I will not be tuning in to tonight's "State of the Union" address. Even though Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will and D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation are impressive examples of such a supreme and brilliant mastery of unapologetic propaganda, I find both to be morally reprehensible, historically frustrating, and nauseatingly unwatchable. Same goes for any speech given by George W. Bush, and especially the annual Congressional address. Though, I suppose it's only fitting that after the recent death of Indonesian "New Order" dictator Suharto, we are assured (by a fellow autocrat) that his legacy of authoritarianism, corruption, collusion, and nepotism is living vibrantly on in our own country.
Even though I will not be watching the televised lies of this evening's oration, I believe I am still in the position to ruin the main points in advance of speech's delivery. To sum up:
1. Apparently, the American economy is astoundingly strong, despite what we may all have heard...or be experiencing. But if anyone faces hardship, take solace in the fact that you can freely place the blame not on the fiscal misconduct of the government, unsustainable spending levels, and insurmountable amounts of debt - lay it squarely on your housekeeper, nanny, gardener, and your local diner's short-order cooks and busboys. It's really their fault, not yours. If only they had a Social Security number and spoke better English, we'd all be in the black!
2. The escalation in Iraq last year was an unmitigated success and brought staggering progress, showing once again how pursuing an agenda of ethnic cleansing is the key to subverting an active resistance movement. Oh yeah, and the Iraqis want us there.
3. 9/11.
4. In a surprise twist, Iran (the only remaining spoke on the administration's Happy Fun Wheel of Evil) is the world's leading state sponsor of terror, regardless of anything having to do with reality and/or reason. Also, the solidarity of the US-allied Gulf States is total and unshakable, especially if you don't know how to read.
5. Illegal surveillance of US citizens is integral to the security of a brainwashed public and the systematic closing down of a free and democratic society; therefore, Congress should do its best to approve whatever further legislation is suggested by the Executive branch so that the givernment can effectively spy on everyone with a funny last name or membership in some tree-hugging, bleeding-heart knitting club. Hopefully, visions of turbaned and bearded sugarplums dance menacingly in all of your heads, while Orwellian programs that silences all dissent go largely unnoticed (and without any real oversight or regard for the Constitution). Whew!
6. Uh, 9/11?
7. Support the troops, as they are the perfect ambassadors of the good will and humanitarianism that the United States provides to unwitting countries across the globe, despite being greeted as invaders and oppressors...and returning home as a shell-shocked testament to freedom and honor. As a result, they deserve our unflinching respect and tight-lipped awe, because let's not forget, they put the "war" in Iraq and the 'surge' in insurgents.
8. Tax cuts are essential to keep this country in control of the world economy and to keep John Q. Punchclock shopping at BestBuy instead of paying back his loans.
9. We are winning. Everywhere.
10. Only if the next president of the United States is a Republican will America (and the rest of the world [read: Israel]) be safe against the constant attacks, threats, and ideology of "extremists, "insurgents," "fundamentalists," and "terrorists." Interestingly, women, black guys, and John Edwards are not only soft on terror, but they actually encourage it and often incite it themselves.
11. Osama bin Laden has been found. Reading the newest issue of Maxim whilst reclining on the king-sized bed in the White House's famed Lincoln Bedroom. Just kidding...9/11!!!!!
12. In this final year of his presidency, George Walker Bush will silence all critics and skeptics by vanquishing all enemies, proving the unquestionable existence of the lord Jesus Christ, and being able to kind of point to the Middle East on a map and stating, with a resounding snicker, "Been there, done that."
13. Good night and god bless 9/11.
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For a glimpse of the real state of our union, watch this lecture by Naomi Wolf, author of The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot:
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Also, check out this article by Laurence W. Britt from Free Inquiry magazine, Volume 23, Number 2.Laurence W. Britt
Free Inquiry readers may pause to read the “Affirmations of Humanism: A Statement of Principles” on the inside cover of the magazine. To a secular humanist, these principles seem so logical, so right, so crucial. Yet, there is one archetypal political philosophy that is anathema to almost all of these principles. It is fascism. And fascism’s principles are wafting in the air today, surreptitiously masquerading as something else, challenging everything we stand for. The cliché that people and nations learn from history is not only overused, but also overestimated; often we fail to learn from history, or draw the wrong conclusions. Sadly, historical amnesia is the norm.
