fascist government

[GFR]

Simply stated, a fascist government always has one class of citizens that is considered superior (good) to another (bad) based upon race, creed or origin. It is possible to be both a republic and a fascist state. The preferred class lives in a republic while the oppressed class lives in a fascist state.



More than a class system, fascism specifically targets, dehumanizes and aims to destroy those it deems undesirable.


Until the Civil Rights act of 1964, many parts of the US were Republic for whites and could be considered fascist for non-Caucasian residents. Fascism promotes legal segregation in housing, national resource allocation and employment. It provides legal justification for persecuting a specific segment of the population and operates behind a two tiered legal system. These two tiers can be overt as it was within Nazi Germany where Jews, Homosexuals, Catholics, Communists, Clergy and the handicap were held to one set of rules and courts, while the rest of Germany enjoyed different laws.

Or it can be implied and held up by consensual conspiracy, (people know it is wrong but do nothing to stop it or change it. Through lack of action, they give consent), as it was in the deep South for African Americans and others of color. In Fascism, one segment of society is always considered less desirable, sub-human or second class.

(Note: no single government is pure anything. Most have elements of several structures with one dominant structure). Below is the political definition and general characteristics of a fascist country. TOP

 

[GFR]

general characteristics
of a fascist country:

1. Fascism is commonly defined as an open terror-based dictatorship which is:

* Reactionary: makes policy based upon current circumstances rather than creating policies to prevent problems; piles lies and misnomers on top of more lies until the truth becomes indistinguishable, revised or forgotten.
* Chauvinistic: Two or more tiered legal systems, varying rights based upon superficial characteristics such as race, creed and origin.
* Imperialist elements of finance capital: Extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political domination of one state over its allies.

Though a dictatorship is the most common association with fascism, a democracy or republic can also be fascist when it strays away from its Tenets of sovereignty. In the 20th Century, many Fascist countries started out as republics. Through the use of fear, societies gave up their rights under the guise of security. Ultimately these republics morphed into Fascist states.

2. Fascism is an extreme measure taken by the middle classes to forestall lower-working class revolution; it thrives on the weakness of the middle classes. It accomplishes this by embracing the middle-class' love of the status-quo, its complacency and its fears of: TOP

1.

Generating a united struggle within the working class
2.

Revolution
3.

Losing its own power and position within society

In a more simplistic term the people currently in control fear that if they allow equal rights and equal consideration to those being oppressed, they will become oppressed and lose everything. Generally those in power are of a smaller segment of society, but they hold the wealth and control of key systems like manufacturing, law, finance and government position, (i.e. the slave owners in the south prior to the civil war) and the oppressed vastly outnumber them, (the slaves during the same period).

In reality it is the oppressors' fear of retribution by the oppressed that perpetuates fascism; for justification they dehumanize, demonize, strip them of rights, add new laws, restrict movement and attempt to control them by whatever means possible to prevent an uprising. It is very common in a fascist system to have the oppressed referred to as sub-human, animals, terrorists, savages, barbarians, vermin or any other term designed to create justification for the acts of terror and fascism perpetrated on the oppressed. Via dehumanization society can then accept that the oppressed are incapable of thinking or acting in a peaceful manner or taking care of themselves, and thus society is exonerated from culpability in their own minds. Propaganda, not persuasion, logic or law, is the tool of fascism, though at times very difficult to spot. It specifically rides the fact that negative behavior is innate, (born with) rather than a logical behavior in response to oppression. Propaganda also empowers the oppressors with elitism racially, socially, intellectually and/or spiritually.


Sounds like America to me.

 

[The Monkey Man]

Oh Shit... (ducking)

 

[DOMS]

general characteristics
of a fascist country:

Sounds like America to me.

If you honestly think America is a fascist state or a dictatorship, you're an idiot and making light of people who truly live in such a situation.

 

[GFR]

The 7 conditions (Warning signs)
that foster & fuel fascism are:

1.

Instability of capitalist relationships or markets
2.

The existence of considerable declassed social elements
3.

The stripping of rights and wealth focused upon a specific segment of the population, specifically the middle class and intellectuals within urban areas as this the group with the means, intelligence and ability to stop fascism if given the opportunity.
4.

Discontent among the rural lower middle class (clerks, secretaries, white collar labor). Consistent discontent among the general middle and lower middle classes against the oppressing upper-classes (haves vs have-nots).
5.

Hate: Pronounced, perpetuated and accepted public disdain of a specific group defined by race, origin, theology or association.
6.

Greed: The motivator of fascism, which is generally associated with land, space or scarce resources in the possession of those being oppressed.

