Is the United States a fascist state?

Huey Long's quote: "If fascism ever came to the United States, it would be wrapped in an American flag."

IMO we've been fascist for 30 years.

But it was Sinclair Lewis' quote:

"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."

:hi:

has been brainwashed to say thank you for all you do for us. When the war has nothing to with national security and everything to do with predatorial capitalism.

Amazing how some people don't have a clue what it's like to live in a dictatorship or fascist state.

Becoming a fascist state is not like turning on a light switch. It is a gradual process. While you may find it amazing that folks do not realize that in a mature fascist state posts like this might face scrutiny and sanction by the authorities, I find it amazing that some do not understand that fascists states do not spring into being overnight and bring along a fully functioning internal security apparatus to deal with dissenters.

Cheers!

overheated hyperbole from the RW is when it originates from our own side.

Those who claim the U.S. is a fascist state have obviously never experienced one. Good post.

maybe a idiot-ocracy... but certainly not fascist.

and you should really stop digging.

solely for opposing government policies (I'm not talking about breaking any other kinds of laws in the act of doing so), then no, we are decidedly not a fascist state. We weren't even under the Bush administration. One of the defining features of a fascist state is forcible suppression of opposition.

You are able to sit here all day opposing the government, even trash-talking it, and you are free as a bird to do so.

Hyperbole doesn't make it so.

Read this website: http://www.couplescompany.com/features/politics/structure3.htm

Please read a post before hitting the respond button.

And that is kinda scary.

One extra point - the government has taken and holds a few Americans ( that we know about ) and many more non Americans formreqsoms that seem completely political. And that ain't a good thing for anyone.

There is a difference in the spelling :rofl:

After which time it will be official

Like Batista's Cuba, Franco's Spain, Marcos' Philippines, Somoza's Nicaragua, the Shah's Iran, et cetera whether they think America is a fascist state.

"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power."

When government controis business it's communism...When business controls government it's fascism.

I just avoid the label because it includes a great deal of societal control with a heavy hand and we don't have that here. Public opinion and convention whips people into shape here but that's a different argument

we don't have the heavy handed control. However, I don't think that aspect is the first presentation of fascism, control happens gradually and becomes heavy handed after power has completely been seized.

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They are not used in any context but to declare America fascist. You will not find any use of that term and those "points," except when as applied by Western liberals to George W. Bush, or by Western libertarians to Barack Obama. They're no more useful or more meaningful than any of the hysterical right-wing claims of American "socialism" or "anti-Christianity." You will not find any--and I mean any--use of them anywhere in academia.

One could use this to argue Stalin's Russia or FDR's America was very close to a fascist state.

A varient of fascism anyway. FDR's America, not so much.

"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism- ownership of government by an individual, by a group."

All that's missing is the marching in silly hats.

puts a lie to that. Anybody who calls this a fascist state has a seriously fucked up view of history.

America ain't perfect, but if we're "fascist," so are most countries.

the GOP only has half a branch of congress and a compliant USSC...both of which will change dramatically as some retire and others get voted out.

We came very close under bush, but we've got some breathing room.

( sometimes initial capital letter ) a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fascism

I will say no, the US is not a fascist state.

For a rather complicated concept.

Here:

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.


Note how 'absolute dictatorship' - a characteristic of 1930's style fascism - is missing?

including it would have undone the sophomoric point Britt was trying to make. There's a reason that list is never seen anywhere outside of fringe message boards on the internet.

I wouldn't say that we've quite crossed the threshold, but we've been heading in that direction for decades and I feel that we're getting very close.

1 million people in jail.
Illegal wars of aggression.
corporate control of our government and media.
Legal oppression of political subversives.
Entire urban neighborhoods policed like war zones.
Whatever you want to call it, I don't like it.

certainly we are a plutocracy and an authoritarian one, with a strong nationalist streak, and a fauning worship of all things military.

Definition of FASCISM

1. often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

The democracy is a facade. Both parties seek to channel money to the plutocracy. Absence of a dictatorship is an illusion. this is quite refined.

--imm

mercenaries fighting our permanent wars. The lies have become the truth just like Mussolini's Italy.

Except for the elections, the free press, being able to say whatever you like on internet message boards, the ability to travel freely, and a few other things.

And of course the victory of those fascist corporate America funded candidates, like Meg Whitman over the poorly funded Jerry Brown, and Carly Fiorina winning over Barbara Boxer with her corporate millions, prove the point even more.

We should be able to recommend any post, not just OP's.


:toast:

Then answer the question.

...the power of corporations and the governments working in concert with them....Yep, that's fascism.

-PLA

to me, the single most important and telling....what? Precondition? Symptom?

While I can't get to the point of saying that fascism has taken over the US,(or even really close) it's undeniable that there are some uncomfortable trends, and have been for some time...and that there are those with some power that would wish for further movement in that direction. Do you honestly think that Richard Mellon Scaife (or any analogs) doesn't strongly believe he could do better than any US govt...well...ever? (That thinking isn't confined to the right, obviously.)

There are a lot of conflicting factions, though, even considering only the right. Hard to say what twists and turns there will be in the near future, let alone what the outcome will be. Assuming there will even be a stasis, and I don't think there will be. No nation stands still for long.

game over. Hey, do ya got any cheese?

And it's not a third-world country either, despite what some people here say.

But we sure do havea LOT of posters tossing the word around.

They sprinkle it like salt on food LOL

...had to live in and endure true fascism. Anyone that claims this is a fascist state would have to be a pretty weak individual that easily feels abused beyond reason.

Our government has overstepped its bounds and done some horrendous things at different points in our history, but its just as much a fascist state as it is a socialist state, in that although there may be elements of one or the other employed, the country is neither.