We are two-and-a-half generations removed from the horrors of Nazi Germany, although constant reminders jog the consciousness. German and Italian fascism form the historical models that define this twisted political worldview. Although they no longer exist, this worldview and the characteristics of these models have been imitated by protofascist regimes at various times in the twentieth century. Both the original German and Italian models and the later protofascist regimes show remarkably similar characteristics. Although many scholars question any direct connection among these regimes, few can dispute their visual similarities.
Beyond the visual, even a cursory study of these fascist and protofascist regimes reveals the absolutely striking convergence of their modus operandi. This, of course, is not a revelation to the informed political observer, but it is sometimes useful in the interests of perspective to restate obvious facts and in so doing shed needed light on current circumstances.
For the purpose of this perspective, I will consider the following regimes: Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Franco’s Spain, Salazar’s Portugal, Papadopoulos’s Greece, Pinochet’s Chile, and Suharto’s Indonesia. To be sure, they constitute a mixed bag of national identities, cultures, developmental levels, and history. But they all followed the fascist or protofascist model in obtaining, expanding, and maintaining power. Further, all these regimes have been overthrown, so a more or less complete picture of their basic characteristics and abuses is possible.
Analysis of these seven regimes reveals fourteen common threads that link them in recognizable patterns of national behavior and abuse of power. These basic characteristics are more prevalent and intense in some regimes than in others, but they all share at least some level of similarity.
1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism. From the prominent displays of flags and bunting to the ubiquitous lapel pins, the fervor to show patriotic nationalism, both on the part of the regime itself and of citizens caught up in its frenzy, was always obvious. Catchy slogans, pride in the military, and demands for unity were common themes in expressing this nationalism. It was usually coupled with a suspicion of things foreign that often bordered on xenophobia.
2. Disdain for the importance of human rights. The regimes themselves viewed human rights as of little value and a hindrance to realizing the objectives of the ruling elite. Through clever use of propaganda, the population was brought to accept these human rights abuses by marginalizing, even demonizing, those being targeted. When abuse was egregious, the tactic was to use secrecy, denial, and disinformation.
3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause. The most significant common thread among these regimes was the use of scapegoating as a means to divert the people’s attention from other problems, to shift blame for failures, and to channel frustration in controlled directions. The methods of choice—relentless propaganda and disinformation—were usually effective. Often the regimes would incite “spontaneous” acts against the target scapegoats, usually communists, socialists, liberals, Jews, ethnic and racial minorities, traditional national enemies, members of other religions, secularists, homosexuals, and “terrorists.” Active opponents of these regimes were inevitably labeled as terrorists and dealt with accordingly.
4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism. Ruling elites always identified closely with the military and the industrial infrastructure that supported it. A disproportionate share of national resources was allocated to the military, even when domestic needs were acute. The military was seen as an expression of nationalism, and was used whenever possible to assert national goals, intimidate other nations, and increase the power and prestige of the ruling elite.
5. Rampant sexism. Beyond the simple fact that the political elite and the national culture were male-dominated, these regimes inevitably viewed women as second-class citizens. They were adamantly anti-abortion and also homophobic. These attitudes were usually codified in Draconian laws that enjoyed strong support by the orthodox religion of the country, thus lending the regime cover for its abuses.
6. A controlled mass media. Under some of the regimes, the mass media were under strict direct control and could be relied upon never to stray from the party line. Other regimes exercised more subtle power to ensure media orthodoxy. Methods included the control of licensing and access to resources, economic pressure, appeals to patriotism, and implied threats. The leaders of the mass media were often politically compatible with the power elite. The result was usually success in keeping the general public unaware of the regimes’ excesses.
7. Obsession with national security. Inevitably, a national security apparatus was under direct control of the ruling elite. It was usually an instrument of oppression, operating in secret and beyond any constraints. Its actions were justified under the rubric of protecting “national security,” and questioning its activities was portrayed as unpatriotic or even treasonous.
