We are seeing the rise of fascism all over the world. What is it? What is its appeal to ordinary people?
Are they just duped by the propaganda?
Do they like the simple black and white principles?
Do they see it as strong decisive leadership?
Do they want to be part of something they see as powerful?
Do they support it out of fear?
I was watching Mike Malloys 14 characteristics of Fascism. That was scary.
One can clearly see the way that Putin and Xi clearly operate fascist states. What is more worrying is the way that countries like the USA, UK and France are heading down the same road. Democracy is clearly being manipulated and usurped.
The 14 Characteristics of Fascism
Nationalism – nationalistic slogans, flags, symbols and emblems are splattered everywhere.
Human Rights – human rights are ignored. Fear is ratcheted up and enemies are identified and dehumanised so that it is OK to deploy incarceration, violence and even torture.
Identification of Enemies – these scapegoats may be immigrants, refugees, ethnic minorities, racial groups, liberals, communists or cultural minorities. They are portrayed as a threat and built up to induce fear and hate. They are portrayed as terrorists, rapists, criminals, morally corrupt drug dealers or simply people, who breed like rabbits, and are intent on usurping the national culture.
Supremacy of the Military – the army, secret police and goons are deployed to suppress opposition and control all expressions of dissent. The goons are funded even when domestic needs are neglected.
Sexism – the rights of women and minority sexual groups are severely repressed. Abortion is banned. There is suppression of gay and trans rights.
Control Of The Mass Media – either directly or indirectly. The bringing in of censorship and pumping out of propaganda.
National Security Obsession – The state is under threat from spurious political/social/religious/cultural groups. Fear is ramped up. Hate is ramped up. These groups must be opposed and eradicated. They are the enemy within.
Crime and Punishment Obsession – the police need added powers in order to control the threats from within and establish law and order.
Rampant Cronyism and Corruption – state funds are appropriated and misused. They are dolled out to friends and supporters. Supporters are rewarded royally. Stolen money is used to support actions that bolster the state (media, business etc.).
Fraudulent Elections – elections are rigged with voter suppression in opposition areas, smear campaigns, false claims, control of actual voting, making it extremely difficult for the opposition to vote and easy for supporters, alterations in regional boundaries and manipulation of the media. Votes cast can be ignored or manipulated.
Religion is Deployed – even when the tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the violence, abuse, suppression, inequality and moral corruption of the regime. Religion is used as a basis to motivate and becomes intertwined with government.
Corporate Power – corporations are protected and rewarded for the mutual benefit of the elite. The power and wealth are streamed to this elite.
Labour Power is Suppressed – the people are the only force that can effectively undermine the regime hence their power is reduced. Corporations deunionise, laws are passed to make unions ineffective, propaganda is deployed to manipulate workers and make them docile.
Disdain for Intellectuals, Music and Art – intellectuals and artists can be a focus for opposition and arouse the people to oppose the regime. There is open hostility and undermining of all experts, encouragement of conspiracy and superstition, attack on freedom of expression and defunding of art and academia. All rebellion is sidelined.
I would add this fifteenth and sixteenth to Mike Malloy’s list:
15. Dumbing Down and Distraction – There is a distinct dumbing down in literature, art, TV and education. Trivial distraction is used to prevent people from engaging with what is really going down. Alcohol and drugs are encouraged. Programmes that expose or investigate in any depth are discouraged, banned, defunded, sidelined or debunked.
16. Education – The history books are rewritten, the curriculum reduced, the syllabi restricted and education turned into career fodder. Creativity and thinking are discouraged. Propaganda is deployed. Students are brainwashed.
We see this with Xi and Putin, Le Pen, Bolsonaro, Johnson, Trump, Erdogan, Modi, Oban and numerous others.
We fought a world war against the fascism of Hitler, Mussolini and Franco. Now it is coming in through the backdoor.
How far down this road are we in the UK and USA?? If Trump had been elected again would we have said goodbye to democracy in the USA? I think so. With Johnson spouting nationalistic nonsense of global Britain and Brexit, taking over the media, loading the BBC, taking over Channel 4, controlling the newspapers (Daily Mail, Express, Sun, Times, Telegraph), suppressing protest, pumping out propaganda, using corruption and sleaze to reward supporters, creating a new elite, scapegoating refugees, Muslims and ‘woke’, and vilifying the opposition – are we heading for a one-party fascist state? I think so.
In among these games of power ordinary people are like ants trampled under hobnail boots – of little consideration.
Civilisation is a transparent film over a reality that has not changed through the centuries. Technology has merely altered the size of the chips. There is more to lose.
Political games are played out over a global stage. The powerful vie for position, people and cities are mere bargaining chips as they up the ante.
Power is a strong drug.
Wealth is another.
The whole of history has been the tale of selfishness and greed.
Civilisation is an illusion.
Human beings could build a world of beauty and fulfilment for all. But some want it all. They are prepared to destroy it all so that they can have what they want.
Power and wealth have no room for wisdom or compassion.
Has the world ever been without war? I don’t think so. It’s an endless cycle.
Just because it has been in Chechnya, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Myanmar, Eritrea, has meant that we can gloss over it, but it has never gone away.
The powerful elite, or those aspiring, have been vying to control, suppress, oppress and exert.
Through politics, religion and the promise of social change and justice, there are always those who will rouse others, or direct their followers towards violence.
We’ve never know peace.
The powerful and wealthy seek more power, more control and more wealth.
In the aftermath of the US election it seems obvious to me that our society is lost. Those in power merely seek to perpetuate their own power and wealth. There is no direction, no will to tackle the issues, no empathy, no compassion.
We’re on a mad dash to nowhere where all that matters is the cash.
The Tory plans for education are – MORE OF THE SAME!!
They plan on privatising schools by creating failure and forcibly putting them in the hands of profit making syndicates of academies with vested interests (either religious bigotry or profit from kids).
They plan on force-feeding the kids to create factories of despair and failure.
Seemingly all that matters are the ones who can make the grade. The rest can be jettisoned down the big chute to the land of perpetual failure where they can be castigated and pilloried as being worthless.
Exams are important but only to a degree. Yes they can get you into higher education and a career. But there is a lot more to life and education than that!
Where is the room for creativity? Isn’t this the strength of our nation? Aren’t we master designers, inventors and creators? You don’t get that from force-feeding facts.
Where’s the social empathy? Or are we looking for a generation of uncaring psychopaths who will naturally be Tory voters? I think I prefer to live in a supportive, caring society with people who are happy and fulfilled.
Where is the education of the Whole Child? It’s being sacrificed on Tory dogma – where all that matters is the elite, the Public Schools and the rest of us are dross, plebs and cretins to be fed through the machine.
Meanwhile the pressure on teachers grows, the best leave and the system decays!
Heaven help us! We are being ruled by conniving idiots!
