2005/03/27

Proto-Fascism in the USA

My concern with the Terri Schiavo case in the USA is that this is a mobilisation of the proto-Fascist forces there. The Republican Party is trying to place itself at the head of such a movement, while the Democratic Party is paralysed by inaction.

To understand more about Fascism, I have been reading "Fascism: What it is and how to fight it" by Leon Trotsky.

At the moment that the "normal" police and military resources of the bourgeois dictatorship, together with their parliamentary screens, no longer suffice to hold society in a state of equilibrium -- the turn of the fascist regime arrives. Through the fascist agency, capitalism sets in motion the masses of the crazed petty bourgeoisie and the bands of declassed and demoralized lumpenproletariat -- all the countless human beings whom finance capital itself has brought to desperation and frenzy.

This is especially true now as we await the collapse of the housing and shares bubbles, and the possible collapse of the US dollar. Any of these would devastate the middle class. Through their blogs, we know that they are already braying for vengeance for their plight. The frenzy is building. The system is teetering. All is needed is for a demagogue to arise from the masses to lead them. George W Bush is not placed to perform such a role despite his fictious biography of having these credentials.

The trust in the normal state apparatus of oppression (i.e. the courts) is falling. The courts are there to provide the facade of justice to an unjust system. That they are seen to be failing to uphold the system by concentrating on equilibrium between the balance of forces in society is a worrying trend for the elite. That mask of respectability is slipping away. Only raw state power remains. With the debacle in Iraq, even that is seen as failing. To this end, a mass movement must arise to revitalise Capitalism through discipline, hard work, and obedience. Thus, Fascism is born once more in the decaying carcass of the Capitalist system.

The symbolism of the Terri Schiavo case is even more poignant: Terri represents the brain-dead Capitalist System; the Right fears that the Liberals will remove the feeding tube of Corporate Welfare that keeps the system functioning.

All the while, the leftist forces are divided and demoralised. Looks like we have to survive a Fascist dictatorship unless we can get our act together quickly. There is no time to lose!

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