Fascism-if it's considered at all- is easily connected historically to Italy's former fascist leader Benito Mussolini, to a lesser extent Spain's Francisco Franco and of course Germany's Adolph Hitler.
Though each country had its own unique features they were all right wing dictatorships, interconnected and supported by the countries large business interests, exercised absolute control over the media, put down dissent, had the support of the generals and the military, used prolific nationalistic symbols, particularly the nations flag, while organized religion was either complicit or kept silent.
Now in the modern era can you think of a country that fits that criteria? Sure you can. It's our good ole US of A.
It doesn't take much to consider the tentacles of entanglement of our corporate behemoths with our government, their thousands of lobbyists inundating the offices of Congress often writing the very legislation these sycophants enact into law. A main stream media that acts as a complicit enabler of the government-rather than questioning and being skeptical of governments actions-distorting events by accepting unsubstantiated claims and assertions of the government as factual without any evidence. This is propaganda hiding behind a 1st Amendment free press but acting as nothing more than an unofficial organ of the state. The military carrying out our illegal wars, funded by Congress and all to the benefit of the arms industry. Then there's the overt symbols of the flag seemingly flying everywhere, shouts of "USA,USA" at international sports events, "Support our troops" decals on cars, our Navy is a "A force for good", God Bless America sung during the 7th inning stretch at major league baseball games, spotlighting veterans in the stands-with the perfunctory standing ovation, plus the military fly over's . Throw in the occasional right wing Republican exhortation of "We're a Christian country" and "We support Israel" to say nothing of the propaganda indoctrination we're all subjected to in our public schools and it's clear what has happened.
Fascism masquerading as a democracy, the Constitution and the rule of law, but the democracy, the document and the idea disregarded as necessary by a government always hiding behind the fig leaf "In the interests of national security" to justify its actions. A clever maneuver of dissembling keeping its sinister machinations from the people.
This to say nothing of the illegal NSA surveillance of everyone without cause, the increasing militarism of the local and state police and the complete takeover of our electoral process by the big moneyed corporate and special interests making a mockery of our supposed representative democracy.
Only through likes of Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, Wikileaks Julian Assange and investigative reporters do we get the truth of the governments wrongdoing. And each is either forced into exile, locked up in a military prison or in refuge at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
Yet in the US it appears many are so indoctrinated with our "goodness", our righteousness, intentionally or otherwise fail to recognize or refuse to see the reality because the horror of it is too much to bear.
So many (most?) get distracted with their Smartphone's, needing to take care of everyday endeavors, going to work, making a living, paying the mortgage, child rearing and family obligations, just getting food on the table then often too exhausted to even contemplate the reality of what's happened to our country.
Think about it. We grow up in this country standing and reciting the "Pledge of Allegiance", placing our right hand over our heart whenever we hear the "Star Spangled Banner", now more than ever "God Bless America" and "America the Beautiful" with its sea to shining sea. All meant to propagandize and indoctrinate.
In elementary school we had to dive under our wooden desks to practice in case of a nuclear attack. It never occurred to us the absurdity of the idea. We just did it unthinkingly as dutiful kids.
Kids don't do such things these days, but my sense much of the old indoctrination recitals remain.
Thinking back again, during the early 1970's even the Washington Post was a great newspaper doing real investigative reporting exposing the "Watergate" scandal and it's connection to Nixon. The Post's revelations basically forced Nixon to resign in disgrace. At that moment we were a democracy without government control of the media.
Now that paper has been reduced to neo-con rag, a complicit enabler to our governments illegal wars and occupations, mirroring the worst of official state organs of authoritarian regimes.
The same goes for the New York Times and every other newspaper in this country. Meanwhile the airwaves, owned by six major corporations spout the "official" propaganda fed as "news" to the people.
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