The Myth Of Fascism
How to debunk a
myth? A myth in this sense, is a widely held
but false belief or idea. Such is the myth of fascism. Or, more precisely, for
the main thrust of this essay -- who is a Fascist.
This essay examines and debunks the myth that Republicans and
Conservatives, in the personification of Donald Trump and his Administration,
exemplify fascist regimes of the 20th Century. And, that the tactics
employed by the Left today are, for the most part, those that were employed by
Communist and Soviet regimes, to a greater extent, than that of Mussolini’s
and Franco’s
Fascist regimes. Hence, the reality today, is that the ideology of the
Democratic Party and its left-wing followers, are the ones employing Leninist –
Stalinist means to achieve their ends.
In the parlance of our time, the terms fascism and fascist
have become sophomoric epithets, and little more than a pejorative used by the Left and its supporters (Democrats)
to insult and damage their opponents (Republicans and Conservatives).
Accordingly, the word fascist is sometimes used to denigrate people,
institutions, or groups that would not describe themselves as ideologically
fascist, and do not fall within the formal definition of the word.
If fascism is, as Roger
Griffin, Professor of History at Oxford Brookes University parsimoniously
defines it, "a
political ideology … of populist ultra-nationalism." Then indeed, Donald J. Trump’s campaign and
administration slogan, “Make America Great Again,” would qualify. Still, so would
others such as John F. Kennedy’s “New Frontier,” Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New
Deal,” Abraham Lincoln’s “ a new nation, conceived in Liberty” and Ronald Reagan's, “It’s Morning Again in America.” Moreover, if Donald
Trump is a fascist by believing in “American Exceptionalism,” than so is every
president in US history except Barack Obama.
However, as Stanley G. Payne, asserts, “rebirth and re-creation of the nation
are goals fundamental to many different forms of nationalism.”
Clearly then, fascism is more than a notion of national rebirth.
Linda and Morris Tannehill, libertarian academics, posit
"Fascism is a system in which the government leaves nominal ownership of
the means of production in the hands of private individuals but exercises
control by means of regulatory legislation and reaps most of the profit by
means of heavy taxation. In effect, fascism is simply a more subtle form of
government ownership than is socialism.” Clearly, this economic doctrine has
not been espoused by the Trump campaign or administration. Yet, if any recent
US administration has emphasized control of the economy by means of regulation,
it has been the Democratic Obama
Administration.
Today,
the Left, the Democratic Party, liberal pundits, academics, and the mainstream
media, seek to label their opponents such as the Republican Party and conservatives,
as fascists; perpetuating the myth handed down by Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin
(Stalin) with which to cloak conservative
traditions such as populism, traditionalism, religiosity, nationalism, and
communitarianism. The collaboration primarily of leftist academics and the
mainstream media have each played an essential role in creating and nurturing
this myth.
Historically, fascist regimes, both Italian and
Spanish, were authoritarian. However, they were predicated primarily on the
fight against Communists and radical leftist, which were attempting to take
over their countries.
On the one hand, fascism is quintessential Italian,
with origins’ found in the writings of Machiavelli and celebrated by Mussolini.
Fascism was unique at the time in the way it combined elements of political
theory from both the left and the right.
On the other hand, National Socialism,
Nazism, was distinct from Fascism. Its origin was Bismarckian – an unhealthy
departure from Bismarckian Realpolitik, it
should be noted. Heinrich von Treitschke, the anti – Semitic 19th C.
German historian, known as the prophet of National Socialism, argued for the
importance of power in the German national ideal. Still, it was Hitler’s
racialism and revanchism that most significantly differentiated National
Socialism from Fascism. Anti-Semitism was not a component of the Italian and
Spanish Fascist regimes.
As John Bew posited in his insightful book, Realpolitik: “While all nations practiced an element
of Realpolitik, it was to be Germany
that went further in rationalizing this for a practice into the glorification of
destruction. And the consequences were disastrous.”
Neo – Fascism In The Unites
States 2009 - Present
In the Unites States today, fascism, or what can be
termed neo-fascism, is the domain of the Left.
In order to understand what is taking place today in
western civilization, it is essential to understand two things. First, that neo-
fascism is a left-wing system of government – not right-wing, as it is
traditionally defined. And second, it is not fascism in the historical sense,
but more akin to the ideology and methods of radical socialism and communism.
The Left, for purposes here include, to a greater or
lesser extent: The Democratic Party of the United States; liberals;
progressives; socialists; globalists; radical environmentalists; public sector
unions; radical racial movements; authoritarians; communists; college and
university faculties; entertainment and sports celebrities; anarchists;
nihilists; and the mainstream media. What they all have in common and what
binds them, is the need to change the United States from a free capitalist
society, and defeat Republicans and Conservatives.
