[Proto]

Fascist America, in 10 easy steps | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited


Please note that whilst published in a British newspaper, the writer is an American.

[Quick 26]

that is some article there. he has valid points

[Atreyu]

damn those are some very good points

[steingar]

Bush is not a bad man, though I will not make the same claim for his associates. However, an ernest and uninformed person can lay the groundwork for utter disaster. Someone could use the laws that have been passed to do something rally awful. Couldn't happen here? Germany was one of the most advanced democratic nations before Hitler. He was voted into office.

Benjamin Frankin once said that those who prefer security over liberty deserve neither. A good thought to keep in mind during these times. I just hope that this is part of a pendulum that will swing the other way eventually.

[ondablade]

Some big risks you guys in the US face on this issue are:

1. All it takes is another major terrorist attack for the fearful to present whatever Administration with a blank cheque.

2. For all that an alternative Administration might be rather more liberal in outlook, there's very few bureaucrats that easily give up power and control once it's given them. Once there's bums on seats, money at stake or whatever it's very hard to reverse those sorts of decisions.

The above mean that it's really important for people who truly value freedoms (not the cliched Bush Administration version) to speak out and keep on speaking out. It's going to take sustained pressure and clearly voiced public sentiment to roll it back.....

[ROADDOG61]

[KenB]

Wow, fascists to the right and socialists to the left. Good thing we have an election process to keep us in the middle.

[zfrilly2]

Bush made it through the last election, I know he can no longer do so, but it makes me wonder who "America" will vote for next.

[Quick 26]

me

[analogbear]

I read the article, and found it to be nothing but pseudo-sexy would-be-leftist radical propaganda(if the author understood what leftist really meant, and if there was anything to attach the ideas to). I am no lover or defender of the worst and stupidest President in US history, but to think for a second that America is a blossoming fascist nation is kind of retarded.

At best we are a flawed republic; at worst we are an Oligarchy-by-proxy. Remember what that means...

But, unlike the world of Benito, Adolph, Big Brother, and Pinochet (the fascists to which we often refer), our power structure, even if they are elite and exclusive, want the majority of Americans to grow ther own wealth...Wealth, on a national level, begets greater wealth...

[Proto]

Originally Posted by analogbear

...Wealth, on a national level, begets greater wealth...

Try telling that to the poor folk in West Virginia or the poorest parts of the poor deep south. Wealth does indeed beget greater wealth, but the decent thing to do would be to spread it around a bit.
Oops, that might be considered socialism in your part of the world and that would never do, would it.

[analogbear]

Originally Posted by Proto

Try telling that to the poor folk in West Virginia or the poorest parts of the poor deep south. Wealth does indeed beget greater wealth, but the decent thing to do would be to spread it around a bit.
Oops, that might be considered socialism in your part of the world and that would never do, would it.

Exactly...I am not a socialist, because I understand exactly what that really means, although I am all for universal healthcare and some spreading of wealth...But be absolutely clear....I believe that we should be able to make pretty much whatever we can make, provided the game is even...We have moved from a merit-based reward system back to the aristocratic, "as long as my folks are rich, I am rich, so I don't really have to be good at anything, or even be productive" thing...It is a terrible 180 degrees from the idea of merit-based democratic markets, and those who fail to acknowledge it are either blind or dumb...