Author: Adam Baum Published: May 6th, 2010
There are a lot of terms flying around today, especially in the political sphere. They include, but are not limited to: Socialist, Communist, Racist, Nazi, Fascist, Lib, Liberal, Teabagger, and Thug. These terms are seemingly used by any, and everyone, with reckless abandon. The problem is, that when you actually have a reason to use one of these terms, it gets dismissed. I have noticed a lot of attention on Goodwin’s Law. The concept that, “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.“ This is quite humorous. At the same time, this does not mean the comparisons are not valid. I find a strong correlation between Fascism and the New Right. (The Conservatives of today, be they Tea Party, Tories, or National Front.)
Sometimes the Left does propose Socialist ideals, or at least borderline socialist ideals. “Universal healthcare” could be considered more Socialist than Capitalist. There is no secret that I think they should stop pretending. I personally think they should say, “We aren’t concerned with who developed this idea. We are concerned with something that works. This isn’t a new concept, and the countries that use it are doing quite well with it.” Farther, they should point out, “As Americans, we should be trying to do it better than other nations, not avoiding it.” On the same hand, while I am not a big fan of Fascism, I do not contend to use “Fascist” in this entry as an epithet. The New Right has Fascist ideology and Fascist goals. Fascism is also not democratic. So, in some way, I am claiming the New Right are anti-democratic.
I want to reiterate, that I am not claiming the New Right are Fascist to drive a farther wedge. The goal here is to really examine what is going on.
There are a few things that strike me as odd with the rise of the New Right in the past year or so. When Barack Obama was elected President, a new wave of protest swept through the nation. There are tangible threads that weave through this new tapestry that seriously concern me. Especially as the numbers are growing. Just last night, the Tories in England got back a large portion of British Parliament. So, let’s look at Fascism and see how it relates to American Conservativism. (Fascism is quite complex as an ideology. This is not an academic journal, so I am just using Wikipedia as my reference for any information on Fascism that are listed here. I do not believe that Wikipedia is the absolute authority on the subject, or even the best authority, but I’m trying to keep this as short as possible, so… I accept that flaw for the time being.)
First we have the basic ideology of Fascism:
- Fascism is a “radical and authoritarian, nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to organize a nation on corporatist perspectives, values, and systems such as a political system and the economy.“
If you were to go to a Tea Party website, such as the Tea Party Patroits‘ website, you would see, their “Core values” are “Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government, and Free Markets.” – “organize the nation on corporatist perspectives, values and systems such as political system and the economy.”
Fascists believe that a nation is an organic community that requires strong leadership, singular collective identity, and the will and ability to commit violence and wage war in order to keep the nation strong. . . . They claim that culture is created by collective national society and its state, that cultural ideas are what give individuals identity, and thus rejects individualism. In viewing the nation as an integrated collective community, they claim that pluralism is a dysfunctional aspect of society, and justify a totalitarian state as a means to represent the nation in its entirety. They advocate the creation of a single-party state. . . . Fascists reject and resist autonomy of cultural or ethnic groups who are not considered part of the fascists’ nation and who refuse to assimilate or are unable to be assimilated. They consider attempts to create such autonomy as an affront and threat to the nation.
That’s a long block, I know. I felt it was spelled out better than I could reword it.
The Tea Party and their cohorts have been extolling the virtues of “What makes America great” and that the “Liberal Elite” want to destroy them and make the US culture a multi-cultural, pluralist society that will lead the nation into ruin. Arizona just passed a law that will fundamentally restrict autonomy of cultural or ethnic groups that are not considered part of the nation. It will also penalize anyone who refuses to assimilate or are unable to be assimilated. They definitely find immigrants with foreign customs to be an “affront and threat to the nation.“
“Fascism is strongly opposed to core aspects of the Enlightenment and is an opponent of liberalism, Marxism, and mainstream socialism for being associated with failures that fascists claim are inherent in the Enlightenment.”
I was just looking at Al-Sonja Schmidt (who I have much to say about in a future time) and there were a lot of references to Marx, Socialism, Black Nationalism and such. To get the whole trifecta, she said that President Obama was influenced by Marx and is a tyrant. (He has a foreign sounding name, is pluralistic, and a product of the Enlightenment.)
I don’t think it is really worth spending much time on how the New Right feels everyone should stay in the Cold War and we need to start the Red Scare back up. I have spent enough time on this ridiculous garbage.
