Senate passes Homeland Security

Dddddd0814 at aol.com Dddddd0814 at aol.com
Wed Nov 20 14:53:30 PST 2002


A couple comments on this thread (and we'll see if this slips by without any fecies-inspired comments from Hennie):

I don't think it's at all clear that the Republican-controlled government apparatus would necessarily be the origin point for fascism (or something like it) in the United States. Fascism and other forms of dogmatism are not endemic to any one particular political ideology; rather, these tendencies can seep in anywhere they find the opportunity, within the existing state structure, and from without. The liberals' attempts to demonize Republican centrist candidates during the last election, and Bush who's the most pathetic right-winger I've seen, are just that-- paranoid demonizations based on emotion rather than logic, with the aim of raking in votes for the Democratic party, and defusing the remaining hold-out of labor/workers' interests in this country. The failure of this strategy, undertaken from the top of the DNC all the way down, hopefully shows that many folks don't buy it. Maybe that's a little too hopeful-- hard to tell.

But anyway. To me, it seems just as feasible that a fascist movement in the United States could originate amongst those who, in the current climate, consider themselves "progressive", folks who might go to rallies attended by Stalinists and moderate Democrats alike who are "united" against president Bush. Under banners advising a sounder course for "real national security", an end to "globalization" vis-a-vis trade protectionism and latent xenophobia, the prospect of a "popular front" against "the enemy" (in this case Bush), plus vague slogans against the government, this seems to me like a possibility that should at least be considered. (Remember how much repression occurred under Stalin himself under the pretext of a "united front against fascism.") Thanks to an monumentally weakened labor movement (with help from liberal opportunists over the last 35 years), these "activists" (which is, after all, how even the Hitler Youth referred to themselves) would continue to resort to the pragmatism of joining the "actually existing" movement, i.e. those who choose cast their lot with big-time capitalists in the House and Senate. Pragmatism would dictate that we must follow "what really exists" in the absence of any obvious class consciousness, and be firmly cynical about any other possibilities, no matter how far this movement moved to the right. Indeed, it could be a whole new Brownshirt chic.

Just some thoughts....

For building a workers' movement, David



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