second--and this is entirely debatable, i realize--it seems to me that the road to a distinctively american fascism will have to be paved with two prime ingredients: the continuing glorification of buck-naked capitalism, in which no values save money and power are presumed to have any *real* claim on the public will and imagination; and the kind of mealy-mouthed, encoded, "scientized" racism and class bigotry that any right-thinking soccer mom can get behind (my presumption being that *open* bigotry, even as open as buchanan at the '92 convention, frightens most americans).
now, who is it that best embodies these traits in american politics? neolib democrats, no question. stand-up guys like bill clinton and boomer schumer.
well, i could go on, but every good closet dem on the list has heard enough to conclude i'm obviously insane...
-----Original Message----- From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Christine Peterson Sent: Monday, November 15, 1999 11:16 PM To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com Subject: Re: Henwood vs. Cockburn
>they've opposed Nafta, MAI and WTO; they've attacked the drug war; they've
>supported initiatives in Arizona and Oregon and California to decriminalize
>drugs; they opposed asset seizures and the death penalty; they've raised
>the issue of the expanded domestic use of the military; and, contrary to
>assertions by some, they are at the grassroots level, at least, fierce
>critics of corporate power--they hate the big mining companies, the banks,
>big
>timber, big beef (IBP), the farm syndicates: ADM and Cargill and
>Continental Grain; and the pesticide companies, such as Monsanto and
>DuPont.
>
>((((((((((((
>
>Charles: I hate to tell you this, but the Nazis' full name was the National
>Socialist Workers' Party. Mussolini had been a leader of the Socialist
>Party of Italy. Mixing in some "socialist", "anti-capitalist", "peoples'"
>demogogy with their rhetoric has been integral to the main fascist
>movements in history. All of the above must be examined with a very
>jaundiced eye.
>
>(((((((((((((
Hey - Buchanan, and maybe Fulani, and Castro are all going to be in Seattle in two weeks. All of this is going to go on right in the 'Niketown', Planet Hollywood, new upscale mall area of downtown too, everybody mingling.
>There is no premature anti-fascism.
>
>
>Charles Brown
The trip to fascism is really short. Because we compare Hitler to the devil so frequently, that makes it seem like fascism is unobtainable or still many steps beyond anything that any of the current US political parties could move into. My grandfather opposed it, not that they would let him vote, but my family just described how they really were told nothing about what was really going on until the very last months. The living conditions of people weren't so much different than anything they had experienced before under the kaiser and previously. the hitler youth was not that much different in substance than boyscouts and the flag salute and pep rallies. The people, not that they voted the nazis in, had not embraced 'naziism' as anyone understands it today. But at the same time, I'm not sure that there is a checklist of predictive signs for fascism that one can confidently avoid. german americans or american germans are really wary of weird third party people - old west germany could never elect someone like Jesse Ventura or a bad actor - but embracing 'moderates' can lead to some pretty horrid foreign policies being committed overseas. Isn't what has happened to Zaire and Indonesia and Central America and Lebanon and Iraq kind of ranking up there with Germany and poland?
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