Knowing we talk every day about the phenomenal audacity and lack of compunction of Bush as he lies constantly and is as corrupt as they come and how he has destroyed the image of the white House and his mis-Administration is guilty of Treason and obstruction of justice and a lot worse I am still stunned that he has the B's to say he is troubled by steroid use in Baseball and the users have sullied the game of baseball. Bush has a lot of nerve
After looking at all the underhanded crap Bush has pulled in his soon to be completed task of taking total control of us and our America It is high time someone tries to do something to put a stop to this as the democratic Senate appears to be complicit with Bush as he rapes the Constitution, passes law after law giving him more power,and prepares to take control of us, our America, and our foreseeable future. Something has to be done but we do not know how to organize or how to get ourselves heard or get our peace or any other kind of activism off the ground.
Well yesterday was our lucky day! I am pretty excited! I had been contacted a while back by someone who somehow found his way to a story I wrote and was compelled to contact me. We have been in contact ever since.
Well! I kept corresponding with this person but thought his outlook was a bit behind and outdated. I finally confronted him about it and what a surprise! Yesterday I got a return and now I'm excited. I won't send you a long report but I was amazed to find out the guy I have been writing to is a 90 year old grass roots political and peace activist that has been active since 1950 and is behind just about everything liberal that has occurred since.
His web site is http://relentlessliberal.blogspot.com/ I recommend if you have time to go there and under Jerome Grossman click on learn more about about the Relentless Liberal. You will be amazed I was! Anyway I am going to listen to him and converse with him and his son who is the one I have actually been conversing with as Jerome is getting a bit feeble. I am going to one of his lectures January 3rd here in Wellesley, Massachusetts and look forward to telling you all about it. He is a long time personal friend of Kennedy and many others. This is our chance to learn, make a difference, and get heard.
let me give you a bit about him and I hope you click on the link and learn more about this Political Liberal Legend and please pass this on. I will get his Nation wide lecture schedule if he may be in your area or you are interested. Anyway!
LEXINGTON ORAL HISTORY PROJECTS, INC. Jerome Grossman, Interviewed 12/3/1996, Page 1
Interview
Jerome Grossman
December 3, 1996
INT: Tell us a little bit about yourself, your background, and the family values that shaped you growing up?
JG: My name is Jerome Grossman. I suppose by profession I can best be described as a manager. I worked in the family business for thirty-five years, sold my interest in that, and then as a result of my participation in the peace movement I accepted a position as the president and national executive director of Council for a Livable world. I was the director of that for twelve years. Then I became the chairman of the organization. The difference is that instead of working at it twenty-four hours a day, I work at it twelve hours a day.
In addition, I have become a teacher since I retired from business. I have taught political science at Tufts University. I’m currently teaching Business Management at Tufts University. In addition to that, I do a lot of speaking, and formally I teach at Palm Beach Community College in January, February, and March. In the fall semester I teach here at an RSVP program, which is essentially a lifetime learning institution. Believe it or not, in each of these places I have between two hundred and three hundred students every week. I find that quite gratifying. I find that it’s a way of educating myself more than the students. In other words, the voluminous research that I do in preparation I feel greatly adds to my understanding of the issues as well as adding to the store of facts that I have. I think that's why people come to listen to me because it's all preparation. I don’t think that I have anything unique to say. But I work at putting it together for them.
INT: In terms of your connection with the peace movement, were there family values that led you to your very active involvement in the peace movement?
JG: My father was active politically. As I say in my book where I really draw a contrast between my father and myself, he––as the son of immigrants and somebody working their way up from a very poor background––used politics as a vehicle for upward mobility, primarily. I didn’t have to do that because by the time I came along we were fairly comfortable. Not rich, but comfortable. I somehow began reading The Nation magazine when I was fourteen years old. I’ve always been an avid reader.
They had to throw me out of the library. I got beaten for reading excessively. “It’ll burn out your eyes.” When I had to go to bed at nine or ten o’clock, if I was in the middle of a story or reading a book, I took a flashlight and put my head under the covers until I was discovered. And then, that’s when I got beaten. There was no history of political activism in the sense that I’m active in my family. However, I made a turn in the family in that my younger sister––I had one brother and a sister, and she was born sixteen years after I was born––and her politics are very close to mine; her children’s politics are very close to mine. So I made a departure in my family. How I got that way, I don’t know. I like to think that I didn't like to see other kids pushed around. I remember getting in fights to protect other kids. But maybe that's a mixed memory.