The issue is the reanimation of radical Socialism or
Communism by the Left. There is a sophisticated network
of corruption in the United States, which is an essential part of the Left’s
playbook. In which a parallel can be drawn with communist Russia. Corruption of
our educational institutions from Head Start to colleges and universities;
Federal, State, and Local government employees; Election Commissions; and the Judiciary;
all made possible by a biased, complacent, and corrupt Mainstream Media. Additionally, there is a strongly
held and valid perception that institutions
such as the Justice Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the United States Judiciary, which were
established to protect our democracy,
have been compromised and no longer, to an unacceptable degree, conduct
themselves under the rule of law.
The Left, has voiced no qualms to resort to severe
measures to silence and defeat its opponents. Today, Leftist such as pundits,
entertainment celebrities, and some college and university faculty members,
spew venomous rhetoric; even in the extreme to go as far as speaking openly of harming
the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. It is important to keep in
mind that never before in modern United States history has the opposition
advocated and participated in civil disobedience and lawlessness; and
encouraged the circumstances to make it possible, to the extent it does today.
These are the tactics of Community Organizers, not an opposition party in
government.
Today’s Democratic Party identify not so much with a
democratic process to be scrupulously respected (“we have to pass the bill so
you can find out what is in...”),
but rather with radical reform, where the ends justify the means; fabrication,
subterfuge, disinformation, and lying, are the acceptable currency of their
cause. Moreover, the goals of the Left are always camouflaged: first because
the truth is unpalatable; and second, because reality is unacceptable.
One of the most important initiatives of the Left has
been to organize a cadre of “thugs” (Public Sector Unionists, Student Radicals,
and Anarchists) to stage protests, some of which are violent, with the aim of disrupting
society and silencing the opposition. As Stanley Payne insightfully notes, “one
of the most characteristic features of fascism, (is) its attempt to militarize
politics to an unprecedented degree.”
This has been done by the Left today, by making mob protests central to its
organization.
Organized mobs such as those protesting on college campuses:
riot; destroy property; obstruct the rights of others from participating in legal
assemblies; and set fire to buildings and other property (arson). It should be
understood, that these violent tactics are only directed against conservative,
libertarians, and Republican targets. Recent examples include Charles Murray at
Middlebury College, Milo Yiannopoulos at UC Berkeley, Ann Coulter also at UC Berkeley,
NYU conservative speaker seminar, and Heather
Mac Donald at Claremont McKenna College, to name a few.
Protestors
have attack mainstream religions, insisting on regulations that restrict
religious freedom. The ultimate goal is the total suppression of religion,
except for Islam, which thus far seems to be off limits for the Left.
Another tactic of the left is taking vengeance on your
enemies. Enemies are anyone who does not strictly endorse your policies. An
example in the Obama Administration, was when Lois Lerner, Director of Tax Exempt
Organizations at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), delayed processing tax
exempt 501(c) (3) and (4) applications from conservative groups; and transferred 1.25
million pages of confidential tax returns from the IRS to the Department of
Justice in October of 2010.
Although Republicans decisively won the 2016 Election, the
left contends that President Trump’s victory was fraudulent, resulting from
Russian interference in the election. Therefore, they promote the myth that his
victory over Hillary Clinton was illegitimate.
There should be little doubt, that the
Left would have labeled all the viable conservative candidates such as Ted Cruz
and Marco Rubio in the 2016 Republican primary election a “fascist”, had they
become the Party’s candidate. However, it was a populist, Donald Trump who
became the Republican Party candidate for President, and thus ended up with the
fascist mantle. In the eyes of the Left, Donald Trump went from a capitalist
pig to a fascist swine!
Hence, regardless whether your enemy wins
a “free and fair” election, the Left will do all it can to obstruct the new
government’s ability to govern. In the 2016 Election, this included using highly
sophisticated government surveillance to illegally spy on the incoming Administration’s
transition team, using false pretexts to justify their surveillance, and
certainly unethical and unlawful dissemination to the mainstream media. Other
obstruction tactics include: not allowing new appointments to have Senate
confirmation hearing and votes; and failing to participate in official Senate
hearing.
Furthermore, it is important to note that
between the 2016 Election in November and the Trump Inauguration, officials at
the highest level of the Obama Administration, used sophisticated and highly
classified surveillance to spy on the Trump Transition Team.
This is a serious matter in any democracy. Not since Watergate have organs of
government in the Executive Branch been used for such nefarious purposes. Just
as egregious is the mainstream media ignoring and dismissing out of hand the
matter, out of their allegiance to the Left.
