FASCISM, AMERICAN STYLE. Labeling is often misused to evoke an exaggerated image. A term like “fascism” should be used judiciously. I do so here in stating that Amerika Inc. is moving in the direction of what has historically been portrayed as fascism, in effect a new face of fascism. The classic cases of fascism are Nazi Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, Franco´s Spain, and Imperial Japan. The regimes came about in essentially a dual context from the early twentieth century through World Wars One and Two. One context was the very strong assertion of class struggle and socialist movements in Europe and the Russian Revolution. The other context was the competition of nations for empire. Great Britain, France, and Belgium became challenged by Germany and Italy, leading to both world wars, and Japanese militarism and expansionism rose to take on European colonialism in Asia and the American sway over the Pacific region.
The main features of fascism were. 1) A highly authoritarian state which used extreme repression to liquidate all challenges to the existing order. 2) A political regime that uncompromisingly represented the interests of the economically dominant class. 3) A violent assertion of expansionist ambitions for control of territory. 4) The mobilization of civilian goon squads to deal with dissidents and create an environment of fear. 5) Ideological proclamation to create a conception of nationalism as the superiority of the Nation and its people over all other nations and peoples; as a corollary to nationalism, racist conceptions of manifest destiny to suppress, conquer, or eliminate inferior races. Fascist movements were evident throughout Europe during the 1930s, in Germany, Italy, Spain, France, and England especially. Today, these movements are still alive in the form of extreme right-wing anti-immigrant forces throughout Europe, especially in France, Austria, and Eastern Europe. Germany still has its neo-Nazis. The British exit from the European Union was in good part inspired by nativist demagogues. The main political/military force in the Ukraine today is neo-Nazi.
Fascism was not confined to Europe and Japan. There are the numerous post-world war II regimes of an extremely brutal nature, the South American military dictatorships for example. The term “clerical fascism” was applied to the post 1979 Iranian regime with its imposition of Islamic rule. However, the Iranian Revolution was to demolish the prior regime of the Shah and its business associates, not to cement the power of a dominant economic class. Moreover, it is clear that Iran has moved away from clerical rule toward greater secularism and democratic forms of governance. One wonders if the current Islamic extremist elements, such as ISIS with the violent imposition of religious fundamentalism, might also be considered fascist in nature, although most of the features of classic fascism are absent. Apart from the United States, the closest proximity to classic fascism today is Israel. Given the historical oppression of Jews and Nazi extermination it is really, really sad to have to recognize that the historical victims of fascism have become victimizers and purveyors of similar doctrines. Indeed, Zionism is racism. The Israeli state oppresses Arab populations within Israel, practices apartheid, colonizes and occupies neighboring territories, threatens other countries, repeatedly resorts to violence and official terrorism, and declares war on its neighbors. (42) So how does the United States measure up to the features of fascism?
The authoritarian state and repression. FBI surveillance, infiltration of dissident organizations, framing leaders and other machinations, is sustained and effective. The FBI spent $5.3 billion, 54% of its budget in 2015, in War on Terror activity. The Agency engaged in 440 “terror disruptions” in 2015, but there were only 60 terror-related arrests. Presumably where terrorists don’t actually exist they have to be invented then “disruputed.” Given that Homeland Security the National Security Agency and other police forces also endlessly search out terrorist ghosts and keep tabs on dissidents this is a formidable repressive activity. Comparable to the Nazi Gestapo? No, at least not yet. Perhaps one cannot say the same for the CIA and its renditions and torture programs. Beyond violent repression, all fascist regimes had their propaganda ministry attacking any and all opponents and intelligence and security forces staying on top of the population. In America Inc. we have the State of National Insecurity. The technology of the Security Apparatus is much more efficient than the Nazis could even envision, but is not yet used for the extremes of repression. The main difference is that the Nazis faced serious challenges in consolidating power from communists, socialists, and democrats of moderate persuasion, so they unleashed violent repression against all enemies of the state. Given that the internal opposition to the American state is at this time not a mobilized and serious threat, there is no present need to have a Gestapo or let loose the Militias, but the 2016-2017 political climate is moving in that direction. Trumpism has elements of the main features of an incipient fascism and one is “law and order,”the strengthening of the repressive forces.