INT: Tell us about the Vietnam moratorium movement of 1969. What precipitated it, and what was your role in that?
JG: You have to go back to the Eugene McCarthy campaign. I had been working in the peace movement for many years. My motivation was the knowledge of the power of atomic weapons. Anything that might precipitate a war between the countries that had nuclear weapons might wipe out humanity. When I learned about that in the middle 1950's it was the kind of knowledge that spurred me into action. Actually... Read more of this amazing history of activism on his site at "Learn more about the Relentless Liberal" on the top left!
I am looking forward to meeting him and his son Danny and learning. I am just perplexed because I know that the fear of mutual destruction is no longer a deterrent for nuclear war as Bush for one thinks he works for God and seems to be working towards the Bibles End Of Days scenario. At the very least he and others are willing to use nuclear weapons and take their chances while making the world unlivable at the same time.WTF?
James Joiner
Gardner Ma
www.anaveragepatriot.com
After looking at all the underhanded crap Bush has pulled in his soon to be completed task of taking total control of us and our America It is high time someone tries to do something to put a stop to this as the democratic Senate appears to be complicit with Bush as he rapes the Constitution, passes law after law giving him more power,and prepares to take control of us, our America, and our foreseeable future. Something has to be done but we do not know how to organize or how to get ourselves heard or get our peace or any other kind of activism off the ground.
Well yesterday was our lucky day! I am pretty excited! I had been contacted a while back by someone who somehow found his way to a story I wrote and was compelled to contact me. We have been in contact ever since.
Well! I kept corresponding with this person but thought his outlook was a bit behind and outdated. I finally confronted him about it and what a surprise! Yesterday I got a return and now I'm excited. I won't send you a long report but I was amazed to find out the guy I have been writing to is a 90 year old grass roots political and peace activist that has been active since 1950 and is behind just about everything liberal that has occurred since.
His web site is http://relentlessliberal.blogspot.com/ I recommend if you have time to go there and under Jerome Grossman click on learn more about about the Relentless Liberal. You will be amazed I was! Anyway I am going to listen to him and converse with him and his son who is the one I have actually been conversing with as Jerome is getting a bit feeble. I am going to one of his lectures January 3rd here in Wellesley, Massachusetts and look forward to telling you all about it. He is a long time personal friend of Kennedy and many others. This is our chance to learn, make a difference, and get heard.
let me give you a bit about him and I hope you click on the link and learn more about this Political Liberal Legend and please pass this on. I will get his Nation wide lecture schedule if he may be in your area or you are interested. Anyway!
LEXINGTON ORAL HISTORY PROJECTS, INC. Jerome Grossman, Interviewed 12/3/1996, Page 1
Interview
Jerome Grossman
December 3, 1996
INT: Tell us a little bit about yourself, your background, and the family values that shaped you growing up?
JG: My name is Jerome Grossman. I suppose by profession I can best be described as a manager. I worked in the family business for thirty-five years, sold my interest in that, and then as a result of my participation in the peace movement I accepted a position as the president and national executive director of Council for a Livable world. I was the director of that for twelve years. Then I became the chairman of the organization. The difference is that instead of working at it twenty-four hours a day, I work at it twelve hours a day.
In addition, I have become a teacher since I retired from business. I have taught political science at Tufts University. I’m currently teaching Business Management at Tufts University. In addition to that, I do a lot of speaking, and formally I teach at Palm Beach Community College in January, February, and March. In the fall semester I teach here at an RSVP program, which is essentially a lifetime learning institution. Believe it or not, in each of these places I have between two hundred and three hundred students every week. I find that quite gratifying. I find that it’s a way of educating myself more than the students. In other words, the voluminous research that I do in preparation I feel greatly adds to my understanding of the issues as well as adding to the store of facts that I have. I think that's why people come to listen to me because it's all preparation. I don’t think that I have anything unique to say. But I work at putting it together for them.
INT: In terms of your connection with the peace movement, were there family values that led you to your very active involvement in the peace movement?
