Probably it would be correct here to speak of "Naziism" rather fascism. All fascist movements seem to be racist, but it was only Hitler and his followers who invented "final solutions." The Italian Fascists cooperated, but in a somewhat lackadaisical fashion if I remember correctly. Carrol
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Thursday I didn't have a chance to go into this since I was at work. But, I think of the difference between fascists and nazis differently. I think of fascism as the criminalization of all political oppositional forces, their imprisonment and possible execution or disappearance with the goal of reducing all political activity to a homogenous, uniform and single party system.
The nazis on the other hand seem to me to be distinguishable from the fascists by their racism---while also being fascist. The nazis also criminalized their political opponents and sought a single and uniform ideological political system. But in addition, they also created a racialized system as their ideology, giving it biological, evolutionary, cultural, and historical attributes and granting themselves uniqueness of place at the top. The idea of the final solution then arises as the end product of this racialized system.
This was a rather different form of social system from the fascists, and was arranged by quasi-scientific and rational categories ranging from supremely human to sub-human. As sub-humans then various groups, independent of their own political beliefs could not be say Jewish and German, or Slavic and German, or disabled or mentally retarded and German. These were mutually exclusive categories. At this quasi-biological level then an individuals politics were irrelevant. German Jews could be progressive or conservative, it didn't matter. The important thing was there was no such thing as a German Jew. Jews were not German, therefore they were alien, non-citizens, non-persons. And it is important to add, this was made a legal category. Since they were stripped of their legal status as persons, could not own or sell property, could not engage in business, could not be employed in state run industries, then they effectively became wards of the state. The logic then was, what to do with these alien wards of the state, and the answer was to put them in special work camps---and from there the whole system devolved into the final solution.
This kind of system is completely different from the process of criminalizing political ideologies and their attending political activities, like organizing political parties, meetings, and publications. With a single stroke of law, the membership of the political opposition were criminals and could be arrested, tried, convicted and then shuttled off to where ever, prison or work camp.
Now, returning to US government and its current turns of the moment. I think of the US christian righwing fundamentalists as predominately fascist, particularly in their conceptualization of social policy. Their apparent drive for an absolute and uniform system of policies all constructed around their particular ideas of a so-called christian life, has an explicit intolerance for variation, raised to metaphysical authority. It absolutely smacks of fascism. These groups have a potentially nazis-like element in the distinction they make between christian and non-christian, since this is to their way of thinking equivalent to a division between the human and sub-human, those who should enjoy various rights and benefits and those who should not. Most of these groups are also racist, although they try and down play that element. Thankfully, the historical, social and cultural context within which they must function, makes it basically impossible for them to carry out a fully totalitarian program repleat with a fully consistent racism. There are too many black and hispanic christian groups with equal claim to the whole christian religious tradition as either protestant or catholic that it simply makes the white fundamentalists claims of authencity look silly---beside the fact they are probably out numbered.
On the other hand, the problem with Islam and its stereotypic identification with semitic middle eastern looking peoples, poses the potential for a nazis-like reaction in the US because of the potential for a racist identification. Since there are a significant number of resident aliens, foreign nationals, and naturalized citizens who are middle eastern and provisionally moslim, this makes them a target for a more thorough going nazisifaction process in the US government's domestic policies. That is to say the concrete elements are already present.
First, for all people who are not legal citizens, their civil and legal rights are formally compromised. Add the obvious war hysteria from the government, add the joint contempt that the Christian and Jewish community have for Islam, and its apparent reciprocal from the Islamic community. Then add the extra ordinary powers given the US government in the name of fighting terrorism---a new category of crime with its broaden police powers---and its complete identification with middle eastern looking people. Then add the strange ad hoc legal categories of non-person that seem to have been manufactured for people held by the INS, FBI, and whoever the US military has in Guantanamo. And finally add in the quasi-legitimate political position of the executive, that is Bush's need to legitimate himself as an elected president. But there is also the problem of the Supreme Court, and its evident bias toward supporting at least some of these measures and giving their stamp of legal approval.
All of these elements, the implicit racism, the extra ordinary police powers, the creation of artificial categories of non-persons, the background of war hysteria and public support, all add up to very dangerous potentials. This is very bad situation.
Chuck Grimes