THE CORE TENANTS OF FASCISM:
Nationalism is probably one of the most obvious core tenants of Fascism. I also highly doubt any Conservative would decry that Nationalism is not a massive “core value” of their ideology. Is it even worth examining farther? The real question is if people truly understand the true meaning of Nationalism.
Fascists saw the struggle of nation and race as fundamental in society, in opposition to communism’s perception of class struggle. The fascist view of nation is as a single organic entity which binds people together by their ancestry and is a natural unifying force of people. Fascism seeks to solve economic, political, and social problems by achieving a millenarian national rebirth, exalting the nation or race above all else, and promoting cults of unity, strength and purity.
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Tags: AFA, Al-Sonja Schmidt, American Family Association, anti, apartheid, Arizona, brown shirts, Burning Fence, Central Valley Tea Party, chicano, Christian Right, conservative, Constitution, economy, equal rights, fascism, fascist, gay marriage, Glenn Beck, illegal immigrant, immigration, labels, lawrence auster, Left, liberals, mexican american, musolini, Neo-Conservative, Neo-Fascism, neocon, neoconservative, New Right, racism, racist, right, sarah palin, status, Tea Party, Teabagger, Tory, UK, United States, white dominance, zombies
Category New Right |
Author: Adam Baum Published: April 27th, 2010
Well, the whole nation is abuzz about what Arizona did recently. I guess I have no choice but to discuss it.
The whole issue is actually pretty complex. On the surface, it does not seem to be. It appears to just be a fascist attempt of fascist state control. (Yes, I used fascist twice.) If anyone is living in a cave or hole somewhere, and has not heard, the lawmakers in the State of Arizona have approved an anti-immigration bill that goes much farther than any previous attempts. It makes it illegal to be illegal by state laws, imposed by fines and prison time. It also penalizes anyone who employs an illegal immigrant. It sounds pretty ridiculous to oppose a law to make something illegal to actually be illegal, but the way this law is stated makes it reminiscent of Apartheid South Africa or Nazi Germany.
The Economist stated that this law was “Hysterical nativism,” and claimed Arizona is on the path to becoming a police state. I completely agree. The problem with this type of law is the enforcement of the law. How does law enforcement determine who “looks illegal”? Do all Chicano Americans need to have verification that they are citizens at all times? What about other Latino Americans? “Latino” isn’t even a specific appearance. There are white, black, brown, etc. Latinos. What about Black Americans? They could be African or Haitian immigrants. A white person with a funny accent? Someone with “strange clothing”? Where does it stop? Does it mean everyone non-white has to carry an ID card or birth certificate on them at all times? A person could obtain a driver’s license with a work visa, which can expire before the driver’s license. So a driver’s license is not proof of citizenship.
It all reminds me of Born in East L.A. with Cheech Marin, where he gets deported by an immigration raid in which he has no papers because he is from Los Angeles. But it isn’t funny. It also brings to mind the events in South Africa, where Black South Africans were gunned down in the streets for not having a Pass Book. Or in Philadelphia where Black Americans were strip searched on street corners. Or even Nazi Germany, where Jews were forced to register with the government. I hate the “slippery slope” argument, but it really does work.
NO DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY HAS EVER ENACTED THESE LAWS AND STAYED A DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC!
The problem with “illegal immigration” is a valid issue. It becomes a wedge issue for a variety of reasons, but I want to look at the real situation.
The United States has two bordering neighbors. The United States only has a problem with illegal movement across the border from one of its neighbors. Why is this? Is it as simple as race? It is true that most Canadians are White. I honestly do not believe this is the key to the issue, though. I think that race is a great scapegoat on both sides of the argument, and ignores the nature of the real issue: Mexico is not doing well.
What’s going on in Mexico? Hell if I know. Well, I do have some idea, honestly. But it does not make sense that the place on the border of the United States could be doing so poorly. Let’s look at the numbers:
(I pulled these numbers from the CIA World Factbook for 2009. I did not factcheck them, but if they are off, it is by minor discrepancies.)
United States:
GDP (purchasing power parity): $14.26 trillion (2009 est.)
GDP – per capita (PPP): $46,400 (2009 est.)
Labor Force: 154.1 million (includes unemployed)
Canada:
GDP (purchasing power parity): $1.285 trillion (2009 est.)
GDP – per capita (PPP): $38,400 (2009 est.)
Labor Force: 18.4 million (2009 est.)
