I've taken quite a bit of grief recently over my attempts to address the question of whether or not the U.S., under the steady leadership of BushCo, is devolving into a fascist state. The bulk of the criticism seems to be that 1) comparisons between Bush and Hitler are unfair, and 2) this fascism talk in general is not doing anything to "elevate the discourse" between conservatives and progressives.
I don't think there's much I can do to alleviate item #2, and to be brutally honest I don't care about pursuing a meaningful dialog with a group of Cheney Elitists who think I'm going to burn in a Sea of Hellfire for defying God's will anyway; so, what would be the point? But as for item #1, okay... maybe I can branch out a bit. So, my promise to you is that I will make efforts to draw the parallels between Bush & Mussolini, instead of Bush & Hitler, whenever it is more appropriate to do so. The bottom line to my argument is that, whether it's Busholini or Bitler, we are headed toward a Single Party Dominance model, which is the cornerstone of a fascist government.
Now, to celebrate our new mutual understanding, I am going to head out even further onto the limb and make a few predictions about how American Style Fascism may further entrench itself into our culture under BushCo's new mandate.
To come up with my hypothesis's, I have spent time reviewing the 20th century histories of Italy and Germany, namely how the single party model came to dominate in those countries. Then, using the rules of American Fascism that I tossed into the public forum earlier in the week, I considered how the events of Italy and Germany would be implemented in the U.S. This is what I have come up with.
1. Strengthening Corporations
The objective here is to find ways that will allow corporations to increase their profit margins without implementing new taxation policies. To this end:
Note: I realize that some of these items have already been started by BushCo, so no whining. I just put on my Mentat Thinking Cap and followed it through logically.
A) Worker Rights & Protections continues to be assaulted at the federal level. Worker's compensation laws, overtime, paid time off, group health insurance, education incentives, unions - you name it, it comes under assault.
B) BushCo may even go as far as instituting national laws that are designed to trump worker protections at the state level.
C) At the same time, BushCo attempts to expand the minimum wage labor pool, which has the net effect of eliminating low-end "survival jobs" for middle class workers. This forces the middle class worker to be grateful that they have a job at all, and (more importantly) gets them to stay put.
D) Toughen unemployment assistance rules, making it more difficult to get unemployment benefits if you're out of work. Again, doubles the incentive to stay at a job with poor benefits, because you are also pushed out of the service jobs labor market thanks to item C.
E) Net effect - Increased military enlistment from working class. This one is tricky, but think about it: If your job sucks ass and doesn't offer health insurance, or you can't afford the premium for your family of four, and the government comes along with immediate benefits for families of enlisted plus a decent wage, what would you do? I'm willing to bet that you pick the option that will feed and clothe your children, even if that means going into the military. And the best part for BushCo is that they could increase their troop numbers without ever reinstituting a draft - you "chose" to go.
F) Net effect - Increased offerings of contractor jobs in lieu of military enlistment. The flip side offering to item E is that, instead of military incentives, the corporations offer incentives like better pay and better benefits to people willing to fill contractor jobs in occupied countries. The effect is still the same - an increase in troop numbers without reinstituting a draft - and once again, you "choose" to go.
2. Loyalty Oaths for Trading Nations
Even an Economics-challenged girl like me can see that there is trouble a-brewin' where the U.S. Dollar is concerned. As the dollar continues to take hits, and countries start to realign their own currency standards, and the shit hits the fan here at home, I would expect BushCo to implement some type of loyalty requirement on foreign countries who wish to continue trading with the U.S. This would have a two-fold effect:
A) Keep some countries in line with U.S. economic policy, so it's not a total loss for the dollar.
B) Spur manufacturing jobs here at home. If we're not importing telephones made in China, we may start producing them here domestically instead.
Of course, the American people would be 100% behind a plan demanding economic loyalty from trading partners, in line with American Fascism Rule #3. (And for anybody still keeping score at home, this could also be a possible interpretation of Rev 13:17. But if you're not into that kind of thing...then nevermind.)
3. Continued Push Toward Single Party Dominance Politically
The tendency will be to marginalize dissent, but not eliminate it entirely, which is what Mussolini did in Italy.
A) Local political structures get reorganized to ensure GOP dominance (a la Texas redistricting).
B) The GOP keeps doing what they have been to eat away at the Democratic party's financial base.
C) Some of the more fringe political parties may be declared terrorist groups, and disbanded.
4. Bush's Usage Reallocated
This may be the most controversial point for many of you. Simply put, Bush's usefulness to the Single Party agenda has an expiration date. He's a puppet who can't seek reelection. The GOP will not try to rewrite the term limits rule or set up a dictatorship, because that violates American Fascism Rule #1. What you have to consider now is whether Bush is more useful to the Single Party Dominance Plan as a President or as a Martyr. I don't have an answer to that, but it is a disturbing line of thought if you're willing to follow it.
I'm interested to hear what some of you have to say on these points.