Characteristics of Fascism

[2952-0-0]

"Characteristics of Fascism" by Dr. Lawrence Britt

Dr. Britt, a political scientist, wrote an article about fascism that appeared in Free Inquiry magazine -- a journal of humanist thought. Dr. Britt studied the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile). He found the regimes all had 14 things in common, and he calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism. The article is titled 'Fascism Anyone?', by Lawrence Britt, and appears in Free Inquiry's Spring 2003 issue on page 20. The website for Free Inquiry

The 14 characteristics are:


1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism -- Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights -- Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to 'look the other way' or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause -- The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic, or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, 'terrorists', etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military -- Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism -- The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

6. Controlled Mass Media -- Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or through sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in wartime, is very common.

7. Obsession with 'National Security' -- Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined -- Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected -- The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed -- Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts -- Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free-expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment -- Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses, and even forego civil liberties, in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption -- Fascist regimes are almost always governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions, and who use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections -- Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against (or even the assassination of) opposition candidates, the use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and the manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

[Lunar]

This is extremely stupid and written by a guy who wrote a novel about how America's future lies with right-wing extremists.

First of all, he identifies all of the fascist movements in the most mild of terms, for the sole purpose of labling the current direction of America as "fascism." He selects all of the social aspects of the conservatives in America so liberals that like to accuse others of being fascists can nod and smile as if they knew it all along.

However, it works both ways.  Fascism is normally authoritarian, so economically liberal and socially conservative.  Take some "liberal" concepts:

1- Increasing Spending
2- Increasing Dependence on the State
3- Increasing regulation

etc.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

The Bush regime has all 14 of those characteristics.

[Lunar]

The Bush regime has all 14 of those characteristics.

It was intentionally created so it would match the popular liberal perception of what the Bush "regime" is.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The Bush regime has all 14 of those characteristics.

It was intentionally created so it would match the popular liberal perception of what the Bush "regime" is.

and do you deny that all of those characteristics are common to fascist regimes?

[Lunar]

The Bush regime has all 14 of those characteristics.

It was intentionally created so it would match the popular liberal perception of what the Bush "regime" is.

and do you deny that all of those characteristics are common to fascist regimes?

I can and do deny some of them.  Religion isn't necessarily part of the government.  Stalinism and many others were very athiest, Hitler prosecuted the church, etc.

Corporations aren't necessarily protected, so I dispute number 9.  Most fascist regimes aren't capitalist, but rather authoritarian.

Do you deny that increased governmental regulation is a characteristic of a fascist regime?  Supporting continued nationalization or government control over key things could be linked to Nazism if you wanted to play this stupid game.

Complain all you want about Bush, but he's not a fricking fascist.

[Niles Caulder]

I find this endeavor a little polemically motivated as well.

First off, is the author making a professional political science thesis with the professional philosophical stringency of "these are the necessary and sufficient conditions of fascist states?"  Somehow I don't think he's prepared to 12 rounds with a Philosophy grad student on that one.

Secondly, these dimensions of measure are inherent in any society...and relatively defined.  "flags are everywhere!"  "scapegoats"  " 'Supremacy' of the military," Religious participation in political discourse, "rampant" cronyism, "obsession,"  etc....sorry--this is all crap.  Normative standards are needed to define when threshholds have been crossed separating the typical intra-societal political struggles and strifes of ordinary culture from the experience of "fascism."

There are some smart and conscientious people who see similarities with the world they live in and the dark shadows of forboding (provided by Historical hindsight).  The fact that they do is healthy and helps prevent the fruition of their fears.  But those similarities of dynacism do not make them equivelent to the order of magnitude that they aren't.  We do not live in a Fascist state under Republican presidencies...we do not live under Communist states under Democratic ones.  And people who synthesize these lists need to do a better job of judging to scale.

[2952-0-0]

This is extremely stupid and written by a guy who wrote a novel about how America's future lies with right-wing extremists.

First of all, he identifies all of the fascist movements in the most mild of terms, for the sole purpose of labling the current direction of America as "fascism." He selects all of the social aspects of the conservatives in America so liberals that like to accuse others of being fascists can nod and smile as if they knew it all along.

However, it works both ways.  Fascism is normally authoritarian, so economically liberal and socially conservative.  Take some "liberal" concepts:

1- Increasing Spending
2- Increasing Dependence on the State
3- Increasing regulation

etc.

