[lbo-talk] Bruce Bartlett: " I think it is only a matter of time before the Tea Party morphs into unapologetic fascism"

Wojtek S wsoko52 at gmail.com
Tue Nov 12 08:40:38 PST 2013


CB: " But of course fascism wasn't tyranny in the literal sense of that state form from ancient Greece anymore than tea Republican are "fascists" identical to the fascist of the 30s. Use of the term is necessary to raise the appropriate alarm in people's minds. They are like fascists, fascist-like."

[WS:] I agree with you about the fascist nature of the tea party and fascism is an analytically useful term. However, I doubt that fascist parties will manage to grab state power in the US as they did in Europe. The two main reasons, in my view, are that grabbing a state power in the US is considerably more difficult due to the decentralized nature of the beast, and that US fascist movement have less power than Euro fascist movements due to the lack of military backing. The military is not necessarily fascist - it can be a progressive force, e.g. in the October Revolution in Russia or the carnation revolution in Portugal. However, it was a reactionary force in Germany, to to a lesser extent in Italy, due to larger socio-political changes. In Germany it was its social status in the Prussian state that was lost as a result of the Treaty of Versailles, for which the German right blamed Social Democrats. The Prussian military hated the entire Weimar Republic, not just the Communists and actively sought its overthrow. This is what eventually pushed them toward the Nazis, since other conservatives hated only the left but not Weimar Republic as such.

I do not think that the US military is in a similar position, not even close. It has all the reasons to like the US state, which has been very good to it. What is more, the class position of of the US military is very much different than that of the Prussian military. The US military is drawn for the most part from the lower echelons of society - middle and working classes - and sees the military as an avenue for social climbing.

The Prussian military was for a large degree of aristocratic extraction, as saw Weimar democracy as the main reason for losing their high status.

For these reason I think it is unlikely that US fascist movements will gain a decisive political power. The best they can do is to grab a few political offices here and there at the local or state level. It is, of course very bad, but not nearly as bad as the Nazis grabbing the state power in Germany and overhauling the entire political system. Contrary to some views of the US state expressed here and elsewhere - the beast has many flaws but being prone to a dictatorship or even a takeover by a single interest group - be it on the right or on the left - is not one of them.

-- Wojtek

"An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."



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