09-11-2012, 03:22 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-11-2012, 03:44 PM by FireIceTalon.)
A political scientist studied a few regimes considered to be Fascist, and found 14 defining characteristics of fascism.
http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html
I would say most or all of these are pretty accurate, though it may not be limited to just these things. Nor do I think a nation has to have all these properties to be fascist. From a Marxist perspective, fascism is "Capitalism in decay" (though to me personally, it seems more like capitalism on steroids), and usually occurs when a Capitalist nation goes into a severe economic crisis - it is essentially a common result when capitalism breaks down. The ruling class sees its interests threatened, and it responds by making the state more heavy-handed and brutal, creating more austerity for the lower classes, and xenophobia and racism become very strong elements defining the nationalism of the country. In times of crisis, radical leftist politics like anarchism and communism increase in popularity, but fascism does even more so usually because it is reactionary rather than revolutionary. But most importantly, the ruling class under capitalism has a sort of "cultural hegemony", and it becomes more pronounced under fascism - thus why many people easily buy into the propaganda and emotions of a charismatic and powerful orator. That, and it is much easier to blame "other" groups of people for the crisis, than it is to recognize the shortcomings of capitalism or fascism itself even.
The U.S. has, to at least some degree, elements of ALL 14 of those characteristics. Hmmm.....
http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html
I would say most or all of these are pretty accurate, though it may not be limited to just these things. Nor do I think a nation has to have all these properties to be fascist. From a Marxist perspective, fascism is "Capitalism in decay" (though to me personally, it seems more like capitalism on steroids), and usually occurs when a Capitalist nation goes into a severe economic crisis - it is essentially a common result when capitalism breaks down. The ruling class sees its interests threatened, and it responds by making the state more heavy-handed and brutal, creating more austerity for the lower classes, and xenophobia and racism become very strong elements defining the nationalism of the country. In times of crisis, radical leftist politics like anarchism and communism increase in popularity, but fascism does even more so usually because it is reactionary rather than revolutionary. But most importantly, the ruling class under capitalism has a sort of "cultural hegemony", and it becomes more pronounced under fascism - thus why many people easily buy into the propaganda and emotions of a charismatic and powerful orator. That, and it is much easier to blame "other" groups of people for the crisis, than it is to recognize the shortcomings of capitalism or fascism itself even.
The U.S. has, to at least some degree, elements of ALL 14 of those characteristics. Hmmm.....
https://www.youtube.com/user/FireIceTalon
"Your very ideas are but the outgrowth of conditions of your bourgeois production and bourgeois property, just as your jurisprudence is but the will of your class, made into law for all, a will whose essential character and direction are determined by the economic conditions of the existence of your class." - Marx (addressing the bourgeois)
"Your very ideas are but the outgrowth of conditions of your bourgeois production and bourgeois property, just as your jurisprudence is but the will of your class, made into law for all, a will whose essential character and direction are determined by the economic conditions of the existence of your class." - Marx (addressing the bourgeois)