Bush is a mile wide and an inch deep in fascism. It will fill up.

[English]

Mugabe is the biggest fascist in the world today.

[Democratic Hawk]

Mugabe is the biggest fascist in the world today.

Quite.

Dave

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Mugabe is the biggest fascist in the world today.

Quite.

Dave

True

[2952-0-0]

This is extremely stupid and written by a guy who wrote a novel about how America's future lies with right-wing extremists.

First of all, he identifies all of the fascist movements in the most mild of terms, for the sole purpose of labling the current direction of America as "fascism." He selects all of the social aspects of the conservatives in America so liberals that like to accuse others of being fascists can nod and smile as if they knew it all along.

However, it works both ways.  Fascism is normally authoritarian, so economically liberal and socially conservative.  Take some "liberal" concepts:

1- Increasing Spending
2- Increasing Dependence on the State
3- Increasing regulation

etc.

Bush is a mile wide and an inch deep in fascism. It will fill up.

Hitler was very chummy with German corps.

[nomorelies]

Bush is the modern day facist - yet they call it neo-conservatism

[badnarikin04]

America-
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism -- DEFINETLY (see Pledge of Allegance, flag burning laws)
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights -- Yes (anti-gay, Abu Ghraib incedent)
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause --  Somewhat (Osama Bin Laden, although justified, but unjustified support against Iraq, "liberals")
4. Supremacy of the Military -- Sort of(TV ads, possible draft)
5. Rampant Sexism -- Very little... I'l say no.

6. Controlled Mass Media -- I'd like to say so. I may be right.

7. Obsession with 'National Security' -- ABSOLUTELY!!!!!
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined --  Not yet...

9. Corporate Power is Protected -- WITHOUT A DOUBT

10. Labor Power is Suppressed -- Not really

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts -- Not yet

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment -- Yes

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption -- MORE THAN ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD!!!!!
14. Fraudulent Elections -- Yes... Combination of Bush buying election in 2000 and the ploy to eliminate those who are right from the political process.

So America has approximately 8.5 out of these 14....

I challenge any of you damn "neo-cons" to step up and defend this dictator.

Because it should be 0.
 
 
 
 
 

[M]

America-

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism -- No. Strong patriotism, yes, but that is an entirely different phenomenon.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights -- Clearly ridiculous. Observe the incredible care that has been taken to avoid civilian casualties in both Afghanistan and Iraq. We could just bomb Fallujah to the ground, you know; if we were fascist we certainly would.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause --  Not specifically. The fact of a major enemy (Britain, the Confederacy, Germany, Japan, the USSR, terrorism) have throughout the nation's history tended to create a unifying spirit; this is a fact of human nature and is true of homo sapiens throughout recorded history. Unlike fascist regimes, the USA has not invented nonezistant threats specifically to create unity.

4. Supremacy of the Military -- This one is just plain foolish. The military is completely loyal to civilian masters, and tends to get far less respect in the country as a whole than it should.

5. Rampant Sexism -- No. American women are equal in almost all ways to men; the last barriers are falling. The very fact that equality is the ideal shows we are far from fascist.

6. Controlled Mass Media -- Nope. We have a sensationalist and cynical independent media controlled only by its own biases, which vary.

7. Obsession with 'National Security' -- Yes, like any other country. Are you telling me that communist, monarchial, theocratic, and democratic regimes generally lack concern with the security of their country?

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined --  Certainly not. In at least one of the fascist countries listed, Nazi Germany, too much religion got you killed, and the leadership was generally atheist or neo-Nordic pagan.

9. Corporate Power is Protected -- Yes, because this is a free country. Different from a fascist "corporate state", companies truly are independent in a way they are not under fascism.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed -- No.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts -- Clearly not. These folks do not make the nation's political decisions; however, that is hardly exceptional or disdainful.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment -- Not particularly. We do punish crime; but no country I am familiar with today or in history has ever fully abolished the concept of crime.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption -- No. This country is an extreme meritocracy; if anything, this element is increasing.

14. Fraudulent Elections -- Foolish. Fascists usually did not have elections; at least 3 of the dictators this man was supposedly analyzing had zero. And the election at the end of Pinochet's regime actually was not fraudulent.

