integral]

Hi Unidian: I'm a fan of Kucinich. His impeachment bill and his plan to hold further investigations into 9/11 are awesome.

However, since Ron Paul wants to abolish both the IRS and the Federal Reserve I think that qualifies him as being much more progressive than our friend Kucinich. Striking at the oligarchy like that is what I'd call progress(ive).

[Unidian]

Um, that qualifies him as regressive, not progressive. Abolishing the income tax is not a progressive policy. It is a policy which will result in drastic cuts to social services and a further decline into 19th century economic policy.

Glad to hear you like Kucinich, though. Forget Ron Paul. He will destroy America while promising to save it.

[Cybersmiles]

oy vay's mir......sinterklaaskapoentje......!

Over and out.

[The Duke of Khal]

ARE Americans practicing Communism?

I'd certainly hope so.

But this highlights a problem with these lists. As sympathetic as I am to Wolf's thought and the idea that the US is proto-fascist, criteria can always be created or selected after the fact to fit the existing data.

Unidian,

You're making two mistakes: (1) that we cannot see trends regardless of what "selections" have gone on. We can, and we do. The only question is what are the ultimate principles at work here. And, (2) that the US cannot be moving towards Marxism and Fascism simultaneously, which it can, and is. It's called Synarchism.

K

[DHodges]

I found it chilling. I didn't know things were this bad.

Yes, things are very, very bad. It may already be too late to reverse.

the US cannot be moving towards Marxism and Fascism simultaneously, which it can, and is. It's called Synarchism.

Wouldn't that be called National Socialism?

[Philosophaster]

Nazis and Fascists were actually very anti-Marxist.

[DHodges]

Nazis and Fascists were actually very anti-Marxist.

Yes, it seems the German Nazis, at least, considered themselves socialists, but not Marxists.

[Philosophaster]

The only thing really "socialist" about the Nazis was the way that they commandeered the economy to serve a "collective" end, which in their case was the military conquest of other countries.

Both the Fascists and the Nazis hated Marxism for its internationalism and its emphasis on equality and interracial / interethnic cooperation.

Nationalism is the key to understanding both movements. Their hatred of "economic liberalism" wasn't based on a hatred of capitalism as such, but on the fact that unrestricted trade and economic activity tends to dissolve national boundaries.

[The Duke of Khal]

I didn't say "National Socialist." The US is emphatically not moving in that direction. What it is doing, among other things, is moving towards fascism, and towards Marxism, simultaneously. In other words, cultural Marxism under corporatism, ruled by an international oligarchy. The chief signs of this are the liquidation of all barriers to trade and money, the drive to drop all immigration barriers, the formation of blocs like European Union and North American Union, and the advance of the police state, among perhaps others.

K

[integral]

Unidian: yeah Kucinich is no slouch. I think the country would improve greatly if he was elected as the president. Either him or Gravel would be my 2nd pick behind Paul.

Regarding the personal income tax, in the 80's Reagan commissioned a study of the income tax. The resulting the Grace Commission Report found that:
"With two-thirds of everyone's personal income taxes wasted or not collected, 100 percent of what is collected is absorbed solely by interest on the Federal debt and by Federal Government contributions to transfer payments. In other words, all individual income tax revenues are gone before one nickel is spent on the services which taxpayers expect from their Government."

So, in light of that, I think abolishing the personal income tax would be great progress and definitely not regress.

[Dan Rowden]

Excuse my economic ignorance, but if that is true, where does the Government get it's money from? The printing press?

[Toban]

Dan, the US actually didn't have an income tax until 1913. Government funding comes from indirect taxes (corporate, property, gasoline, etc), borrowing from China, and of course inflation of the money supply.

[daybrown]

Excuse my economic ignorance, but if that is true, where does the Government get it's money from? The printing press?

Actually, they dont even have to print it any more. They quit publishing the M3. So, all they have to do now, is send the brokerage houses and banks digital money to support the stock and bond prices, or choose to withdraw it when they want to shake out small investors.

Then, after the panic, when they've sold out, drive the price back up again, drawing new suckers into the game. then, at the top of the market, the power elite sells out, making the digital money appear in their bank accounts that they can use to exchange for anything else that they want. Then the fed calls back the M3, the price drops, then stabilizes until its time to prime the pump again. That sucking sound you hear is from the bottom, where the pension funds are now nothing but air.

But you cant expect anything else from an electorate that is so irrational.

[Toban]

The "Ron Paul Revolution" will come at the expense of health care, education, and social services.

Thats what I thought too, until I started reading up on Austrian economics (free market). I came to realize that socialism sounds good if you don't understand economics, but a free market is a much better solution. And Paul doesn't want to remove government programs immediately, there would be a transition period to help those who've become dependent.

But this issue is small beans compared to abolishing the Fed. That would be the greatest thing anyone could accomplish - even better than ending the war, because without the Fed, you can't finance wars without taxing people up front, and you can't tax the people that much without revolt. The Fed really is the root of the problems.

"We have, in this country, one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever known. I refer to the Federal Reserve Board. This evil institution has impoverished the people of the United States and has practically bankrupted our government. It has done this through the corrupt practices of the moneyed vultures who control it."
- Congressman Louis T. McFadden in 1932 (Rep. Pa)

[Ibanez]

Thats what I thought too, until I started reading up on Austrian economics (free market). I came to realize that socialism sounds good if you don't understand economics, but a free market is a much better solution. And Paul doesn't want to remove government programs immediately, there would be a transition period to help those who've become dependent.

It really depends. In order to embrace the complete free market ideology the Americans will need to give up a fundamental belief of their country and system, egalitarianism. Free market works excellent with goods and some services because you can downgrade the service/good for people without money. For instance, can't get a Mercedes you can buy a Chevy. However, when it comes to health care it's not really that simple. How would you downgrade medical services for poor people?