Forum Post: Facism, the definition
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 6, 2011, 2:12 a.m. EST by AaronW
(12)
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Fascism (play /ˈfæʃɪzəm/) is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology.[1][2] Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood.[3] To achieve this, fascists purge forces, ideas, people, and systems deemed to be the cause of decadence and degeneration.[
yep. ...
Fourteen Defining Characteristics Of Fascism By Dr. Lawrence Britt Source Free Inquiry.co 5-28-3
Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:
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.
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.
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.
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.
Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
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.
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.
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.
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 and letters is openly attacked.
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.
Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and 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.
Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
From Liberty Forum
http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_constitution&Number=642 109&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1&t=-1
Nice, G.O.T.; i'll see your comprehensive definition and raise you a historical timeline.
Actual Actions of the Hitler's Nazi Government 1933 Public burning of books by Jews and anti-Nazis Department of Racial Hygiene ('ethnic cleansing') established
1934 Jewish students excluded from exams in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and law Jews excluded from military service
1935 Nuremberg Laws deny Jews many basic civil rights Law for 'The Protection of German Blood and German Honour' forbade mixed marriages
1935-36 Jews no longer allowed to vote and lose German citizenship Benefit payments to large Jewish families stopped Jews banned from parks, restaurants and swimming pools Jews forbidden to use the German greeting 'Heil Hitler' Jews no longer allowed electrical/optical equipment, bicycles, typewriters or records Passports for Jews to travel abroad restricted Many Jewish students removed from German schools and universities
1938 Special identity cards issued to Jews Jews excluded from cinema, theatre, concerts, exhibitions, beaches and holiday resorts Jews forced to add the names Sarah or Israel to their own Kristallnacht (9 November) - a night of terrible violence in Germany. German and Austrian Jews are murdered, synagogues burnt and desecrated and shop windows destroyed. Thousands of Jews are arrested Jewish children expelled from German schools Jews' passports stamped with a red letter 'J'. Some have passports removed to prevent them leaving the country.
1939 A central office for Jewish emigration set up Jews evicted from their homes without reason and notice Jews' radios confiscated Jewish curfew established
1940 Jews' telephones confiscated Jews no longer receive ration cards for clothes
1941 Jews over 6 forced to wear a Yellow Star of David with 'Jew' written on it Jews Forbidden to use public telephones Jews forbidden to keep dogs, cats and birds Jews forbidden to leave the country
1942
Jews hand over fur coats and woollen items Jews not allowed to receive eggs or milk Blind or deaf Jews no longer allowed to wear armbands identifying their condition in traffic All schools closed to Jewish children
That's only nazism - italian and austrian fascism had no problem with jews. That's how Ludwig von Mises managed to test his ideas in fascist Austria before having to flee the nazis (in fact he was positively gushing about fascism before the war). Jews in nazism were largely targeted because of a perception as foreigners despite the german jewish community being the most integrated jewish community in Europe (after all, yiddish is a germanic language).
In 1933, socialist activists were already in concentration camps, and T-4 (the disability euthanasia program) was signed into law in 1939.
And while we were being treated that way as a foreign fifth column, the rest of the system was by and large fueled by privatization of German state apparatus (aside from the army and the courts) to cronies. Where neoliberal capitalism socializes the losses, nazism socialized the jews while privatizing the rest >.> (okay that's not a funny way to put it)
I'd add that nationalism tends to be Palingenetic in fascism - which to Paxton is the essential point in fascist nationalism: "retaking the nation" from some nebulous foreign enemy.
fine point. gays. single mothers. leftists. communists. reatking the country.. is the tired old rhetoric of the far right.
yes but don't you feel this is a strategic psychological application that could be utilized by any political construct that seeks to consolidate its power base and focus energy on an enemy whether real or imagined. Even we ourselves our seeking to focus on the criminals who have corrupted our political system and we 'seek to take back our country' from them. By the logic of this defining clause, we ourselves are fascist nationalists.
We're not nationalists to begin with. And I'm not trying to return the system to an ideal prior point based on romantic preconceptions ;)
I guess when I said, 'we', I was talking about me and the mouse in my pocket. :P
lol - what I mean is the movement is already international.
Pretty much describes Obama and Bush.
political definitions are debatable. Most do not accept this definition of fascism.
That's cool, I'm willing to debate if you like to. profer another definition. Just seems to me the word gets bandied about a lot on this site, to the point that it seems to have little meaning.
Yeah I don't really want to debate it but I'll post something else right now that I'll talk about
reference to the "most" or other definitions?
People who haven't read Paxton, Arendt, etc ;) - you know, the people who actually cared about studying it rather than making it a political strawman.
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.
this. thats why communists, anarchists, socialists go to jail or death in a quick manner too. they are the activists of labor power.
"Fascism should more rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of the corporate and state power." Benito Mussolini founder of Italian Fascism
Hear! Hear!
Ironically, fascist governments are decadent and degenerate, but behind the scenes, of course.