In sum, this is a poor analysis of fascism, and an extremely poor attempt to define a right-leaning democracy in wartime.

[badnarikin04]

America-

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism -- No. Strong patriotism, yes, but that is an entirely different phenomenon.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights -- Clearly ridiculous. Observe the incredible care that has been taken to avoid civilian casualties in both Afghanistan and Iraq. We could just bomb Fallujah to the ground, you know; if we were fascist we certainly would.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause --  Not specifically. The fact of a major enemy (Britain, the Confederacy, Germany, Japan, the USSR, terrorism) have throughout the nation's history tended to create a unifying spirit; this is a fact of human nature and is true of homo sapiens throughout recorded history. Unlike fascist regimes, the USA has not invented nonezistant threats specifically to create unity.

4. Supremacy of the Military -- This one is just plain foolish. The military is completely loyal to civilian masters, and tends to get far less respect in the country as a whole than it should.

5. Rampant Sexism -- No. American women are equal in almost all ways to men; the last barriers are falling. The very fact that equality is the ideal shows we are far from fascist.

6. Controlled Mass Media -- Nope. We have a sensationalist and cynical independent media controlled only by its own biases, which vary.

7. Obsession with 'National Security' -- Yes, like any other country. Are you telling me that communist, monarchial, theocratic, and democratic regimes generally lack concern with the security of their country?

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined --  Certainly not. In at least one of the fascist countries listed, Nazi Germany, too much religion got you killed, and the leadership was generally atheist or neo-Nordic pagan.

9. Corporate Power is Protected -- Yes, because this is a free country. Different from a fascist "corporate state", companies truly are independent in a way they are not under fascism.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed -- No.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts -- Clearly not. These folks do not make the nation's political decisions; however, that is hardly exceptional or disdainful.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment -- Not particularly. We do punish crime; but no country I am familiar with today or in history has ever fully abolished the concept of crime.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption -- No. This country is an extreme meritocracy; if anything, this element is increasing.

14. Fraudulent Elections -- Foolish. Fascists usually did not have elections; at least 3 of the dictators this man was supposedly analyzing had zero. And the election at the end of Pinochet's regime actually was not fraudulent.

In sum, this is a poor analysis of fascism, and an extremely poor attempt to define a right-leaning democracy in wartime.

That's not exactly saying if those things exist in this country. You're just modifying that definition to make Republicrats seem anything but fascist.

There's no control of the media? Then how do you explain the complete and total omission of third parties from the media? The only logical reason I can think of is because the Republicrats control it.

And if you look at the Bush administration, you mean to tell me this is a TOTALLY HONEST GROUP OF LEADERS FIXED ON HELPING PEOPLE AND IN NO MEANS WHATSOEVER MAKES DECISIONS BASED ON THEIR BUSINESS TIES?!?!?! You're saying there is NO CORRUPTION. Somebody loves the taste of Fox News' bodily waste.

[John Dibble]

There's no control of the media? Then how do you explain the complete and total omission of third parties from the media? The only logical reason I can think of is because the Republicrats control it.

Possibly has something to do with it, but has more to do with people just not caring or having interest. The media only cares about ratings to make money, and if people were interested enough in third parties they would cover them.

[badnarikin04]

There's no control of the media? Then how do you explain the complete and total omission of third parties from the media? The only logical reason I can think of is because the Republicrats control it.

Possibly has something to do with it, but has more to do with people just not caring or having interest. The media only cares about ratings to make money, and if people were interested enough in third parties they would cover them.

I'd be willing to bet people would have interest if they knew about them in the first place.

[John Dibble]

There's no control of the media? Then how do you explain the complete and total omission of third parties from the media? The only logical reason I can think of is because the Republicrats control it.

Possibly has something to do with it, but has more to do with people just not caring or having interest. The media only cares about ratings to make money, and if people were interested enough in third parties they would cover them.

I'd be willing to bet people would have interest if they knew about them in the first place.

Yeah, but the media doesn't generally think long term - what's interesting now is what they care about.

