>>
>> Middle Eastern powers include pan-Arab socialist dictatorships (Syria),
>> monarchies (Saudi Arabia), constitutional theocracies (Iran), and
>> assorted
>> fundamentalist movements. None are "fascist." For three decades of
>> political
>> scientists, "fascism" is a phenomenon of industrialized societies and
>> exhibits features alien to the Middle East.
>>
>> Classical fascism was evident in inter-war Italy, Germany and Japan, and
>> full-blown fascism exhibits three dimensions: economic, political and
>> cultural.
>>
>>
>>
>> 1. Economic fascism is based a merger of big business and big government.
>> Sometimes, a formal corporatism emerges; other times, the private sector
>> (monopolies and oligopolies) simply pass over into the public sector (as
>> in
>> the US), capturing the state and using it to wage that most profitable of
>> activities: war. This later scenario is what happened in the United
>> States,
>> and the incestuous relationship between Big Business and Big Government
>> ushered in a new Gilded Age of cronyism and corruption. Benito Mussolini
>> was
>> clear: "Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because
>> it
>> is a merger of State and corporate power."
>>
>> For the Middle East, the preconditions of mature capitalism (and thus
>> fascism) simply do not exist.
>>
>> 2. Political fascism normally includes, as it did for Italy and Germany,
>> a
>> retreat from already-existing democratic practices - an erosion of
>> democracy. The political class begins to express a disdain for human
>> rights
>> and international treaties, lashing out at pillars of civilization like
>> France. Power is increasingly centered on the executive branch, and
>> elections become less transparent, even fraudulent. Civil liberties are
>> restricted, and constitutions are ground under the hobnailed boot.
>>
>> Political fascism always depicts dissent as treason, and there is an
>> obsession with scapegoats and plots. There are frequent mixed messages
>> about
>> the enemy: the enemy is strong, then weak; the enemy is important; then
>> irrelevant. Today, the Party depicts Hezbollah as having unlimited funds
>> from Iran and, simultaneously, selling pirated DVDs and fake Viagra in
>> your
>> town.
>>
>> Political fascism is based on militant nationalism, pseudo-populism and
>> an
>> adoration of military power. As Huey Long said, former Governor of
>> Louisiana: "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the
>> American flag." For different reasons, these values tend to resonate
>> among
>> economic elites at the top and the lower middle class at the bottom. In
>> the
>> United States, however, it appears that the lower and working classes are
>> now questioning their leadership - or losing themselves in End of Empire
>> entertainment: pan y circo (bread and circus).
>>
>> In its advanced stages, political fascism depends upon mass surveillance
>> and, more crucially, eternal war. Italy's mad adventures in Ethiopia and
>> Germany's insane and unwinnable two-front war were nursed by the ideology
>> of
>> eternal war.
>>
>> The only ingredient of classical political fascism missing in the United
>> States is a charismatic leader - but not for lack of trying. In Red
>> States,
>> billboards of George W. "Our Leader" arose, and fundamentalists
>> synchronized
>> Morning Prayer to those of the White House.
>>
>> Middle East powers - particularly the movements neo-cons describe as
>> "Islamofascist" - are emerging in non-democratic systems. They are also
>> pushing for more, not less, political democracy because the popular
>> classes
>> will catapult them to power and keep them there.
>>
>> Hamas, for example, won in an election. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood would
>> very much like to go to the polls in more transparent elections. Shia
>> Muslims in Iraq are also keen on voting. Iran's president won an election
>> handily. And when the dust settles in Lebanon, the next sure winner at
>> the
>> ballot box will be Hezbollah, when Lebanese Christians, Sunnis and Druze
>> will surely wait in lines for hours to endorse this radical Shia group.
>> Democracy, it seems, is about to flourish in the Middle East - it's just
>> not
>> yielding the puppet regimes hoped for in Washington, London (Airstrip
>> One)
>> or Tel Aviv. Tony Snow claims "they hate democracy." Don't be snowed.
>>
>> Islamic fundamentalist groups compete at the national level, but Islamic
>> fundamentalism is a transnational movement inherently opposed to the
>> pseudo-nationalism necessary for fascism.
>>
>> 3. Cultural fascism is based on a reaction against science, modernity,
>> the
>> arts and intellectualism. It distorts science to accomplish political
>> aims.
>> Cultural fascism always includes strong doses of homophobia.
>>
>> In the US, for every person with legitimate objections to immigration
>> (objections based on public policy), there must be three people objecting
>> to
>> it based on race, and for them "illegal" becomes a euphemism for
>> "Mexican."
>> Xenophobia is basic to cultural fascism.