7.

Organized Propaganda:

a) The creation of social mythology that venerates (creates saints of) one element of society while concurrently vilifying (dehumanizing) another element of the population through misinformation, misdirection and the obscuring of factual matter through removal, destruction or social humiliation, (name-calling, false accusations, belittling and threats).

b) The squelching of public debate not agreeing with the popular agenda via slander, libel, threats, theft, destruction, historical revisionism and social humiliation. Journalists in particular are terrorized if they attempt to publish stories contrary to the agenda.

3. Fascism dovetails business & government sectors into a single economic unit, while concurrently increasing in-fighting and distrust between the units fostering advancement towards war.

4. a) Fascism promotes chauvinist demagogy, (appealing to the prejudices and emotions of the populace) by fostering selective persecution and accepted public vilification of the target group. It then promotes this a "patriotic", "supportive" or "the party line" and disagreement with such as "anti-government", "anti-faith" or "anti-nation".

b) Fascism creates confusion through "facts". It relies on junk science, revisionism, the elimination of cultural records/treasures and obfuscations to create its case and gain acceptance. Fascism can also combine Marxist critiques of capitalism or faith based critics of the same to re-define middle class perceptions of democracy and to force its issues, confuse logic and create majority consensus between targeted groups. This is also referred to as creating a state of Cognitive Dissonance, the mental state most human beings are easily manipulated within.

5. Both middle and upper-middle-class dictated democracy and fascism are class dictatorships that use organized violence (verbal or physical) to maintain the class rule of the oppressors over the oppressed.

The difference between the two is demonstrated by the policies towards non-lower-working class classes. Fascism attains power through the substitution of one state's form of class domination with another form, generally a middle class based republic segues into an open terrorist dictatorship, run by a few elite.
My God this is America

 

[brogers]

He has no grasp on reality. He thinks being against gay-marriage is the same as being a slave-owner and America is fascist, etc. If this was a fascist government, idiots like you would be shot in the street. But because you live here, you get to voice your opinion, regardless of how idiotic and slanderous it is.

 

[brogers]

The stripping of rights and wealth focused upon a specific segment of the population, specifically the middle class and intellectuals within urban areas as this the group with the means, intelligence and ability to stop fascism if given the opportunity.

The only people stripped of wealth are the top 50% of wealth owners who pay ~98% of the taxes in this country. The lower class are given far more by the government than they put into it.

 

[GFR]

If you honestly think America is a fascist state or a dictatorship, you're an idiot and making light of people who truly live in such a situation.

The 14 Defining
Characteristics Of Fascism
by Dr. Lawrence Britt

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14-defining characteristics common to each:

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 homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media -
Sometimes to 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.

Almost all of these things are the American way.......its time to wake up

 

[GFR]

He has no grasp on reality. He thinks being against gay-marriage is the same as being a slave-owner and America is fascist, etc. If this was a fascist government, idiots like you would be shot in the street. But because you live here, you get to voice your opinion, regardless of how idiotic and slanderous it is.

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 homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

 

[GFR]

The only people stripped of wealth are the top 50% of wealth owners who pay ~98% of the taxes in this country. The lower class are given far more by the government than they put into it.

 

[DOMS]

You're ability to cut-and-paste is amazing...

Where's the whoopdie-fucking-doo icon when you need it?

 

[GFR]

Hate: Pronounced, perpetuated and accepted public disdain of a specific group defined by race, origin, theology or association.

 

[DOMS]

Paste Whore : A person who has no abilty to synthesize thoughts of their own and can only regurgitate what they have read or heard. (see also: foremanrules).

 

[GFR]

4. a) Fascism promotes chauvinist demagogy, (appealing to the prejudices and emotions of the populace) by fostering selective persecution and accepted public vilification of the target group. It then promotes this a "patriotic", "supportive" or "the party line" and disagreement with such as "anti-government", "anti-faith" or "anti-nation".



You, you, you

 

[Dale Mabry]

As much as I don't care much for the wealthy, it is completely unfair to have them pay more taxes, at least for the ones who actually do pay their taxes.

 

[GFR]

Yes I feel sorry for them also.

 

[GFR]

Poor bastards.....life just aint fair.

 

[GFR]

We should start a charity to help them out in their time of need.

 

[maniclion]

The only people stripped of wealth are the top 50% of wealth owners who pay ~98% of the taxes in this country. The lower class are given far more by the government than they put into it.