JG: My father was active politically. As I say in my book where I really draw a contrast between my father and myself, he––as the son of immigrants and somebody working their way up from a very poor background––used politics as a vehicle for upward mobility, primarily. I didn’t have to do that because by the time I came along we were fairly comfortable. Not rich, but comfortable. I somehow began reading The Nation magazine when I was fourteen years old. I’ve always been an avid reader.
They had to throw me out of the library. I got beaten for reading excessively. “It’ll burn out your eyes.” When I had to go to bed at nine or ten o’clock, if I was in the middle of a story or reading a book, I took a flashlight and put my head under the covers until I was discovered. And then, that’s when I got beaten. There was no history of political activism in the sense that I’m active in my family. However, I made a turn in the family in that my younger sister––I had one brother and a sister, and she was born sixteen years after I was born––and her politics are very close to mine; her children’s politics are very close to mine. So I made a departure in my family. How I got that way, I don’t know. I like to think that I didn't like to see other kids pushed around. I remember getting in fights to protect other kids. But maybe that's a mixed memory.
INT: Tell us about the Vietnam moratorium movement of 1969. What precipitated it, and what was your role in that?
JG: You have to go back to the Eugene McCarthy campaign. I had been working in the peace movement for many years. My motivation was the knowledge of the power of atomic weapons. Anything that might precipitate a war between the countries that had nuclear weapons might wipe out humanity. When I learned about that in the middle 1950's it was the kind of knowledge that spurred me into action. Actually... Read more of this amazing history of activism on his site at "Learn more about the Relentless Liberal" on the top left!
I am looking forward to meeting him and his son Danny and learning. I am just perplexed because I know that the fear of mutual destruction is no longer a deterrent for nuclear war as Bush for one thinks he works for God and seems to be working towards the Bibles End Of Days scenario. At the very least he and others are willing to use nuclear weapons and take their chances while making the world unlivable at the same time.WTF?
James Joiner
Gardner Ma
www.anaveragepatriot.com
6 comments:
I checked out his blog Jim, good reading.
Thanks for the link.
By Charles Sullivan:
If we Americans are nothing more than hopelessly addicted consumers who think of ourselves as an exceptional people with special entitlements; if we see ourselves as god’s morally superior chosen people; if we are selfish and greedy beyond redemption—then we are complicit in all of the horrible crimes that government commits in our name.
The United States has a violent history of atrocity and exploitation that began with the arrival of Christopher Columbus on the shores of North America in 1492. It extends all the way to the present and is guided by the same poisoned ideology—Manifest Destiny.
Those who know history understand that we have never come to grips with the horrible past which has led us to the appalling present. We take great pains to suppress a ghastly history of murder and mayhem in order to convince ourselves that we are not the people who exterminated and enslaved the indigenous people of North America; that we were not the practitioners of racism and chattel slavery questing for treasure on the backs of the oppressed or the murderers of striking workers seeking a living wage and decent working conditions.
Americans need to believe that those events and their effects are safely buried in the past, thereby absolving us from culpability for them in the present; but they will not stay buried and they will pursue us to our graves if we do not acknowledge them and comprehend their implications.
Likewise, we suppress our responsibility in unleashing the plague of global warming on the world and we call it a natural cycle so that we do not have to change our ways. Under the unbearable pressure of inconvenient truths, we ignore them in hopes that they will go away rather than fester and multiply. But if that is who we are and if we are incapable of coming to terms with the repulsive past there is no hope for us. Our fate is already cast and a terrible price will have to be paid by billions of people and countless other species. We will reap as we have sown and misery and death will be our just reward.
If that is indeed the case, then everything that follows this paragraph may be an exercise in futility; albeit it a necessary one.
Despite the considerable evidence that suggests we are collectively—like our ancestors also practitioners of Manifest Destiny, history has disgorged some notable exceptions to the idea of American exceptionalism and entitlement. The people who actively opposed injustice throughout American history and offered fierce resistance are a light in the gathering darkness—a beacon of hope to those living in the present and an inspiration to those who will follow us in the future. Most of them were ordinary people who differed from us only in their willingness to resist the injustice and tyranny of their time.
