jillian
Princess
Any attempt to silence opposition is a tenet of fascism. Ignore the honest opposition to your peril, regardless of your party.
not really.... perhaps tyranny, or despotism or authoritarianism. But words have particular meanings and distorting those meanings because one side wants to vilify the other is disingenuous.... (the comments in bold below, btw, are my own and not Dr.Britt's)
everyone likes being able to control the result... and the fact remains that we aren't very good with close elections...it's a problemDr. 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. do we really need to ask who likes flag-waving...even if it's an empty gesture?
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. TOPgitmo? (which btw, really neds to be shut down now)
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. TOPWOT?
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. TOPgiven the whining about the left being wimps, I don't think we need to go here.
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 homo-sexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution. TOP*ahem*
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. TOPevery admin likes to control the message... some just do it better than others
7. Obsession with National Security -
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses. TOPorange alerts?
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. TOPwhich is the party of the religious right? libs are g-dless, right?
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. TOPagain...not something "libs" generally get accused of...nor should they be
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. TOPagain...which party is always whined about as being "commie" and "pro-worker"?
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. TOPwho uses the word elitist, again?
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.do we need to go here?
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. TOPpower corrupts...absolute power corrupts absolutely and I don't think anyone is immune to some type of corruption...for every delay there's a rangel. the question becomes what are they being corrupt about?
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.
Definition of Fascism
Socialism
Socialism deals solely with the means of production of goods and ownership of property... admittedly one can say that so-called "liberal" policies are closer to socialist ideology than fascist, but it isn't authoritarian by nature... nor should it be confused with fascism. And for the record, I don't think mixing a little socialism in to temper the results of pure capitalism is necessarily a bad thing.
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