At its heart was what Dr. Britt considered the 14 defining characteristics of fascism. Interestingly, it was found that the Cheney-Bush administration had enacted all 14 characteristics. Although it would take another 5 years and the 2004 election to alter the course of leadership, people became aware of the growing nationalistic and fascist tendencies of the right wing in America. And now it appears we are witnessing this yet again; this time under the rubric of the Republican candidates for President. In particular, we focus on one Donald Trump; currently leading both the Primary and General Election polls (!). So, does Mr. Trump and his people and travelers define the 14 characteristics? Well let us have a look.
Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.
Well, the slogan for the Trump campaign is "Make America Great Again", which is also followed by massive generalizations of important topics. The same goes true for many of the other Presidential campaigns in the Republican field, and some in the Democratic field included. We see this often in campaigns and rhetoric that invoke the United States as being something it is not. Any time I hear phrases such as "greatest country" and "freedom" applied to the US, I tend to respond in more thoughtful approaches. In short, the US is not, has never been and could never be the greatest country. Why is that? It is because America is currently at war.
Disdain for the importance of human rights.
This is shown in spades. Donald Trump, along with many right wingers, have managed to alienate and belittle any and every person that is not a white rich man. For myself, the Trump campaign has not shown even One ounce of dignity and support toward people with special needs, including individuals with Asperger's Syndrome and/or are on the Autistic Spectrum. Indeed, we have seen utter ridicule and belittling when these issues are brought forth. If this is how Asperger's Syndrome are perceived by Trump, other groupings are clearly given worse considerations.
Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.
The easiest sorts of scapegoats we have seen these past 14 years have been Arabs, Muslims, Islamists and Middle Easterners. At any point a false flag occurs, Arabs are given the immediate blame, particularly by the Republican Party. The knee jerk reaction these past weeks has been to tell any Muslim they are not welcome into the US. Donald Trump has been the sole candidate mentioning this proposal; yet you can bet your sweet bippy that Every Republican candidate is agreeing to this, even if they will publicly be against such proposals.
The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.
The political class on the whole have never met a war they did not want. The Trump campaign seems intent on altering the current and future international policies of the US. Shockingly, there are worse Republican candidates that feel war is the first option of foreign policy. Rest assured, if we get a Republican president; we will be at war within one year of the election.
Rampant sexism.
Each and every campaign for the presidency on the Republican side has espoused anti-abortion, anti-women and sexist rhetoric. Donald Trump is obviously not someone that understands women. Being on your third wife is a big giveaway. This is to say nothing of espousing anti-abortion views that would easily reverse 100+ years of women's equality.
A controlled mass media.
We often hear that the mainstream media is liberal minded. Well, for each liberal minded viewpoint, I notice two conservative viewpoints given longer time to be presented. To provide a more potent example: Sen. Hillary Clinton, or any Democrat for that matter, may get a mention and some air time on the news channels if Sec. of State Clinton is on a campaign stop. Donald Trump, along with other Republicans, will have an entire half-hour at least devoted to whatever speech they are giving; and if not a speech, news coverage will be devoted to live footage of Trump attending the opening of a napkin. I would not be surprised if some form of payola among news organizations for access to the Trump campaign has been approved.
Obsession with national security.
An unfortunate rule of thumb present in ideal lacking campaigns is when your domestic policy is horrid or, worse, invalid; it is time to whip up the threat of the boogeyman luring at your front lawn. I find it disgusting that a great deal of people willingly fall for this malarkey; only temporarily gaining their sanity back when their money runs out. And as I mentioned before, it is easy to put blame on the other when the problem is and has always been the self.
Power of corporations protected.
Donald Trump has had the gall to put his name on most services and goods, including bottled water! While it would not be a surprise to see The Trump Organization expand in a Trump presidency should it happen, corporate expansion and claims of corporate person hood will be front and center in any Republican presidency. What is worse is many of these corporations provide non-informational goods and services that only provide benefit for the corporations. And none of these corporations give a flying fig about either you or me.
Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.
The labor movement as it is now is rather fractured, as we see in unions and trade organizations splitting their endorsements for whom their leadership want to see become president. However, it is certain not one of the labor unions will support a Donald Trump presidency, and with good cause. Mr. Trump's business practices, or lack thereof, has caused stagnant wages and at least 5 businesses going bankrupt, while the Donald expands his riches.
Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.
Donald Trump currently leads the polling demographic in people willing to vote for him that were never university educated; to say nothing of those without a formal education of any sort. Incidentally, a dumb person tends to be far more religious than a smart person. Mixing those two, negative feelings arise when confronted with intellectuals and people involved in the arts; which also incidentally happen to coalesce as well. I should know, because for someone that is on the Spectrum, I do happen to think of myself as an intellectual and a patron of the arts in the limited scope I may have.
Obsession with crime and punishment.
This also extends to disdain for attorneys and simplification of laws and regulations to mere children's tantrums. The sorts of laws that are in the likeness of "well, if I cannot do this, then Nobody can!" Indeed, there will be an increase in people being charged for one thing while it is really for a matter of ignorant plebs wanting to be rid of someone that reminds them of their collective guilt.
Rampant cronyism and corruption.
With a name like Trump, we could expect nearly every member of the family to gain an executive cabinet level position. Not only that, we could expect business people to be appointed to governmental offices or even downright elected who have no clue whatsoever about public policy. As it is now, Donald Trump has no damn clue what he is talking about.
Fraudulent elections.
The votes and opinion polls are completely rigged for a number of candidates. Donald Trump has been polling at the top of national polls since July, and it is usually anywhere between 27% and 40% of the vote. Extend this to general election mode, and Donald Trump can pull off an election miracle at the last minute using e-votes and effectively buying his way into the presidency. Sure, it could be done by all sides, and we have seen this time and again most recently in the 2012 election when both sides used e-voting tactics to inflate votes. Yet, a man like Donald Trump with nothing to lose will stand to do anything to win a race and claim his perceived kingdom.
In short, of the 14 defining characteristics of fascism present in our lives; Donald Trump, his campaign, and much of the Republican field has sadly been confirmed to invoke all 14.
In a related matter, in the 10 years since Idiocracy was completed, some 30% of Mike Judge's observations and inferences have come true. This seems to be not a coincidence that we are witnessing a potential presidency of Donald Trump which may be just as problematic as a Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho presidency.
Knowledge will be our awakening. Ignorance, and will ignorance, will be our undoing. And yet, so few care about the ills and needs of our planet.
On a positive note for the moment, a worldwide treaty was drafted to reduce carbon emissions and reduce the impact of global warming. We now need to initiate the next important step and have a carbon tax. I say this because right now, it is night in the lower 50s in December. December weather needs to be below zero with snow. Otherwise, our children and their children will never know what Christmas was like.
I will be writing more sooner than later. Indeed, I will have a lot to say on my favorite movies, music, events, TV shows, websites and books for 2015 as soon as can be. Hope you are looking forward to these opinions, and you might be a bit surprised.
Say no to Trump!,
Robert
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