[2952-0-0]

Let's define a fascist regime:

1. Duh
2. See above
3. See above
4. Order is the rule
5. Masculinity makes the nation "strong"
6. Duh
7. People need to give up their freedoms
8. Hitler went after "antigerman" christians though sponsored "German" christians and he made religious rheteric (sp)
9. The Nazis protected their cronies and entitled them to use Jews as slaves (IBM, Deimler)
10. Duh
11. See above
12. They want the people to be under the impression they are free.

[Siege40]

Thanks for the article Exnaderite, Orwell once said that the word fascism is used so much, so inappropriately that it has lost meaning, good to see some sort of definition, it'll help in my writing too - a story, don't worry about it.

Siege

[John Dibble]

Truth is, all governments are fascist to one degree or another - so of course you can see things in the U.S. that would make it look fascist. Anarchy would likely lead to someone taking over by force, resulting in worse fascism, so that's not an option. However, our government is not nearly even close to being fascist enough to constitute an overthrow, and as far as fascism goes we don't experience much of it.

[Huckleberry Finn]

How many Americans should fear arrest, torture or "disappearing" because they oppose government?

[12th Doctor]

America-
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism -- DEFINETLY (see Pledge of Allegance, flag burning laws)
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights -- Yes (anti-gay, Abu Ghraib incedent)
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause --  Somewhat (Osama Bin Laden, although justified, but unjustified support against Iraq, "liberals")
4. Supremacy of the Military -- Sort of(TV ads, possible draft)
5. Rampant Sexism -- Very little... I'l say no.

6. Controlled Mass Media -- I'd like to say so. I may be right.

7. Obsession with 'National Security' -- ABSOLUTELY!!!!!
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined --  Not yet...

9. Corporate Power is Protected -- WITHOUT A DOUBT

10. Labor Power is Suppressed -- Not really

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts -- Not yet

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment -- Yes

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption -- MORE THAN ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD!!!!!
14. Fraudulent Elections -- Yes... Combination of Bush buying election in 2000 and the ploy to eliminate those who are right from the political process.

So America has approximately 8.5 out of these 14....

I challenge any of you damn "neo-cons" to step up and defend this dictator.

Because it should be 0.
 

I would certainly challenge all of you "damn" (using your word there) Libertarians to take that chip off of your shoulder.  The world is not out to suppress you.  You remind me of that guy from the Holy Grail "Help, help I'm being repressed".  You think that others are activly out to "put you in your place" and you fail to realize that the reason others talk you down is because you are being generally disagreeable.

Anyway, while neo-conservatism is certainly authoritarian on some issues it is far from facist.  Words have inpact it is your responsability to use them responsably.  That being said:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism -- No.  Patriotism and trying to bring on a sense of national pride and identification is not "Powerful Nationalism".  And since when is nationalism in it self a bad thing?

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights -- No.  People are defended by the law in this country.  If we are so horrible, why are the ACLU and Amnesty International still around?

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause --  No.  They provoked us and we are in a real war.  We do not go around identifying "Arabs" or "Muslims" as the enemy.  The enemy is "terrorism" a force that really seeks to do us harm.

4. Supremacy of the Military -- No.  There will be no draft.  We have commercials to recruit people into what most would deem an honorable living.  Is there something wrong with respecting the military?

5. Rampant Sexism -- No.  We do not force people into traditional rules as they did in Nazi Germany.

6. Controlled Mass Media -- The government doesn't control the media here.  If you want a good example of where this is going on, turn to France.

7. Obsession with 'National Security' -- In todays world, national security is important, but it is not the Bush teams only preoccupation.  In different times, idfferent issues are important because of events.  That doesn't mean "Facism" is upon us.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined --  Don't know what they mean with this.  Usually facist regimes declare war on traditional religious institutions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected -- It's a free market.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed -- No.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts -- No.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment -- Here again we see "obsession" used as a criteria.  There is no "obsession" here.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption -- Not only is "rampant" far too strong a word, but both parties do it.

14. Fraudulent Elections -- The 2000 election obeyed both the Florida Constitution and the U.S. Constitution.  Later studies proved that Bush would have won, no matter the method applyed.  It is true that people were denyed the right to vote because of the "ex-con" confussion, but many who voted the other way voted in two states, so....

[12th Doctor]

And yes, this is written in such a way so as the American Left will look at it and declare "George Bush is a facist".