It has been the intent of the Left to
destroy the Middle Class, or in terms of the 1920s and 1930s parlance, the
‘bourgeoisie,’ through the transfer of its wealth in the name of social
justice. In 1971, the Middle Class made up 61% of the adult population, and by
2014 it accounts for less than 50%, while the percentage of households in the
upper income brackets has grown from 14% to 21% between 1971 and 2015.
Pew defines
“middle-income” Americans “as adults whose annual household income is
two-thirds to double the national median, about $42,000 to $126,000 annually in
2014 dollars for a household of three.
Republicans in the Bush Administrations
and Congress, have failed to protect middle class values and economic
viability; while Democrats and the Left become ever more radical and
exclusionary, insisting that only their agenda is acceptable, and all the time
moving further to the extreme. However, a fundamental mistake of the Left is
their total scorn for America’s middle-class, their values, their religion, and
their defense of the Constitution, and all it embodies. Which is an important
reason why they lost the 2016 Election.
It was Donald Trump the populist, who
spoke to the Middle Class; not Donald Trump the fascist.
The Left (Democratic Party) refuses to
compromise even with the democratic center, commonly referred as Independents
and Moderate Republicans, preferring to pursue their own radical agenda at the
expense of the legitimate interests of the nation. When they lose an election,
they seek not reconciliation, but foment conflict and subterfuge.
In the same vein, the Left is failing to
remain relevant because its priorities, are first to maintain an exclusively
leftist reality, and second, to genuflect to their radical base because their
support is speciously viewed as necessary to remain in power.
“Elections have consequences.”
Yet, according to the Left, when Donald J. Trump won the Presidency, it was the
beginning of “fascism,” absent any evidence to support their allegation. The
Democratic Party and the Mainstream Media refused to accept the overwhelming
Republican election results. Refusing to accept the results of a fair and free
election in a democracy can be seen as a subversive act.
The Lefts’ response after the 2016
Election was to take to the streets in a number of major cities in Democratic
states; interfering with commerce; creating protests; and orchestrating civil
disobedience. Mob actions and disorderly conduct were not spontaneous, but
organized and financed by leftwing political organizations such as George
Soros’ Open Society Foundation(s).
Violence and obstruction by the Left
continued after the Election, and has become increasing common through tactics
as civil disobedience, disruptions of meetings and assemblies (sometimes
violent), as well as keeping up a constant drumbeat by their representatives in
the mainstream media, educational institutions, and celebrities of all stripes,
in an effort to delegitimize the election results.
Direct clashes with conservative speakers
by paid thugs on college campuses take place, while the Campus and Local Police
are ordered to stand down by liberal administrators, and not arrest the perpetrators.
It should not go unsaid that Federal spending has
overtaken state spending as the main source of public funding in higher
education.
“In 2013 the federal
government spent nearly $76 billion on higher education, while states spent
about $3 billion less, according to the Federal and State Funding of Higher
Education study.” That begs the question, what would higher education do
without Federal funding? If any public or private school receiving federal
monies cannot ensure the constitutional right to free speech, then why should
taxpayer monies be allocated?
Immediately after the 2016 Election, one of the more salient
frauds has been the allegation, by the Democratic Party, politicians in
Congress, Democratic politicos and pundits, and the mainstream media, that the
Russian Government under Vladimir Putin “hacked” the Election so Donald Trump
could win.
The canard, so far unsupported by any evidence, alleged that
Russia manipulated voting machines in certain closely contested states,
and disclosed, in concert with WikiLeaks,
emails detrimental to the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton. There is yet to
be found any evidence to support the Lefts’ allegation of fraud, and the Left
has not challenged the authenticity of the documents released. Still, the Left
repeats the accusations daily, and seven months after the Election cowered
Republicans in Congress are conducting a hearing to investigate the canard. In
the meantime, the real crime of the Election, the Obama Administration’s use of
false pretenses to secure a FISA warrant to “wiretap” the Trump campaign and
Transition team, as well as “unmasking” private citizens, goes thus far seemingly
without investigation by the Legislative (Congress) and Executive (Federal
Bureau of Investigation) branches of the government.
Finally, another ploy employed by the Left was that laws would
not be enforced that conflicted with its goals and objectives, even though
officials took an oath to do so. This was in full view under the eight years of
the Obama Administration.
SUMMARY
There is a battle of ideology, being waged in the United States
of America today. Clearly, differences have always persisted in American
politics, and politics in general, yet today these differences are so profound
that the Right (Republicans) and the Left (Democrats) can find no common
ground. These differences manifested into populism and nationalism on the one
hand, versus statism and globalism on the other. The former exemplified by
Donald Trump and conservatism, while the latter is epitomize by Barack Obama
and liberalism.
