“Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.”
-Benito Mussolini
Adolph Hitler’s first official act as Chancellor of Germany was to outlaw trade unions, collective bargaining and the right to strike.
Mussolini and Hitler gave fascism a bad image. They were dictators who took power by duping the public into believing in their trumped-up claims of nationalistic fervor. In fact, they were far less interested in the vitality of their countries or their countries’ corporations than they were about their own place in history. They were megalomaniacs who wrapped themselves in fascism to further their own goals.
Real fascism is far less interested in, or dependent upon, a singular political leader, and it would not be necessary, might even be counter-productive, to have a megalomaniacal dictator supporting it.
Fascism can exist in a nominal democracy, so long as the rules of the democracy prohibit any real power from residing in the masses. In a fascist state, all power rests with the owners of the capital, which, currently, are the mega-corporations of the modern nation state. These entities owe their existence to the laws that a country adopts regarding the commerce engaged in within its borders.
If a country highly regulates and heavily taxes those who engage in business activities, the ability of those entities to become powerful is limited. Business owners in such countries can still achieve relative individual wealth (depending on the nature of the goods they sell and the competition they face), but they will not gain the kind of power that will limit the opposing power of the non-business owners in the country.
But if a country doesn’t regulate business owners or tax their profits, the business entities they own will be able to grow in size and power. The power that results can then direct future government action to the needs of the business owners, rather than the living, breathing citizens of the country.
The result, over time, will be the diminution of truly democratic systems in favor of business control. And in the modern world of business, the corporate structure is the model for business ownership, providing as it does, both immunity from individual liability and the absence of anything remotely akin to a conscience or a human soul.
If the foregoing description is too theoretical, consider the following facts: Since 1980, U.S. corporations have had far more friendly federal governments than ever before (at least since the trust busting era of Teddy Roosevelt’s administration). At the same time, the power of unions (one of the principal checks on corporate hegemony outside of direct government involvement) has decreased significantly (beginning with Ronald Reagan’s union busting move against the air traffic controllers early in his administration and now with the anti-collective bargaining legislation recently passed in Wisconsin and under consideration in a number of other Republican dominated states).
In that same time frame (the last thirty years), corporate wealth has multiplied dramatically. The owners and chief executives of the nation’s largest mega-corporations have become obscenely wealthy while the once vaunted American middle class has struggled to stay afloat. To be specific, the wealthiest one percent of the nation’s residents owns 95 percent of the nation’s wealth.
Remember “trickle-down economics”? It carried Ronald Reagan to victory in 1980, but it turned out that Reagan’s running-mate, George H. W. Bush, was right when, in a primary debate, he called it “voodoo economics.” Has anyone with a middle-class income felt the trickle? Not in terms of real dollars. Yes, many American families have more income now than they did in 1980, but only because both spouses are now working and only when inflation is not included in the measurement.
Here are some of the indicators of a country’s drift to fascism:
o Your country’s Supreme Court declares that corporations have the same rights as regular people when it comes to political speech. Those corporations are then allowed to spend whatever money they want to push whatever political agenda best suits their purposes. Often that political message is presented in the guise of “freedom” from government interference, as if the freedom thus realized inures to the benefit of the people.
o Unions lose the right to collectively bargain, thereby defusing their most potent weapon against corporate wealth and power.
o The financial markets (stock markets) soar (with top executives becoming billionaires) in spite of devastatingly high unemployment numbers.
o The largest corporations in the country pay absolutely (or almost) no taxes and yet still clamor for even lower tax rates.
o The financial industry demands more deregulation even after it causes the country to come to the brink of a financial meltdown, and it gets much of what it wants from its government.
o Energy companies (those producing oil, coal and related industries) cause environmental and health crises and then claim that they are overly regulated. Insurance companies call attempts to regulate their practices socialistic.
o Popular media outlets carry the message that any attempts to rein in corporate wealth and power are socialistic and anti-American.
o The right to vote is curtailed and restricted in a variety of subtle ways (no same day registration, limited vote-by-mail opportunities, challenges to anyone who may “appear to be” an illegal voter, and claims of fraud filed against true “get-out-the-vote” entities who are trying to increase vote totals for anti-corporate interests and candidates).
o The essence of political debate is constantly shifting towards the interests of corporations (with the pendulum always moving to the right, seemingly imperceptibly, but inexorably).
o The middle class is shrinking and the number of working poor and unemployed poor is steadily growing, all while the rich are getting ever richer.
o Taxes are never raised on the wealthy and are often lowered significantly for them, while taxes for the middle class are only marginally reduced.
o Public services are becoming less reliable, if they are provided at all, as local government revenues are often inadequate to provide them.
If these indicators sound familiar, your country is drifting towards fascism.
Fascism doesn’t require a dictator. An unaware public will do just fine.
