Fascism is Upon Us, and Other Thoughts About Our Future

We’ll start with a couple of definitions::

Facism (Wikipedia)

Comprises a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology and a corporatist economic i deology. Fascists believe that nations and/or races are in perpetual conflict whereby only the strong can survive by being healthy, vital, and by asserting themselves in conflict against the weak. Fascists advocate the creation of a single-party state. Fascist governments forbid and suppress criticism and opposition to the government and the fascist movement. Fascism opposes class conflict, blames capitalist liberal democracies for its creation and communists for exploiting the concept.

Facism (Meriam-Webster)

A political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

Those are decent, but this article at Alternet has one I prefer much more. It comes from historian Robert Paxton’s work on Fascism, which he defines as:

A system of political authority and social order intended to reinforce the unity, energy, and purity of communities in which liberal democracy stands accused of producing division and decline.

Paxton expands on this:

A form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.

I would say we’re just about here. The classes are polarizing, and each pole is fueling the hate of the other. I’ve known this for quite some time, and I’ve written about it here on numerous occasions. But I never really knew what to call it.

Fascism actually doesn’t capture all of what I’d like to say about our future, but it’s a good start. Basically, we’re heading towards a reality in which our democracy will become, as one expert on NPR put it, “Latin-Americanized”. In short, it’ll be there in name alone. Corruption is about to explode in a way never seen in America–fueled mostly by the ignorance and diversion of the American populace.

Corporations that take advantage of people and ultimately influence all political movements will become increasingly powerful. The goal of the corporations will be to influence politics in their favor, and the goal of politicians will be to get the most out of the corporations as possible–in terms of their own self-benefit–while simultaneously putting on a dance for the ignorant masses who keep them in office.

Getting hired at a corporation will increasing become a matter of who you know rather than what you know. It’ll become much more like China, where 90% of all of their billionaires are children of prominent politicians.

If you get in to a corporation you’ll be very thankful, because it’ll mean you live within the green zone. These will be areas around “civilized, corporate areas” centered near business centers. These will be the only places that “decent” people can travel freely–under the watchful gaze of big brother, of course–who will always be looking for danger for your benefit. There will be very little personal freedom in such zones, as you will have given it all away to the corporations you’re so thankful to be a member of.

Public law enforcement will become a complete joke. It’ll be full of corruption and nobody within the public will trust it in the slightest. Bribes will be the main way in which the police department will be dealt with. But the police won’t be the primary security force anyway–that’ll go to the new, private security forces like Blackwater.

These forces will secure the green zones around corporate working and living areas. Think “protected, corporate suburbs”. This is where you’ll have the Churches and propaganda-creation systems that teach you how to identify free-thinkers, liberals, and other types of troublemakers. And there will be many hotlines available for reporting such activity. It’ll be very McCarthy-like.

There will be a primary religion within these areas–one that focuses strongly on unity and rejects different interpretations of the texts. The focus of the religious teachings will be on duty to produce for the corporations, and to report those who would do the system harm.

In the short term, this will materialize as gated communities. Not just residences, but entire areas. There will soon be entire malls where you need a certain kind of ID to get in. It’ll be completely private, to be legal and all, but the main goal will be to keep the minorities bad people out. These malls will be patrolled by Blackwater types in full paramilitary gear, which will make the materialistic, church-going, racist, shoppers feel very safe.

Everything will be recorded. Again, this will be marketed as for safety, but it’ll really be a control mechanism. It’ll be a means of keeping the flock clean. Too much of the wrong music, the wrong web surfing, the wrong conversation–and you’re out. Fired from the corporation, which means you have to move out of the neighborhood–out from under the protection of the corporate (Blackwater) security forces–and into the main city where you will be lucky not to be robbed within a month.

This is where we’re heading. Greedy, powerful corporations controlling everything. Politicians will be the enforcement arm of the corporations; they’ll determine what we can and cannot do–all in terms of what is best for corporate profits. And the benefit to the politicians, of course, is that they’ll become part of the corporate elite.

Enough for now. ::