Mexico:
GDP (purchasing power parity): $1.482 trillion (2009 est.)
GDP – per capita (PPP): $13,500 (2009 est.)
Labor Force: 47 million (2009 est.)
Mexico has a higher national GDP than Canada, but the per capita GDP is less than 1/3 of Canada’s, and 1/4 that of the United States. I could go into the Gini coefficient and all of that… but I’ll lose all but 1% of my readership… and I need all four of you that read this site.
This is also from the CIA Factbook:
major drug-producing nation; cultivation of opium poppy in 2007 rose to 6,900 hectares yielding a potential production of 18 metric tons of pure heroin, or 50 metric tons of “black tar” heroin, the dominant form of Mexican heroin in the western United States; marijuana cultivation increased to 8,900 hectares in 2007 and yielded a potential production of 15,800 metric tons; government conducts the largest independent illicit-crop eradication program in the world; continues as the primary transshipment country for US-bound cocaine from South America, with an estimated 90% of annual cocaine movements toward the US stopping in Mexico; major drug syndicates control the majority of drug trafficking throughout the country; producer and distributor of ecstasy; significant money-laundering center; major supplier of heroin and largest foreign supplier of marijuana and methamphetamine to the US market (2007)
So, What’s going on in Mexico? It appears there is a lot of money in drug production and distribution and a lack of distribution of wealth. Why do people from Mexico come to the United States illegally and people from Canada do not? I think economic factors are reasonable. Also, don’t we pretty much know what life around drug cartels is like? The government of Mexico has tried to fight back against the drug cartels, and the result has been assassinations of officials, included a decapitated police chief. A mayor recently left his home in Mexico and is not staying in Florida. Civil violence and strife are counterproductive to democracy and economic progress. Basically, it seems to me like what happened in Sierra Leone is happening in Mexico. Who can blame people for wanting to leave? They want a better life.
Farther, if you try to flea the cartels, they have to chase you. I’m sure the cartels do not want to take on the United States military, but out of principle, they cannot send a message that if you go to the US, you are safe from them.
The UN and England went into Sierra Leone and forced political stability long enough for a democratic process to re-emerge. This has happened several times in recent history. But when it comes to Mexico, the American government proposes solutions ranging from putting more guards on the border or building a wall. I always think that the People’s Republic of China finds this greatly amusing. “You want to build a wall on your border? We tried that.”
How long do we expect these issues to continue south of our border and, yet, not have any spillover? I mean, that is the American way. Violence and drug epidemics occur in minority communities, and the general public could care less… until some white, suburban child gets caught up in it. HIV/AIDS spread rampantly through gay and minority communities, until it effected white heterosexuals, the national concern was limited.
The United States has just sat around while Mexico has struggled with its emergence into the Developed World. (lacking a better term.) I would argue, that the U.S. has done more than just sit around, but has been complicit in this destabilizing process. Multi-national corporations, American corporations and wealthy elite have been profiting from the situation in Mexico for quite some time. If an international force were to enter Mexico and put an end to the disparities, how would companies, such as WalMart, be able to turn such a huge profit there? And where would we get our nannies and manual laborers that we pay below minimum wage? How would corporations circumvent labor unions? Produce cheap products without safety standards, equal employment, fair employment, etc… ?
The problem of “illegal immigrants” in Arizona is a by product of the wealthy people in America, and the world, becoming more wealthy on the back of countries like Mexico. Until we are ready to help the nation of Mexico, every other solution is a band-aid on a broken leg.
I don’t really have a good solution, but turning the United States into an Apartheid regime is definitely not a positive solution. (Ok, I have a solution, but everyone would label me a neo-marxist lunatic and call me a “commie” and threaten to eat my babies.)
What really terrifies me is how this country is following the path towards fascism more and more every day. This is not just an issue about Mexico, or illegal immigrants, or racism, or discrimination – it is an issue of this new brand of Brown Shirts: the emergence of the Tea Party, of hate speech, platforms of white supremacy, Sarah Palin (I had to mention her) and her “reload” and “we want our country back” comments. Back to 1810? These people are trying to slide the United States back 2 centuries and move it forward into a state of Apartheid fascism.
Tags: aliens, anti, apartheid, Arizona, Canada, cartels, conservative, discrimination, drugs, economy, fascism, fascist, illegal, John McCain, Mexico, nazi, race, racism, racist, sarah palin, status, United States, white dominance
Category Main category |