A political regime that reflects the interests and pursues the policies of the economically dominant class. What else is the rigged formal democracy of America Inc. than unrestrained Plutocracy, the political rule of capital? For now only weakly challenged. Classic fascism expounded that the state is the embodiment of a national spirit and stands above society to impose the dominant class´s idea of what is good. This appears to be how plutocracy views the role of the state in today´s America Inc. Those who question American Exceptionalism and America First, or who lack enthusiasm for “Make America Great Again” are Un-American enemies of the State. The greater the degree of system impingement on the situation of the population, the more social privilege is eroded, the greater the culture of fear and scapegoatism is promoted, we can only expect that resistance will be labeled as seditious and the forces of official and extra-official repression unleashed.
Capitulation by Obama and the Democrats (delete, and most likely the future President Hillary Clinton, may ease) eased a bit the proximate danger of an American style fascism that the privileged interests would impose when and if necessary. Why be nasty when you can get a nice guy or, were Clinton elected, a compliant lady to do what you want him or her to do by proper grooming and intransigence if he or she steps a bit out of line? Most Democrats represent no progressive ideas, so plutocratic interests are better served by less extreme means. But that current of know-nothing extremism in defense of indefensible interests is ever present. (Delete And) Many plutocrats don’t think rationally about what might make America great again. Some are hesitant about Trump, but incipient fascism can only be dealt with by a resurgence of social and political movements demanding justice, decency, and real change to a system that fosters injustice, indecency, and violent repression on a world scale. Still, the resurgence of a popular movement as it gains strength may in fact precipitate escalating repression, even perhaps the formation of Death Squads. The Justice Department, the Alcohol, Tabaco, and Firearms Agency, and the FBI will likely not seriously investigate intimidation and killings of movement people, and like other crimes the state fosters or tolerates, the perpetrators will be immune to prosecution. The FBI may well, as in CONTERINPOL of the 1960s, be part of organizing violent repression. In other parts of the world American agencies of state actively promote Death Squads; it is not improbable that they may decide to bring the war home. The Movement must act proactively and militantly to defeat fascism before it is fully upon us.

Expansionist Ambitions. The Nazis invaded Europe, the Italians North Africa, the Japanese Asia and the Pacific with the ends of challenging competing imperialisms and occupied vast territories. Since the end of World War II, the United States as supreme world power has engaged in endless interventions and war throughout the world. It continues that interventionism today with invasion, occupation, or meddling throughout the oil rich Middle East. A main purpose of the State of National Insecurity is the pursuit of empire by whatever means necessary. This is militaristic expansionism unparalled since WW2. Official terror and war are always there to back the world-wide institutional control of capital with its globalization power of neoliberal policy. (delete “and trade treaties like TPP.”) Trump and Putin it appears have a mutual admiration pact. If so, this might cool down the Cold War. But armed interventions in the Mid East will continue on most likely a wider scale, and perhaps be extended to Venezuela.
Right-wing social movements, domestic violence and fear. Today´s Republican Party is evidently inextricably tied to what it considers its base in extremist elements such as the Tea Party, anti-abortion groups, fundamentalist Christians, right-wing libertarians, white supremists, violent hate groups, and all manner of groupings of an extremist character. Exit polls at rallies indicated that many Trump supporters are middle and higher income middle class white males, although the media cite white working class people as adherents.