We have only to follow their example to avoid being ship wrecked in a history that endlessly repeats itself. There may be a way out of hell but it will be wrought with difficulty and characterized by individual and collective struggle. The willingness of enough people to engage in that struggle will determine the outcome and define the future.
From thousands of indigenous uprisings against colonial occupation, to Shay’s rebellion and continuing through heroic acts of revolutionary unionism and the courageous peace activists of today’s Code Pink, America has produced a continuous line of revolutionary thinkers and organizers intent on fundamentally restructuring society, including the redistribution of wealth and power.
America is a nation that has always been divided by socio-economic class with the rich and powerful holding the keys to political empire and advancing the agenda of the moneyed gentry over those of everyone else. Yet we persist in calling our republic a democracy—which suggests that we have no idea what a real democracy should look like.
There has always been strong opposition to the tyranny of unjust government and to the prevailing institutions of oppression and inequality. And where there is resistance to evil, no matter how small or seemingly impotent, there is hope. Resistance, apart from being an act of defiance to illegitimate authority, is also an act of faith akin to planting a seed that has enormous potential to change the world.
Resistance creates hope and hope in turn fuels further resistance. Resistance and hope give birth to a faith that believes that just outcomes are possible through struggle and opposition.
Without resistance there is no hope and no possibility of the transformative change that is so desperately needed. No matter how seemingly futile the gesture of resistance—hope is its byproduct. Hope is born of struggle and defiance to unjust authority. It is born of a rebelliousness that refuses to tolerate the intolerable and moves to oppose it. While it is theoretically possible that people can exist without hope, they cannot flourish and become fully human in its absence.
Where hope is abandoned, fear immediately rushes in to fill the vacuum and tyranny quickly ensues. Lacking hope, we are simply biding our time, stealing from the future and waiting for the end to play out. We are passive spectators on the deck of the Titanic awaiting our fate, whistling in the dark and trying to convince ourselves that these menacing waters are safely navigable through blind reckoning and indifference when in fact, they are not.
The great conservationist Aldo Leopold wisely observed: “One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds.” That is also the penalty of having a social conscience. Cultivating a social conscience can be exasperating and it can adversely affect one’s health. But the failure to cultivate a social conscience approaches what Dr. Martin Luther King called, “Spiritual Death.” There are rarely easy ways out of the moral morasses we create. Opposition and struggle are the way but they exact costs that too few are willing to pay. That is why injustice is passed from one generation to the next and injustice so often prevails over justice. Our core beliefs should be non-negotiable. Either we stand by them or we are deluding ourselves.
The situation is exacerbated when our fellow citizens fail to grasp the gravity of the crises and even contribute to the injustice, either deliberately or through unintended ignorance of the important issues. In such times the reward of struggle appears small and the temptation to quit is great. As the flag wavers and prevaricators hold sway and ignorance and darkness, it seems, becomes all pervasive and hope seems like a Utopian dream as dim as the long lost sunlight of a nuclear winter.
In the midst of insidious fear and belligerent nationalism, resistance is never an easy proposition; but it is a critical component of human nature that gives rise to hope and, ultimately, to transformative change and justice. Resistance creates possibilities, whereas capitulation extinguishes them.
There are those who can look the other way in times of peril or during the commission of crimes; and there are those who cannot. We happen to belong to the latter group and we must try to set things right. We are hard-wired that way—it is our nature and it is who we are.
The alternative to resistance is as unthinkable as it is unconscionable. As long as a single voice cries in the wilderness hope exists and better outcomes are possible. It is in our DNA to resist evil and, it is the only principled action available to us. Conscience requires that we act on the knowledge we have, regardless of our numbers or the consequences to ourselves. Other good people will recognize the justice of the cause and a few will join the struggle.
It is said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So, too, a movement is born with a single act of resistance that is rooted in conscience.
No one knows if enough people will ever care enough to get involved so we can reach the critical mass necessary to evoke transformative change, which is why it is so imperative to continue the struggle. It is impossible to know where we are on our journey, so we must simply continue the excursion by moving forward which is what defines us as progressives and separates us from the crowd.
Humankind is rarely uplifted by its majority or by those who play it safe by looking the other way in the face of injustice. It is advanced by those who see wrong doing and choose to do something about it—the conscientious few that stand on principle and act in accordance with those principles for the betterment of everyone.