Exceptional post, Professor but very sobering. It’s hard to fully understand how far this country has crept to the right without remembering what used to be called “the right.” Most Republicans from 30 (or so) years ago would be kicked out of the party and be called “socialist.”
Terrifying. I’ve been observing for several decades how the press has become less and less free and real news on TV has given way to commercialism, infortainment and propaganda. And I don’t know what can be done about it.
Capitalism for the poor; socialism for the wealthy. What a perfect hybrid of two ideologies.
Thanks for the post. Very direct and concrete observations reflecting a gradual yet steady descent. It pains me to think about how worse the landscape will be in the future. I’d like to think that the US is not a terminal patient in this regard, but there are a number of highly effective barriers to increasing public awareness/consciousness. I am not sure whether there are any viable mechanisms to counteract the misinformation and deteriorated critical-thinking abilities of the rank and file citizens who are needed to be the force behind any viable change back to a more participatory and informed society so that the ruling class is properly checked.
Ed I couldn’t agree more with your assessment of our government and it’s commingling with corporations. Our system is so corrupt today it’s hard to distinguish between the two parties. Washington rules seem to apply regardless of which party is in power. The difference seen between Bush and Obama is superficial, one of degrees and it shines clarity on our corrupt system. When Government and Corporate leaders brake laws (i.e. illegal wiretapping of American citizens) then immunity is given by Congress. Our media is owned by just a handful of corporations and we can see the results. Wiki Leaks is condemned by almost every established journalists while it continues to uncover the malfeasance of governments and corporations across the globe. Let’s hope the actions being taken by Republican governors will cause our own little revolt. First action should be to repeal the Supreme Court decision that corporations are people.
Wonderful post.
The Wall Street and Mortgage and Bank and Insurance company failures join War as a Giant Money Laundering Operation. Steal from the Middle Class and Poor and Public Services, such as Public Education and Public Safety and give the Money to the rich in the form of Bailouts and Bonuses and Tax Breaks and Military Contracts. Then ask the downsized to pay for it with loss of jobs, loss police and fire protection, loss of teachers for our children, loss of life to our young soldiers and promises and threats of decreases in pensions and Social Security benefits for those who may have been eligible. Some European countries are waking up to this and some middle eastern countries are waking up because they have been backed up against a wall. How long will it take the rest of the world to push back?
We all need to be careful about what is right or left. That isn’t the issue. One could say the passage of Prop 13 and its companion 10 in CA was a move from the right. We all know poorly written 13 was about too high property taxes. Few know that 10 was about removing CA’s usury laws – a biblical 10% max after the banks dried up funds.
Money lost to the local community was more than offset by the usury the lenders could now charge. Problem is, when the local community can’t operate it begs for help from the state and the state from the federal – another way to look at the birth of fascism.
Combine this with insane energy policies – primarily because we have drained our wealth and creative base by sending ti to countries that hate us – even though we developed their resources so they could enjoy wealth. Too many two-class societies exist and we’re on our way to becoming one.
GE got $235 mil for shutting down its Fontana, CA small appliance plant and moving it to Taiwan. 1500 jobs lost and we paid for the privilege Tax avoiding GE seems to be today’s “progressive” Krupp – a mega company that supported Hitler.
Industrial unions destroyed much of our manufacturing base by making it preferable to move production out of the country. If those unions really provided for the DofI/Constitutional open door to upward mobility instead of forcing everyone into the same box – lazy, crooked , ambitious or industrious. The laborer is worthy of his hire – if he’s worthy to be a profitable entity to his company and fellow employees.
The left blew the financial system apart after the right gave it a good start. We call it a housing crisis. I would certainly jail a number of Congressmen and bankers over what they are doing to us.
Reagan and FDR were right about public employee unions. They will develop as a cancer on society – as I predicted in 1998 – noting the insanity we’ve witnessed in Wisconsin and other places. Health, education and welfare are primarily local responsibilities. Their federalization has brought on widespread corruption, loss of the infinite vision of individuals allowed to pursue their gifts and attendant happiness – including damn good teacher like my wife.
Thanks Ed for breaking the problems down for further discussion. We might learn how to jointly apply the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity to our mutual and national benefit.
Good post, dad.
I think it would be helpful (for me, at least) for you to be even more direct at the beginning here and define fascism very clearly. Furthermore, define socialism. The biggest problem in the US right now is one of ignorance, and as a scholar and intellectual, I think it’s your job to clarify terms as clearly as you clarify scenarios.
Socialism is a beautiful word, and should be reclaimed instead of feared. Progressives shouldn’t shy away from it. They should, however, call out fascism when they see it, just as conservatives call out socialism when they (rightly) see it. It really is a battle between these two ideals, and the more socialism is demonized (for no reason whatsoever!), the more fascism controls us.
