My Letter to the Editor at the City Paper-In Response to Fascism
To the Editor:
Examining fascism
Many of the characteristics of Bush administration politics do not fit the traditional Republican form. So what do they fit? Charles Sumner, in his March 29 letter (“Do we have fascism?”, nashvillecitypaper.com), defined fascism and asserted that “there are those who think that we are on the road to a dictatorial fascism.”
In the interest of shedding light on this subject, let’s look at what makes a government fascist. Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, in the spring of 2003 wrote an article in which he defined the 14 characteristics of fascism.
One of these hallmarks of fascism is rampant cronyism and corruption. We saw this during Hurricane Katrina when the negligently unqualified “Heckuva job Brownie” was exposed as a crony as head of FEMA.
Fascism involves an obsession with national security. According to Britt, “fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.” We saw this after 9/11 when our fears were used to get Americans to buy into a war with Iraq, despite that countries lack of involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks.
Most troubling is the disdain for the recognition of human rights. Britt explains, “because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored …” We became painfully aware of this disregard for human rights when the pictures from Abu Ghraib began to emerge.
Out of the 14 characteristics of fascism, almost all have some relevance to what we see happening in the United States today. Bush once said, “If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier — just so long [as] I’m the dictator.” If we have not yet arrived at this system of government, we sit dangerously at the edge of its slippery slopes.
37076
Cecily Friday
To read other City Paper letters to the editor Click Here
To read the letter I was responding to Click Here
Examining fascism
Many of the characteristics of Bush administration politics do not fit the traditional Republican form. So what do they fit? Charles Sumner, in his March 29 letter (“Do we have fascism?”, nashvillecitypaper.com), defined fascism and asserted that “there are those who think that we are on the road to a dictatorial fascism.”
In the interest of shedding light on this subject, let’s look at what makes a government fascist. Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, in the spring of 2003 wrote an article in which he defined the 14 characteristics of fascism.
One of these hallmarks of fascism is rampant cronyism and corruption. We saw this during Hurricane Katrina when the negligently unqualified “Heckuva job Brownie” was exposed as a crony as head of FEMA.
Fascism involves an obsession with national security. According to Britt, “fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.” We saw this after 9/11 when our fears were used to get Americans to buy into a war with Iraq, despite that countries lack of involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks.
Most troubling is the disdain for the recognition of human rights. Britt explains, “because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored …” We became painfully aware of this disregard for human rights when the pictures from Abu Ghraib began to emerge.
Out of the 14 characteristics of fascism, almost all have some relevance to what we see happening in the United States today. Bush once said, “If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier — just so long [as] I’m the dictator.” If we have not yet arrived at this system of government, we sit dangerously at the edge of its slippery slopes.
37076
Cecily Friday
To read other City Paper letters to the editor Click Here
To read the letter I was responding to Click Here
posted by Cecily Friday at 9:07 AM
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