Well we don't see that top 50% of the wealthy sitting by the van they live out of stripping copper wire to try to feed themselves because the job they had been holding for the past 15 years decided they didn't need them anymore and none of the businesses around are willing to invest in hiring an old man since he'll be more likely to have health problems and it's harder to teach old dogs new tricks. So he sits outside of his van stripping wire all day, layers of multi color strands of plastic all about his feet, shade of an industrial brick wall his only shelter from the heat. And he strips the metal bare until the copper blinds with a glare and you fall out of your trance like stare, while you were thinking that could someday be you. Sitting there, stripped bare.

 

[brogers]

Everyonre must be responsible for the decisions they make, and the consequences that come. If the government steps in and hands out free (it's not really free, people who actually work pay for it) money, there is no incentive to be succesful. Rewards for unproductivity have never worked, do not work, and will not work in the future. It's quite simple. You're delusional if you think otherwise, it's been tried, it's failed, if you need evidence of this look at social security, or any other welfare program.

 

[Dale Mabry]

stripping copper wire to try to feed themselves

What does copper wire taste like?

Foreman...

I don't feel sorry for them, most of them prolly evade taxes anyway, but it is not fair. But I guess life isn't fair, look at all the dickbags who inherit a fortune and never work.

 

[Dale Mabry]

Everyonre must be responsible for the decisions they make, and the consequences that come. If the government steps in and hands out free (it's not really free, people who actually work pay for it) money, there is no incentive to be succesful. Rewards for unproductivity have never worked, do not work, and will not work in the future. It's quite simple. You're delusional if you think otherwise, it's been tried, it's failed, if you need evidence of this look at social security, or any other welfare program.

I am telling you without a shadow of a doubt, if the governemtn handed out $50k a year to me, I would not become a productive member of society. NOt that I am now or ever will be, but if I were given a free ride, there would be no chance.

 

[Decker]

Everyonre must be responsible for the decisions they make, and the consequences that come. If the government steps in and hands out free (it's not really free, people who actually work pay for it) money, there is no incentive to be succesful. Rewards for unproductivity have never worked, do not work, and will not work in the future.

How on earth do you marry these vague ideals you voice w/ the corporate welfare and high-end incompetence that exists? Big Big Business Socializes the costs of doing business while privatizing the profit (the upper 1% has never done better). The federal monies paid to the indigents of this country pales in comparison to what's doled out in gov. contracts, straight subsidies, forgiven loans, tax reductions or exemptions.....not to mention relaxation of reg.s and the turning of a blind eye to corporate crime....oh yes, the fines, I'd nearly forgotten.

I suggest you read up on golden parachute arrangements in corporate america to understand how incompetence is really rewarded in this country.....it ain't the poor who are collecting that largesse.

 

[GFR]

But I guess life isn't fair, look at all the dickbags who inherit a fortune and never work.

Was that directed at me

 

[GFR]

Everyonre must be responsible for the decisions they make, and the consequences that come. If the government steps in and hands out free (it's not really free, people who actually work pay for it) money, there is no incentive to be succesful. Rewards for unproductivity have never worked, do not work, and will not work in the future. It's quite simple. You're delusional if you think otherwise, it's been tried, it's failed, if you need evidence of this look at social security, or any other welfare program.

Here is something we might agree on?

 

[maniclion]

What does copper wire taste like?

Tastes like pussy.

 

[DOMS]

So copper wire tastes like fish?

 

[maniclion]

So copper wire tastes like fish?

I have never tasted pussy that tasted like fish, I've smelled it and when I did my tongue went no where near it. I think it tastes like a penny or tomato when it's not nasty.

 

[Dale Mabry]

Was that directed at me

No, it is just an example. Why, are you inherittedly wealthy or however you would say it?

So manic, like pussy you say....What do the red coated copper wires taste like or, worse yet, the green ones.

 

[GFR]

IS AMERICA BECOMING FASCIST?

Jeremy Scahill and Daniela Crespo: Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans, truthout, September 10, 2005

"Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous for their work in Iraq, are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans. Some of the mercenaries say they have been "deputized" by the Louisiana governor; indeed some are wearing gold Louisiana state law enforcement badges on their chests and Blackwater photo identification cards on their arms. They say they are on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and have been given the authority to use lethal force. Several mercenaries we spoke with said they had served in Iraq on the personal security details of the former head of the US occupation, L. Paul Bremer and the former US ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte. . . . Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional killers in the world and they are accustomed to operating without worry of legal consequences. Their presence on the streets of New Orleans should be a cause for serious concern for the remaining residents of the city and raises alarming questions about why the government would allow men trained to kill with impunity in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to operate here. . . . What is most disturbing is the claim of several Blackwater mercenaries we spoke with that they are here under contract from the federal and Louisiana state governments." (9/20)