According to dictionary.com, a fascist State has such features as a dictator with great powers, the suppression of criticism and opposition, regimentation of business, etc., and aggressive nationalism. I give us a high grade, almost an A.
We have the dictator with great powers. That would be Congress and the President. There is almost nothing that they have not done already and could not do to us "legally." A man could not grow a tomato in his back yard if Congress told him not to.
The Federal government has detailed and sophisticated operations and means to quiet criticism and opposition. There are not yet concentration camps filled with dissidents, although we are coming nearer to that in the treatment of suspected terrorists. But the mainstream media has, nevertheless, been brought into a condition of remarkable quietude and docility. The marked deterioration in adhering to the Bill of Rights under Bush II may be placed under this heading.
Regimentation steadily increases, symbolized by what any ordinary air traveler must endure. But behind the scenes, control over every corner of one’s personal life has increased. Toilets, cars, lightbulbs, washing machines, draining land, investing, medical care, education – you name it, the State is telling us what to do and how to do it, or else. In the realm of business, agriculture is regimented as are most other industries. There is regimentation in every facet one can think of from hiring to firing, and from product safety to Sarbanes-Oxley.
Aggressive nationalism we have with a vengeance, and have had for almost our entire history as a nation. Our huge military-industrial complex that reaches deeply into business in many of the 50 states is the visible machinery that reflects this facet of American fascism. The war in Iraq is yet one more manifestation of it.
Heil Amerika!
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