Without principled resistance there is no possibility of transformation from an unjust society to a just society; and no possibility of driving a wooden stake through the heart of the imperialist ambition that is killing our children and the children of other people like us in distant lands in war after war.
Fighting injustice is an antidote to the debilitating despair that casts a dark pall over the nation and across the world. Giving in to that despair can only assure its continuation. Opposition to evil is preferable to capitulation to it; and, moreover, it is the only appropriate response. The beauty and joy is in the struggle, in knowing the rightness of the cause; the stubborn refusal to cooperate with evil or to commit crimes against earth and humanity.
While our struggle often feels lonely and futile, we are rarely as isolated as we think. There are almost certainly kindred spirits in our own communities. Put out your hand to see if anyone takes it. You might just be surprised to know who is there.
For every front line activist there are tens of thousands who agree with them in principle but who remain on the sidelines as spectators. As conditions deteriorate and others come to appreciate our position in the same light as we do, more of them are likely to become involved in the resistance. The untapped potential of our moral supporters is both enormous and grossly under appreciated. Fear and uncertainty is all that keeps us apart but they can be overcome through networking and solidarity.
Sweeping change and justice will never come from the inert masses who occupy the safe middle grounds. As corporate fascism spreads across the planet there are no safe places for anyone but the fascists themselves. Nor will transformation come from the neo-conservative regressives occupying the far right, as embodied by the likes of Trent Lott and Rush Limbaugh and their ideological brethren in corporate America. It will not be enacted through neo-liberals such as Hillary Clinton either, or indeed anyone in the mainstream.
Justice will come, as it always does, from the far left that champion the cause of the disenfranchised and the defenseless. It will be derived from ordinary citizens—people like you and I working for justice and accepting nothing less; by standing up and being counted and refusing to sit down and be quiet. Ordinary people must become interested enough and they must care enough to take ownership of government and demand fair and equal representation by it. But awakening is often a painfully slow process and patience is so difficult when urgency is needed.
Government that is not accountable to the people is accountable to no one. That kind of government can only become fascist and prey upon the people it is supposed to serve. Such government must be abolished and replaced by genuine democracy—government of the people, by the people, for the people—all of the people, not just those with wealth and social status.
Obedience to authority that is not derived from the people themselves will ultimately result in injustice and economic inequity. Obedience can only assure the continuation of the established orthodoxy and a future that is significantly worse than the past and the present combined. If we truly believe in what we claim to hold dear we must be willing to fight for those beliefs without compromising them. Faith that is not driven by principled action is useless—it is not real faith at all.
Yet, despite our best efforts, it may well be that the best we can hope for is to slow the spread of the racist dogma of American exceptionalism that, unfortunately, continues to define us as a nation. Perhaps there are simply too few of us actively engaged in resistance to stop the purveyors of hate and extremism. But even if that is the case and resistance is futile, it does not change the moral imperative to resist. Injustice is wrong and it must be opposed. Stepping out of the way or quitting is to cooperate with the evil we rail against. Apathy and hopelessness are the great enablers of tyranny and we must never give in to them.
Given the enormity of the evil that stalks decency everywhere, rage fatigue and depression are the prevalent symptoms that follow. All of us are susceptible to them to various degrees because we feel so alone and understandably frustrated. The few are expected, as they always are, to do the work of many from which all will benefit in the end.
Dealing with the defining issues of our time and the blundering apathy of the multitudes can be infuriating and demoralizing. We cannot do everything but each of us must do what we can to affect the things we can change. Outrage and anger can be powerful tools for motivation or they can become debilitating liabilities. We must take care that they motivate rather than destroy us. Righteous indignation and fury is a just response to what is being done in our name but it must be harnessed and directed.
Continuous resistance is exhausting and necessary work. It is work that will probably never bring us the admiration of our fellow citizens who are more likely than not to hold us in contempt. People fear what they do not understand and most still subscribe to the myth of American exceptionalism. But it is the most important thing that any of us will ever do. It is for us to show the way and keep hope alive.
