Some would say the use of the word
fascism is an exaggeration, but I don’t think so. If we feel comfortable calling our system of government
crony capitalism, or corporatism, then I see no reason why we can’t call it
fascism. It is straight to the
point, but at the same time I can see where it is misleading, so this series of
essays will be about figuring out how to define fascism in our current context. I’m not referring to Europe in the 30’s
and 40’s, but America now. I’m not
going to use the lists that authors have compiled as tenants for what they
think makes a fascist society. I
don’t have to. While this country
may hit a lot of the benchmarks, I believe that we are suffering through a
uniquely American fascism. One in
which we maybe don’t realize is happening, but we actually embrace. It’s the old boiling frog scenario, and
the heat has been on a slow rise in temperature for a very long time, though
the times are changing and many of us are just now starting to realize we
better jump from the pot before it’s too late.
If this country isn’t suffering
through a long bout of fascism, then what is our system? I know, it’s a Republic, or a
Democratic Republic, right? Sure,
and on its surface The 4th of July is about independence. But of course we know that is
nonsense. Just as much as our
country is not free, that day of nationalistic fervor can only really celebrate
the past, America’s heyday of independence. But how do they connect it to the present in any substantial
way? They’ve slowly reframed it as
a day of celebrating militarism.
Though most likely, we no longer know many of the soldiers who go overseas. We no longer see the pictures from
their wars. We barely know their
stories. We hardly grasp that
their suffering has nothing to do with independence. So if it isn’t about independence now, what was all this
pain about in the past? Even beyond
the last American century, how long did independence really last?
Instead of a day of blind
nationalism where we celebrate what they tell us to, I think it’s time for a
day of questioning where we can all put our collectivism that has been built
over the years to good use. We can
get together and openly question policies set forth by the government. These won’t be Republican questions or
Democratic questions, because as an institution, the government doesn’t exist
within in those ideologies, it is now one beast whose figurehead sometimes
changes, but beyond that the song remains the same.
For this day of national
questioning instead of being mesmerized by the booming fireworks, we can ask
why we have such expansive militarism in so many countries all over the world
and whether you feel comfortable spending $1,000,000,000,000 on it every year. Instead of singing the empty words of
patriotic songs, we could try to understand what these words mean and how they
actually relate to the America we are living in. We can look at the words that our authoritarian leaders use
and understand that sometimes independence actually means dependence. Instead of saluting Old Glory, we could
look at all those stars and stripes and try to understand what actually holds
us together like a bundle of sticks.
Is it that social contract that none of us has ever seen or signed? Is it the Constitution? Maybe it is just fear.
What is it about keeping this
bundle so tightly wound that is more important than freedom? In this convoluted yet archaic system
that we have allowed to be built around us, where does the individual truly
stand anymore? Who are the
Americans beyond the management and beyond the central planning? Can we still be the masters of our own
lives?
This is the first of what I hope to
be many essays on the crumbling road that America has decided to traverse. This isn’t about George Bush. It’s not about Obama or Romney. These men are just personalities that
every now and then hand off the reigns to one another for something that is
bigger than they can ever be.
There is nothing organic happening between them and us. Government is a power-sucking machine
and the people outside of it are just grease grinding through its gears making
sure that it continues to run.
This is why it is us who have to dry up these old ideas of empire and
fascism. This deeply entrenched
system must not continue to move through our lives as if it were the natural
progression of humanity. Force and
control on such a massive scale are not naturally occurring concepts; they must
be taught and embedded within us.
It is time we stop learning from the wrong people, those who would have
you believe that liberty is a virtue to be granted by a higher authority.
It is my hope that with these
essays I can help convince a few people to open their eyes when our fearless
rulers want them closed. I hope
that you feel the need to speak, when they want you to shut up. It is time to look directly into the
soul of what we have become, and not weep in pain, but speak in the clear and
sure voice of a free thinker.
Let the individual emerge and show
the path to the future.
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