>>
>> Cultural fascism, in the West, tends towards anti-Semitism. For now,
>> American anti-Semitism has an anti-Arab face. In linguistics and
>> ethnology,
>> the term "Semitic" includes "Arabic" and "Arabs." A Marriam-Webster
>> definition of "Semite" is clear: "A member of any of a number of peoples
>> of
>> ancient southwestern Asia including the Akkadians, Phoenicians, Hebrews,
>> and
>> Arabs."
>>
>> Thus, when neo-con pundits, politicians and even the President employ the
>> term "Islamo-Fascist" they are being anti-Semitic.
>>
>> Middle Eastern and Islamic movements can be reactionary, but these are
>> reactions to external powers and not to the core dimensions of their own
>> societies, which remain traditional.
>>
>> So the economic, political and cultural prerequisites of fascism do not
>> exist in the Middle East - but they do exist in the United States. Our
>> post-WWII, Information Age neo-fascism is much like the inter-war
>> classical
>> fascism but softer, lighter, friendlier. Today, instead of marching, we
>> ritually demonstrate our political will on touch-screen pads, a ceremony
>> organized by Party-backed corporations with secret software on private
>> servers.
>>
>> It's a race: Will the future look like Aldous Huxley's Brave New World,
>> where a "dictatorship without tears" is founded upon psychotropic drugs,
>> false religion and biological-sexual engineering? Or will it be a world
>> of
>> brute force like George Orwell's 1984? "If you want a vision of the
>> future,
>> imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever." It will be both: A
>> Brave
>> New World for those who conform and 1984 for those who don't. American
>> fascism will both smile and grimace.
>>
>> Neo-con pundits follow a clever strategy of deflection. They employ the
>> term
>> "Islamo-Fascism" when "theocracy" or "dictatorship" or "fundamentalist
>> movement" would be more historically accurate. Why do they do this? Their
>> political epithets are inspired by a subtle conditioning campaign.
>>
>> Perhaps it's subconscious projection. "Projection," of course, is a
>> defense
>> mechanism that kicks when someone is threatened by, or afraid of, their
>> own
>> impulse. So they attribute these impulses to someone else. Do not be
>> neo-conned. How can you help?
>>
>> First, always replace the term "neo-conservatism" with "neo-fascism."
>>
>> Second, always charge those who use the term "Islamo-fascism" with
>> anti-Semitism (because Arabs - most of whom are Muslims - are technically
>> "Semitic," too).
>>
>> Third, remind people who use the term "Islamo-Fascism" that the term is
>> historically inaccurate and that the main ingredients of classical
>> fascism -
>> 1) monopoly capitalism; 2) erosion of democracy; and 3) militant
>> nationalism - are coming together in the United States like a Perfect
>> Storm.
>>
>> It's not fair to perform a vivisection of the Bush regime without
>> pointing
>> to what a healthier body politic might look like - a "post-crisis" body
>> politic.
>>
>> 1) The restoration of the checks and balances, and limited government, of
>> a
>> democratic republic. This includes voter protections and a
>> pencil-paper-box
>> voting system.
>>
>> 2) The restoration of foreign relations to open diplomacy (as envisioned
>> by
>> the Founders) - to the power of persuasion - unless attacked, upon which
>> military force will be restricted to the forces demonstrably responsible.
>> This means no foreign aid, no weapons sales, no forward bases, and no
>> committing political adultery by dividing loyalties between the people of
>> the United States and any foreign power. The American people can express
>> their solidarity with people around the world with short-term disaster
>> relief.
>>
>> 3) Challenging both Israel and Arab powers to follow the letter of
>> international law. Compliance means full participation in an
>> international
>> economy and community (the carrot); and resistance invites the atrophy of
>> embargoes, travel restrictions, and blockages (the stick). Under UN
>> Resolution 181, Israel secures its right to exist according to the 1948
>> borders, with protection from the United Nations. Simultaneously, Israel
>> withdraws all of its settler colonies from the West Bank, illegal under
>> Article 49 of the Geneva Conventions: "The Occupying Power shall not
>> deport
>> or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it
>> occupies." And Jerusalem becomes the international city as intended in
>> 1948.
>>
>> 4) Challenging the world's people and states with a transformative
>> proposal:
>> universal nuclear disarmament. If states do not disarm, take the proposal
>> to
>> their peoples. Inspired, motivated and determined, masses of people will
>> quickly sideline both foot-dragging politicians and terrorists. The best
>> weapon against terror is not the US Army; it is civilized men and women
>> everywhere. The world is ready to make nuclear weapons - and then war -
>> extinct.
>>
>> Thomas Paine: "We have it in our power to make the world new again."
>>
>> Source: Virtual Cirizens
>>
http://www.virtualcitizens.com/bosworth_2006-08-14_neo_fascism.html
>>
>>
>>