In these trying times of doublespeak and group think it is easy to feel overwhelmed and demoralized. But action is the antidote to despair. It is vital that we stay connected to other people engaged in related struggles; that we provide mutual support to and encourage one another to continue a spirited resistance that does not know how to quit. We are rarely as alone as we are lead to believe.
It is immensely helpful to know there are other people out there doing the important work that the times require of each of us. Seeing others engaged in resisting wrong doing may inspire others to take up the cause and a powerful movement may someday be born. It is the certainty of that knowledge that keeps hope alive and makes existence not only bearable, but enjoyable.
I am not expecting anyone to do the impossible or to offer oneself up for crucifixion or martyrdom. I am calling upon all good people to simply live a wholesome and simple and decent life and to uphold the principles of fairness, decency, sharing and empathy for others and, most importantly, justice. An injury to one truly is an injury to all.
How can anyone disagree with this Jim:
Reconciling Fascism with Reality
By Pervez Dastoor
12/14/07 "ich" -- -- -- Fascist! A word that is thrown around all too commonly in today’s political debates and partisan quibbling that is common among the cable “news networks.” A flip of the channel on any night to CNN, FOX, Headline News or other similar programs reveals time slots devoted to the latest celebrity scandal or any other unimportant story. When not emphatically debating the latest celebrity DUI or child-custody battle, you will frequently see a story or hear a media talking head propagate the fear-mongering about hoards of radical Muslims swimming across both oceans to destroy the very fabric of the North American homeland. Wouldn’t that be an impressive feat of stamina? But these individuals will not be referred to as just fanatics, terrorists or Islamists, but instead the newest trend “Islamofascists.”
Huh, did I miss something? Do these people who spew out rhetoric with that term even consider what fascism stands for or actually means. After all, would you not think that “esteemed” members of the media and their “expert” guests would actually understand what they are saying? Is that too much to ask? Unfortunately, yes. Not only do these individuals not use the term in a proper manner, they purposely distort the term in order to evoke thoughts of fear and insecurity.
Fascism?
So what defines a fascist society? Often times, fascism is subconsciously linked to the grainy black and white pictures of marauding Wermacht and SS troops from the 1940s. However, this shows a mental normalness which is incorrect. While Nazism did have fascist overtones, Nazism is not a form of government. Nazism is political ideology implemented through the use of a fascist government system. It is this system that needs to be understood and not the policy employed through it. This is vital since any form of government – yes, including a democracy – can be operated through a fascist structure. It is not exclusive to a dictatorship. As this article will show, you may be surprised by the results of the analysis.
Now, you reader, may argue that “who cares what the actual meaning of the word is, because it has taken on further societal overtones and inferences which society and it’s people now attribute to the word.” However, this does not do justice to the reality of the word or the reality of the world we live in today. You see, if we were to associate the word Fascist with Nazi, then we consciously set ourselves up to be oblivious to actual fascist tendencies which do not exhibit the racial or genocidal image that one has of Hitler’s master race. In order to analyze the events of the world today, we need a clear understanding of the true nature of Fascism, separate from its societal inferences. When this is done we see surprising results.
So what is fascism ? Lawrence Britt, writing in Free Inquiry magazine, Volume 23, Number 2, summarizes fourteen common traits of a fascist society.
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
4. Supremacy of the Military
5. Rampant Sexism
6. Controlled Mass Media
7. Obsession with National Security
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
9. Corporate Power is Protected
10. Labor Power is Suppressed
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
14. Fraudulent Elections
I recommend a read of his article to gain a deeper understanding of each point. While I wholeheartedly agree with the above delineation of a society crippled by the thrones of fascist power, I differ in the analysis as to how a government becomes fascist. I would to key in on Britt’s point number “9. Corporate Power is Protected.”
Corpofascism?
My argument comes at the issue from a different point of view. Instead of considering the above as traits of fascism, I believe that in fact, the fascist structure of government is what enables these attributes to manifest themselves. That fascist structure of government begins with the co-option of corporate and government interests becoming one in the same. This is the primary transition in the nature and operation of the government apparatus. Corporate power is not so much as protected; it is one in the same as government power. Hence the government is an extension of the corporate powerbrokers in society. Let me elaborate.