I’d like to see more discussion in the media about parallels to fascist history. There is absolutely no reason that the right should be accusing the left of being like Hitler. And there’s no reason why the left shouldn’t call out Wisconsin’s governor as Hitler-like (except politeness, but that’s out the window).
Furthermore, to address Jerry’s post, it definitely is an issue of right vs left. I can’t really tell what Jerry is saying, as his writing is not clear, but this whole “let’s be careful about what we call right and left” is the dangerously terrible outlook of swing voters and conservative thinkers. The whole “it’s more complicated than you think” argument is a ridiculous one. It’s very simple: pro-business, anti-personal freedoms are conservative and fascist. Pro-regulation, pro-liberties are progressive and socialist. Pick a side. If you work for a living and have a family, you should be voting Democratic, but if you profit from other’s labor and don’t want social change, then by all means, vote Republican.
Thanks for your insights Keith. I wasn’t comparing “just be careful” with “it’s more complicated…” – that was Pelosi’s game when she said “we have to pass the bill so we can see what’s in it…” You hit it right on, but your comparisons don’t have to be left or right. Good is good, bad is bad – the definitions of which in a land of liberty are what motivates you and me.
Businesses only become involved in fascism when they are in cahoots with a despotic government – Krupp comes to mind. GE is in danger of being a modern parallel.
Any business worth its salt is only as good as the people in it. They are worthy of their hire – based on their contribution to the profitability (that means survival, growth, technological improvement and more and higher level jobs.) Sadly, unions have missed the boat in quality service to their members who should have the right to rise above the crowd without being punished.
I’m reminded of a late ag-business man who in competition with another local grower made the carrot the #1 snack food. making Kern County the world’s leader in carrots. When he sold out to an Eastern group, he kept all the land and contracts, rewarded his employees with very little – but here’s the rub – he donated most of the money and land for the brand new Bakersfield Christian High School. The school is a wonderful gift and certainly his choice, but I think you and I agree that he might have taken care of the people who helped him get there. The money may not have been theirs, but they surely had a part in the wealth development.
Regulation is certainly necessary, but it should be pro-active. When I was Safety Engineer at Eitel-McCullough in San Carlos, I took the state inspectors right to our problem areas for suggestions. We ended up being the first company in the nation to train its people in CPR. We also learned not to dump our spent degreasing solvents down the sewer. No fines, no law suits, just cooperative growth – with a little hammer from the sewer plant operator.
There is nothing progressive about a socialism that creates dependence and actually steals the liberty we so value – unless you’re part of some ruling caste. There is an answer that I’ve been struggling with for a long time and even wrote a few books covering it. It boils down to the parallel application of two philosophical principles – subsidiarity and solidarity. My subsidiarity can create the privatism you abhor. Your solidarity can create dependency of the recipients of that good will. Applied together, the most is drawn from a deep well of gifts and talents in each person, while the environment for those talents to be discovered, developed and applied for the good of all is true solidarity. These are what was (somewhat unconsciously) in play as the USA grew to its greatness – all too often in spite of us.
Thanks again for your comments.
I’ve tried to run it by Ed a number of times – not to convince him, but to clarify my own thinking and maybe some creative input from a fertile mind ouut of another text book. (This tea partier isn’t the only doctrinaire stiff-neck in this conversation!) Think about it. I’m trying to tie the infinite flow of ideas and relationships to Chaos Theory. Google fractiles and you’ll see what looks like the basic building blocks for the beauty and true diversity of creation.
Excellent article Ed.
”To be specific, the wealthiest one percent of the nation’s residents owns 95 percent of the nation’s wealth.”
Flashing red lights. One can only hope that people such as Bill Gates share more of their wealth. It does not matter how one acquires such wealth, what matters is the conscience of the person who holds such wealth. This is not an American consumerism dilemna in 2011. It’s worldwide.
A Russian gentlemen purchased a 100 million ”house” in Silicon Valley this week. Mukash Ambani, Indian, built a 27 story home for 1 billion in India. Forbes estimates he will be the richest man in the world in 2014.
It’s gone beyond corporations. We, as a people, have created this mindset with our incessant need to fill some ”hole in the soul” syndrome by purchasing ”things” that truly do not make us happy. If we were truly content, the psychiatrists of the world would be unemployed, and there would be no need for mood lifting prescriptions, or illegal intoxicants.
To prove this point, as of late, I’ve viewed Discovery and National Geo channels almost exclusively. I am in awe of nature and our solar system, and find the consumerism shows (including the news) truly annoying.
Speaking of baseball Ed, why can’t I view a game without being bombarded with players, fields and commercials subliminally (not) insisting I purchase their goods? Can’t even focus on the player, bat, ball, bases.
*sighs*
To think they complained about the Haight Ashbury weirdos who were content to live in old jeans, ranting about peace. *gasp* To think I recall those days. (vaguely) …