By Steven Jonas
In the first
column in this series, fascism was defined as:
"A politico-economic system in which there is: total executive
branch control of both the legislative and administrative powers of government;
no independent judiciary; no Constitution that embodies the Rule of Law standing
above the people who control the government; no inherent personal rights or
liberties; a single national ideology that first demonizes and then
criminalizes all political, religious, and ideological opposition to it; the
massive and regular use of hate, fear, racial and
religious prejudice, the Big Lie technique, mob psychology, mob actions and
ultimately individual and collective violence, to achieve political and
economic ends; a capitalist/corporate economy, with the economic ruling
class' control of State power and thus, economic,
fiscal, political, and regulatory policy and policies."
It was pointed out that this definition, and
similar ones used by other authorities, is based primarily on what fascism
looked like in the 20th century, in particular in Nazi German
fascist Italy, Spain and Japan. The analysis
then went on to the use of the concept of functional
fascism, for the 21st century, for the United States. That is, there are certain features of
classical fascism that do not exist, at least not yet, in the U.S. The Executive Branch does not have full
control of all governmental functions.
There is an independent judiciary.
There is still a Constitution.
There are still inherent personal rights and liberties. There is still not a single national ideology
that criminalizes all opposition to it.
BUT, the political party currently in power, and in
particular its representative occupying the Office of the Presidency, certainly
has made it clear that the reality concerning these features is in a state of
flux. Trump has made it clear that he
would like to have much more control of various governmental functions, particularly
those of the Department of Justice, than he presently does have. He is forever issuing scathing, personal,
attacks on judges and courts that make decisions that he doesn't like, e.g., a recent one on the status of DACA. The judges that he is appointing to the
Federal Courts are selected and confirmed for their long-time adherence to the
right-wing ideology of the private association which plays a major role in
nominating them, the Federalist Society. This practice will play a major role down the
road in limiting the Federal and state functions in the economic and environmental
arenas, as well as in civil liberties and in such matters as the freedom of
choice in the outcome of pregnancy. This
President has shown that he is very much in favor of imposing upon large areas
of civil society an ideology based on Christian Fundamentalism. And this particular President clearly reveals
on a regular basis his predilection for authoritarian government.
As the Federal judiciary changes in nature, going
evermore rightward in its politics (and oh yes, the judiciary is always a political
animal), it will less and less function as it currently does, as a limit on the
fascist aggrandizement of power by this President and the party he leads.
Click here for the full article.
Source: OpEdNews
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