A look at Fascism.

Alright, so I have been arguing with people for a while on a few sites, and I honestly think I am seeing a new re-evolution in political thinking, so i wanted to explore it.

I actually believe that there are a few individuals on some of these sites who are essentially Fascist in thought, although not in name, which is understandable since "Fascist" has been an insult for a long time. But I really think it is making a come back.

A couple of definitions from Mussolini, as pulled from Wikipedia

"As a political and economic system in Italy, fascism combined elements of corporatism, totalitarianism, nationalism, militarism and anti-Communism. In an article in the 1932 Enciclopedia Italiana, written by Giovanni Gentile and attributed to Benito Mussolini, fascism is described as a system in which "The State not only is authority which governs and molds individual wills with laws and values of spiritual life, but it is also power which makes its will prevail abroad... For the Fascist, everything is within the State and... neither individuals nor groups are outside the State... For Fascism, the State is an absolute, before which individuals or groups are only relative... Liberalism denied the State in the name of the individual; Fascism reasserts the rights of the State as expressing the real essence of the individual"
It discussed other political and social doctrines of the time by describing fascism as: "the resolute negation of the doctrine underlying so-called scientific and Marxian socialism... and as rejecting (in democracy) "the absurd conventional lie of political equalitarianism, the habit of collective irresponsibility, the myth of felicity and indefinite progress".

"Fascism is definitely and absolutely opposed to the doctrines of liberalism, both in the political and economic sphere. ... The Fascist State lays claim to rule in the economic field no less than in others; it makes its action felt throughout the length and breadth of the country by means of its corporate, social, and educational institutions, and all the political, economic, and spiritual forces of the nation, organised in their respective associations, circulate within the State."

Another central theme of Italian fascism was the struggle against what it described as the corrupt "plutocracies" of the time, France and Britain in particular.


While failing to outline a coherent program, fascism evolved into a new political and economic system that combined corporatism, totalitarianism, nationalism, and anti-Communism in a state designed to bind all classes together under a capitalist system. This was a new capitalist system, however, one in which the state seized control of the organization of vital industries. Edit: Instead of siezing control...the people in the government run key industries...so it is subtly different Under the banners of nationalism and state power, Fascism seemed to synthesize the glorious Roman edit: (or idealized American) past with a futuristic utopia.





O.K, as I am reading this, I cant help but see certain themes which I believe are creeping back into todays political agenda.

Anyone interested in discussing this?

So... Why did we go to war?

A few short years ago, a friend of mine was practically beaming about how occupying and rebuilding Iraq would pay for itself, how the US would reap enormous wealth from the influx of Iraqi oil, and that military spending would actually *strengthen* the American economy -- like the massive military expenditures during the Reagan Years! (Can you say "trickle-down theory"?)

I let him finish gushing about Ronnie Raygun, paused, then said, "Okay, sooooo.... war is the answer."

That kind of took the wind out of his sails.

What I didn't say (but in retrospect really wish I had) was, "Therefore, the most important reason to wage a war in which hundreds to thousands of our American troops will be sent to a foreign land to fight and die ...ISN'T to defend our country, ISN'T to protect our liberty, and ISN'T to promote democracy ...it's to MAKE SOME MONEY?!?"

Alright, so let's accept the capitalist-pig view that war is all about feeding the money machine. How close (or how far) are we to breaking even on money spent on Iraq? How much is the federal deficit now? How much have gasoline prices changed, *and in what direction*? How much has consumer confidence and employee satisfaction improved (or worsened)?

Also, what of non-economic matters? How much safer (or more frightened) do Americans feel about another attempted terrorist attack on US soil? How (un)successful has the "coalition of the willing" been in establishing peace and starting a new democracy in Iraq? How much (or how little) respect does the coaltion, specifically the US, have from the other nations of the world?

What of the veterans who return home (if they ever do -- for many US troops, tours of duty keep getting extended indefinitely)? If you develop PTSD and have screaming nightmares whenever you try to sleep, how much money is that worth? Or if you jump whenever a car backfires or a kid sets off a firecracker within earshot? Or if your mind keeps replaying the memory of a fellow soldier -- maybe a close buddy -- being shot in the head or blown to bloody bits? What amount of value, what price tag, can you possibly assign to that?

Cops: Teacher had sex with 13-year-old student 28 times in one week


APRIL 4--Meet Rachel Holt. The 34-year-old Delaware teacher is facing rape charges for allegedly having sex with a 13-year-old student 28 times during a one-week period last month. Holt, a science teacher at Claymont Elementary School, allegedly had sex with the boy, a student in her class, at her Wilmington home. According to a probable cause affidavit filed today in Justice of the Peace Court, the boy's father contacted cops yesterday afternoon and told them his child was having "inappropriate contact" with Holt. Last night, in an interview at New Castle County police headquarters, Holt admitted she had intercourse with the boy 27 times and performed oral sex once during the last week of March. She also revealed that another student, 12, had watched her having sex with the boy and that she had provided both boys with beer. Holt is being held in a local lockup in lieu of $560,450 bail. (2 pages)

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0404062teacher1.html


What she did is wrong.


But it's not rape. Sorry, but it just isn't. It's an insult to actual rape victims to call it that. Imagine if we started calling people who got beat up "murder victims".


Oh, and on top of that, she's hideous. Did she teach at a school for the blind or something?