Speaking of Fascism
Obama fires the president of General Motors, appoints a "Director of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers" and promises that the United States will stand behind GM's warranties.
Speaking historically, what is the difference between this and what Mussolini advocated as "fascism"?
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3 years ago
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4 comments:
What is the difference?
(1) We get to vote Congress out in two years and Obama in 4-Mussolini left feet first.
(2) You're still free to write about Obama, uless the Secret Service paid you a visit this afternoon.
(3) Mussolini knew what he was doing a lot of the time ;-).
Hang a left and try Sweden as your better analogy; anytime you pull out fascism as an argument, you're reaching 9-out-of-10. That being said, the business-serves-the-state meme of fascism is uncomfortably close to where we are at.
Actually, my thinking was directed to the "Fascism - the early years."
Hitler obtained power constitutionally through election and did not eliminate the possibility of elections until some time after his election. I'm not sure about Mussolini - something about a march on Rome and the King appointing him Prime Minister. I'm not sure how long it took Mussolini to dispense with the mechanisms of an actual democracy.
Also, it was possible to speak against Fascism in the early years without immediately being dragged off to a concentration camp, albeit Stormtroopers might pay you a visit as an unofficial matter.
I'm certainly not saying that Obama will ever approximate the Fascists like that, but the official political program of Fascism was the subordination of corporations to the state.
An excellent book to read for the feel of early fascism is Sinclair Lewis' "It Can't Happen Here."
Actually, my thinking was directed to the "Fascism - the early years." I, for one, thought that was obvious.
Peter,
You ain't seen nuttin' yet: just wait for the Five Year Plans! My immediate concern, however, is whether Tim Geithner is turning out to be Obama's T.D. Lysenko.
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