What is ever present is a cultivated culture of fear, as examined in detail in Chapter Four. Fear is generalized through the War on Terror and by media controlled by plutocracy. This incites the social base of these groups that espouse a more classic fascist ideology. There is evidently a split within the power block forging capital´s hegemonic project to fully consolidate and institutionalize the unquestioned rule of capital. The lineup of Republican candidates all aspired to be Der Fuhrer with racist, chauvinist, xenophobic tirades that appeal to the white privileged and those losing their privileges by the workings of the System. This worries some of the Establishment ideologues who used to control the Republican Party and successfully subordinated Democrats to their policy guidance. (delete “As of this writing”) The moderate Republican elite (if indeed there is such a grouping) have not been able to control the outcome of Republican presidential candidate selection. The publicity given by all the media to Trump and the inability of a supposed Republican moderate establishment to promote an acceptable candidate, leads me to the conclusion that plutocracy was pursuing a dual strategy--promote and mobilize an extremist, essentially fascist base, while being quite willing to accept a trustworthy Hillary Clinton. Plutocrats (delete “will”)put their money in Congressional races to retain Republican obstructionism to any domestic progressivism. (delete “while keeping Clinton within the war policies she has always pursued) . The right-wing militias are reputed to be organized mainly to violently resist government tyranny as in the Oklahoma federal building bombing--domestic terrorism by “Vanilla ISIS” and “Yáll Qaeda” groupings. They may act as government Goon Squads at some point and Movement activists can expect to be victimized by vigilantes filled with hate and out to defend the system with violence.
Ideology, nationalism, and visions of superiority. In this realm indeed Amerika Inc. resides well within the legacy of fascism. This legacy in turn derives from many centuries of “scientific based” ideologies that have guided ignoble purpose in making history and doing evil. The genetic inferiority of women and people of color, the extension of evolutionary theory to the social Darwinist doctrine of the survival of the fittest in human society, manifest destiny and the white man´s civilizing burden…all have their long histories and contemporary extensions. The Nazi view of the essence of Man´s nature was a propensity for violence, as annunciated in a long Germanic philosophical tradition. Violence was a means to an end, but also an end it itself because it brings Man closer to his inner essence, war being an extension of human nature. Our rulers in America Inc. certainly have a propensity for violence and war, but this is attributable to class interests, not human nature. Their myth becomes the most twisted part of their consciousness. Nazi conception of Arian supremacy lead to the extermination of Jews, Gypsies, and others considered inferior beings and was the crudest of racism. In the United States today Black people are not sent to the gas chambers, but shot down on the street daily and sent massively to prison. Immigrants are scapegoated, blamed for the ills of America, rounded up and placed in internment camps, all Muslims are maligned, and with even more repressive policies advocated by Trump. (delete ‘all the 2016 Republican candidates.”) Black, Brown, and Red people suffer discrimination in employment and institutions and are victimized by racism nurtured by extending the idea of privilege to the white-skinned population. Well beyond the entrenched racism of American society is the mystification enshrined by all the ideological apparatuses. Plutocracy becomes democracy, exported worldwide by intervention and force to save humanity, together with diffusion of the superiority of Western White Christian Civilization over barbarism, the myth of American Exceptionalism and American First and Trump´s version of decline from Exceptionalism “Make America Great Again!”, Social Darwinism, the cult of individualism, the superiority of private enterprise and all the other tenants belabored in previous analysis.
Today´s Republican Party with its dual base in a mobilized extremist grass roots on the one hand and the moneyed elite on the other hand approximate the main features of fascism. The base of the party that voted for Trump shows definite fascist characteristics. Research has indicated that Trump supporters, with an average income of $72,000, are mainly white middle class and most likely disproportionally male, but other sources say that there is a lot of white working class support for Trumpism. But I am not sure that we should label Donald Trump as a resurrected Mussolini or that this incipient American fascism will be able to mature. But the Movement must be intransigent at every turn in this direction. (Delete --With the 2016 elections, political office will likely be in the hands of corporate Democrats who will continue to serve plutocracy with similar policies to the Obama Administration resisting the extremes of the right-wing demands but held in check from doing anything progressive by Republican intransigence.)

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