It begins with the unfettered control of government by corporate and business interests which leads to the detriment of the well-being of the many for the benefit of the few. Once the corporate and money powers have co-opted government, they are then able to work with government officials – who may have their own self-interested motives and ideologies – to instill policy that meets Britt’s thirteen other points.
So, fascism begins to manifest itself at the point when corporate interests highjack the operations of the government. Yes, business and government have and always been intertwined, it would be naïve not to think so. Yet, while intertwined in history there was a degree of separation and distinction between the functioning of each body. Each worked separately but in mutual respect of the other and would lend a helping hand to the other party. They mutually serve to promote each other. When working within the appropriate checks and balances, this enables a capitalist society to prosper and grow. After all, this is not fascism but capitalism at its very definition. In order for a society and its people to continue to be free and prosper the government must let economies thrive. However, in order for a society and its people to be treated equally and with justice, the government is needed to legislate and regulate the capitalist system so that it does not ultimately devour itself through its own desire for continual wealth. This is the act of mutual balance that is needed in a strong and healthy capitalist system.
A fascist government is one which is terminally ill with an incurable cancer. In a fascist society this system of mutual balance has completely and utterly collapsed to the point where government is not functioning as the representative of the people, but the security guard for the corporate interests. So if “experts” can throw around the word “Islamofacism”, let me make up a term “Corpofascism.”
So what happens when corporate interests rein supreme? We get a government system that exhibits the following:
1. It is a system where business interests and motives are held supreme over the interests of the public – usually leading to detrimental impacts on the public good.
2. It is a system where government has compromised every ounce of its duty, in order to serve the interests of the power brokers and money men through the legislation of laws and policies which benefit the rich and the corporations over those of the society.
3. It is a system where members of the government and the business community are indistinguishable from each other. Thus leading to patronage and cronyism beyond the normal expectations of a government official.
4. It is a system dominated by think-tanks and lobbying groups that influence politicians to act in the benefit of the industries and businesses they represent.
5. It is a system where politicians are corrupted and compromised through significant political contributions by big business (both under and over the table).
6. It is a system where the military, government and business are indistinguishable from each other. Succinctly described by Eisenhower as the “military industrial complex”.
7. It is a system where no distinction can be made between the overall policies and stances taken by opposing political parties within the Corpofascist system. The approach may differ, but the end result is the same.
8. It is a system with a domineering drive to reduce the scope of public services and the continued drive to privatize essential societal needs – health, education, welfare, etc.
9. It is a system where the public is inundated with propagandized rhetoric in order to distract them from the important issues. This maintains resistance to a minimum and enables the corporate interests to be served unabated.
Once a government structure begins to exhibit the above characteristics, it is safe to say that the government is now simply a tool – a very powerful tool at that – to serve the interest of the corporate masters. The checks and balances that once existed to keep government from falling into such a state have effectively been overwhelmed and defeated. The system is effectively broken and replaced with a Corpofascist operating racket.
Once this has occurred the government is used by the business and corporate interests not to further the advancement or well-being of the people, but instead to further the profit making abilities of the corporation. Laws and regulations are passed which benefit business by the same people that only months or a few years ago were commanding figures in industry and business. These “public citizens” now passing legislation were once minions serving as officers or directors for large multinational corporations. Their allegiance does not lie with the commoner, but with the industrial elites to whom they once belonged or to whom they owe their election financing. These same individuals maintain close business relationships and once their terms in office are complete frequently return to serve with the same corporations that they did before office or that they generously assisted while in office. The entire system is structured as a self-perpetuating revolving door that continues to perpetuate the corporate benefactor.
Maintaining the System
But certainly you say that such a corrupt system would be noticeable to the good citizenry of any nation and that they would rise up and demand more of their political masters. They would protest, use the power of their vote and demand a change to the way things are. Oh really? Well, a cursory application of the traits of a Corpofascist society reveals that this isn’t the case. And the reason is because the public is effectively disengaged and distracted from the truth through an ingenious use of a variety of means. This is where I will bring into my analysis Britt’s remaining points.
The Corpofascist government and its handlers know all too well that their power is only derived by the ability to distract the citizenry from the true nature of the racket they are operating. Therefore they employ a number of tools that do just this. These aren’t haphazardly applied, but instead carefully crafted to achieve the results of the corporate state.
