My pal R.U. Sirius sent one me a question a few weeks ago I couldn't resist: "Is It Fascism Yet?" — and does it matter?— as a followup question!
He gets provocative thoughts from Ken Layne, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Douglas Rushkoff, Norman Solomon,the guy who told Dick Cheney to “go fuck yourself,” and others.
My reply:
"Is it time to say the F-word?"
It’s a reasonable question to ask. It’s not hysterical.
Perhaps we are hobbled in definition because today's fascists don't like that label for themselves. A sartorial choice, to be sure. What would it mean to name the fascism suit in an accurate way today?
In terms of the recent government power we’ve seen the post-911 shredding of the Constitution, particularly the First Amendment and the right to a fair trial. The Bill of Rights has been gutted. Our elections are rigged, our Supreme Court is stacked… My thoughts of fascism are akin to my despair.
Most Americans are still invested in American dream — regardless of whether it has an economic and ethical basis or not. Most haven’t notice there’s no THERE THERE anymore. We're huffing on borrowed time.
I do have one concern about my "objectivity," and that's the POV of my age.
I remember interviewing a few older folks, in my reporting career, who suffered under the worst of McCarthyism. I took oral histories of Japanese-Americans, who were sent to internment camps in the 40s. I have family and friends who saw the most frightening elements of the Kennedy/MLK/Malcolm assassinations, who held their breath during the high circus of the Chicago 8 trial, or had their heads bashed in by Mayor Daley’s thugs in Chicago. Not to mention Kent State, and the Jackson State student shootings before that.
If we looked back at our grandparents’ and our great-grandparents’ histories, disgrace and outrage would continue to be cataloged. Was our Constitution any stronger when “pioneers” were shooting Indians on sight like vermin? Was the Depression and the violent attacks on the early labor movement some shining hour for the Bill of Rights? Just open your history book and pick a bloody page.
Maybe, as Byrne once sang, “It’s same as it ever was,” and I’ve just reached the age where hope doesn't spring eternal.
Or maybe, it’s because I WAS a child of the 60s, and saw such a remarkable, progressive renaissance. This nation has always showcased its violence, prejudice, and hypocrisy. What was unusual were the moments when it was SOMETHING ELSE.
I was in the New Left in the 70s, the pick-up-the-gun crowd, and everyone in my milieu was scouring with their history books to decide the precise SECOND when you could say that fascism was officially in motion. Nixon had a lot of people shook up, that’s for sure. My god, now he looks like a swinger.
History is always swinging, testing your memory. The worst of authoritarianism sounds tick-tock, tick-tock, gentlemen— and global capitalism sans leash doesn’t amount to much else.
The more interesting question to ask is, What counteracts the Big Ugly? Most earthlings are peaceful, loving, and generous— at
least part of the day. Why do we allow the brute to torment us?
No, not Abu Ghraib. It's a photo from Mussolini's Italy, found at London's Class War web site.
Recent Comments