8. Religion and ruling elite tied together. Unlike communist regimes, the fascist and protofascist regimes were never proclaimed as godless by their opponents. In fact, most of the regimes attached themselves to the predominant religion of the country and chose to portray themselves as militant defenders of that religion. The fact that the ruling elite’s behavior was incompatible with the precepts of the religion was generally swept under the rug. Propaganda kept up the illusion that the ruling elites were defenders of the faith and opponents of the “godless.” A perception was manufactured that opposing the power elite was tantamount to an attack on religion.
9. Power of corporations protected. Although the personal life of ordinary citizens was under strict control, the ability of large corporations to operate in relative freedom was not compromised. The ruling elite saw the corporate structure as a way to not only ensure military production (in developed states), but also as an additional means of social control. Members of the economic elite were often pampered by the political elite to ensure a continued mutuality of interests, especially in the repression of “have-not” citizens.
10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated. Since organized labor was seen as the one power center that could challenge the political hegemony of the ruling elite and its corporate allies, it was inevitably crushed or made powerless. The poor formed an underclass, viewed with suspicion or outright contempt. Under some regimes, being poor was considered akin to a vice.
11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts. Intellectuals and the inherent freedom of ideas and expression associated with them were anathema to these regimes. Intellectual and academic freedom were considered subversive to national security and the patriotic ideal. Universities were tightly controlled; politically unreliable faculty harassed or eliminated. Unorthodox ideas or expressions of dissent were strongly attacked, silenced, or crushed. To these regimes, art and literature should serve the national interest or they had no right to exist.
12. Obsession with crime and punishment. Most of these regimes maintained Draconian systems of criminal justice with huge prison populations. The police were often glorified and had almost unchecked power, leading to rampant abuse. “Normal” and political crime were often merged into trumped-up criminal charges and sometimes used against political opponents of the regime. Fear, and hatred, of criminals or “traitors” was often promoted among the population as an excuse for more police power.
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption. Those in business circles and close to the power elite often used their position to enrich themselves. This corruption worked both ways; the power elite would receive financial gifts and property from the economic elite, who in turn would gain the benefit of government favoritism. Members of the power elite were in a position to obtain vast wealth from other sources as well: for example, by stealing national resources. With the national security apparatus under control and the media muzzled, this corruption was largely unconstrained and not well understood by the general population.
14. Fraudulent elections. Elections in the form of plebiscites or public opinion polls were usually bogus. When actual elections with candidates were held, they would usually be perverted by the power elite to get the desired result. Common methods included maintaining control of the election machinery, intimidating and disenfranchising opposition voters, destroying or disallowing legal votes, and, as a last resort, turning to a judiciary beholden to the power elite.
Does any of this ring alarm bells? Of course not. After all, this is America, officially a democracy with the rule of law, a constitution, a free press, honest elections, and a well-informed public constantly being put on guard against evils. Historical comparisons like these are just exercises in verbal gymnastics. Maybe, maybe not.
Note
1. Defined as a “political movement or regime tending toward or imitating Fascism”—Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary.
References
Andrews, Kevin. Greece in the Dark. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1980. Chabod, Frederico. A History of Italian Fascism. London: Weidenfeld, 1963. Cooper, Marc. Pinochet and Me. New York: Verso, 2001. Cornwell, John. Hitler as Pope. New York: Viking, 1999. de Figuerio, Antonio. Portugal—Fifty Years of Dictatorship. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1976. Eatwell, Roger. Fascism, A History. New York: Penguin, 1995. Fest, Joachim C. The Face of the Third Reich. New York: Pantheon, 1970. Gallo, Max. Mussolini’s Italy. New York: MacMillan, 1973. Kershaw, Ian. Hitler (two volumes). New York: Norton, 1999. Laqueur, Walter. Fascism, Past, Present, and Future. New York: Oxford, 1996. Papandreau, Andreas. Democracy at Gunpoint. New York: Penguin Books, 1971. Phillips, Peter. Censored 2001: 25 Years of Censored News. New York: Seven Stories. 2001. Sharp, M.E. Indonesia Beyond Suharto. Armonk, 1999. Verdugo, Patricia. Chile, Pinochet, and the Caravan of Death. Coral Gables, Florida: North-South Center Press, 2001. Yglesias, Jose. The Franco Years. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1977.
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See further analysis of Britt's 14 Points here and here at The Project for the Old American Century.
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