It is apparent from the foregoing analysis that eight years of
the Obama Administration has injected a neo – fascist thrust into America’s
political and social landscape, not previously seen in the American polity.
Trying to understand the Left’s animosity to Republicans and conservatism
is an essential question, in understanding neo – fascism. The answer may be
remarkably simple. The reason why, is that by drawing attention to its sins and failures
is to support the conservative opposition. The Left’s incapacity to reconcile
principle with current circumstance in achieving an impartial and just result
has led to repeated failure. In other words, the policies of the Left simply
have not worked.
Indeed, in fairness to the Left, it must be difficult for
members of a movement, to admit that their life’s’ work and intellectual
ideological political foundation has failed. However, it is an open question
as to whether that work was for altruism or aggrandizement?
It is generally agreed that leftist enablers such as
intellectuals, writers, educators, artists, the mainstream media, etc.,
buttress Democratic politicians and officials, in spite of their faults, lies,
and illegalities. When the
Obama Administration violated laws that even a dimwit would recognize; their
crimes are excused as the cost of doing business, fighting the good fight,
or the ends always justify the means. Of course, the same deference is not
extended to the other side.
So what can be deduced by the myth of fascism and advent of neo
– fascism today?
1.
Fascism is not Republican or Conservative. It is not
Conservatives who engage in fascist tactics today in the United States,
contrary to what the Left wants others to believe.
2.
Evidence to the contrary of the Left’s plaint, neo – fascism today
is solely the domain of the Democratic Party and the Left.
3. The Left holds that anything opposed to them is fascist, and ipso facto reactionary and illegitimate.
Therefore, any means are employed, including but by no means exhaustive: civil
disobedience and lawlessness; organized and financed violent protests; mob
action against democratic institutions and organizations; shutting down free
speech; advocating harm to their opponents; vengeance on their enemies;
disruption of government; intimidation of government officials and others;
failure to enforce the law and open ideological defiance of the law, even by
federal, state, and local court judges.
4. Absurd claims divorced from reality and supported by leftist
enablers are the modus operandi of neo
– fascism today, as it was in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Preposterous
allegations such as insisting that the Russians “fixed” the 2016 Presidential
Election, is a case in point.
5. Stigmatizing your opponent as “Fascist” and a “Nazis,” is a
devious ploy by the Left to delegitimize the opposition, and is a threat to
democracy itself.
Who’s a Fascist?
It’s not Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
The inaccurate and inappropriate application of “fascist” to Donald Trump,
thereby hoping to denigrate and delegitimize his presidency, can be seen as a
facetious praxis employed by the Left resulting from failed arguments and
reasoned policies.
An argument has been made here, that it is in fact the Obama
Administration (2009 – 2017) and the Democratic Party who were and are characteristic
of an authoritarian left-wing socialist regime; whose recent violent tendencies
are more akin to the popular myth of fascism, than anything employed by the Trump
Administration.
Indeed, who is the fascist?
Republicans
won
the
White House and both houses of Congress. Moreover, beginning in January
2017, Republicans control two-thirds of the state legislative chambers, an
all-time high. The GOP controls both legislative chambers in 32 states, another
all-time high; the same is true for Democrats in just 13 states. Republicans
will hold 33 governorships for the first time in 94 years. And, 25 states have
a Republican “trifecta” with control of the executive branch and both
legislative chambers.
The Left’s resort to
churlish behavior in this case was a similar ploy engaged by Democrats in the
Wisconsin State Legislature to thwart the Republican Governor, Scott Walker,
passing of legislation the Left opposed. On February 17, 2011, a group of Democratic
lawmakers in Wisconsin blocked
passage of a sweeping anti-union bill by ignoring orders to attend a vote, fleeing
across the state border to Illinois. Out of the reach of the Governor’s State
Patrol.
The following are
examples of serious violations of law not investigated by the Obama Administration:
Operation “Fast and Furious;” Benghazi terrorist attack and
cover-up; IRS’s targeting of conservative entities; Department of Justice’s seizing records of
journalists; NSA surveillance of
ordinary Americans; Ransom payments to Iran for release of hostages; Bowe Bergdahl’s prisoner exchange; Secret Service prostitution
scandal; Hillary Clinton's email scandal; Clinton Foundation scandal; The VA death-list scandal; Solyndra green energy scandal; Administration Officials lying to Congress; Voter Fraud in 2008, 2012 and 2016
Elections; Russia hacking White
House computers in 2014; Clinton campaign coordinating with DOJ and Attorney
General Loretta Lynch; US Taxpayers Funding Iran Military; etc.