It begins with the creation of an enemy upon which to blame all of the country’s problems and to distract the unknowing public from the actual events that are occurring in the echelons of power. These are the scapegoats to blame for all the state’s problems. This enemy is all powerful, all evil and just about ready to strike at the innocent children of the citizenry.
This enemy must be confronted. Alas, a call to arms is made using nationalistic and patriotic overtones that would make even a Nazi giddy with joy. The call to defend the homeland, to snoop on your neighbours and to serve your country becomes the heralded and virtuous duty of the citizen. Such indoctrination can only be completed by the complicit corporately controlled mass media which spews half-truths and utter lies on the television in order to whip the masses into fervor. Those who say that the media is separate and free from the government, forget that the government is not free and separate from the same corporations that control and own the media outlets.
To confront the enemy usually includes two further traits of a fascist society:
the use of military power to attack, invade and “liberate” the threat.
a curb on the domestic freedoms and civil liberties of the governments domestic citizenry in order to contain and monitor dissent.
In its thirst for power and growth the Corpofascist state indulges in the patriotic use of the nations military to secure access to regions, resources and access points that are critical to the profiteering of the business. Innocents on both sides of the military adventure endure the wrath of war while the corporate masters sit back in their air-conditioned offices. Countries are invaded, innocent women and children of brown skin (usually – let’s be honest) are considered “collateral damage” while their husbands, fathers, brothers and uncles are labeled as “terrorists.” Soldiers of the invading force, believing in the nobility of their mission – as a result of the lies they have been fed by their military and corporate masters, are brought home in body bags or on stretchers with arms and legs missing. They and their families suffer the continued mental and physical scars of a war to which they see no purpose.
Human rights, foreign and domestic, are flaunted by the Corpofascist state. In order to denigrate the worth of the people they are bombing wild stories of incomprehensible evil are spun and attributed to the enemy. Extraordinary measures, renditions and torture are employed to fight the enemy all in the name of preserving security. The Corpofascist state citizen is confronted with a perception of a government that is there to protect and genuinely take care of its citizens. Nothing could be further from the truth, but the veil of benevolence must be cast to get the citizen to capitulate their moral and intellectual fiber to the Corpofascist state.
When the veneer of goodwill is removed and dissent within the society begins to stir, the domestic populace is subject to strategies of harm reduction. Dissenters are characterized as unpatriotic, terrorist sympathizers and the all too common anti-semitic. Domestic criticism is quelled and laws are passed by the society to clamp down on citizen protests. The domestic police force is increasingly militarized in order to scare and confront the citizenry. Instead of serving and protecting the people they serve and protect the interests of the elite and the business powers.
While overt action against dissenters is taken the mass populace is kept in a state of ignorance. The corporate media feed them dribble about insignificant events which would be better served to be written on toilet paper. Stories of non-events are pumped, exaggerated and continually reported on by “experts” and “respected” members of the media. Celebrity gossip dominates the airwaves as a way to distract the individual from their own lives and important events. This is just fine for the Corpofascists.
Political discourse and debate is drawn down to severe partisan lines, whereby perceived differences are introduced within the political parties, despite the fact that the overall goal – the advancement of the corporate interest – is still paramount. Issues of debate between the political parties in the respective house of government focus on “distracting issues.” While important issues in their own rights – abortion, gay-rights, women’s rights, minority rights, etc. – these bear no relation to the prevailing problem with the sick society. No mention is made or attention paid to the domineering influence of the corporation within all aspects of the society. Corporate interests at all levels are hidden, minimized or protected by the Corpofascists even though vital areas of the citizenry are impacted – food, water, health, education, civil rights, human rights, domestic policy, foreign policy, energy security, and on and on.
The facade of fair and free elections is propagandized to the public. The citizen is made to feel like their vote counts. Little do the people realize that the “nominees” and “contenders” within the electoral process have already been pre-selected by the Corpofascist masters – the business elite. Despite theres being nominal differences between political parties, the interests of the Corpofascist elite will continued to be served. Nevertheless, elections are still tampered with. Fraud, corruption, intimidation and other immoral methods are used move the elections in the way the masters want them to go.
And thus, the cycle maintains its continuance. More and further enemies – real and imagined, mainly imagined - are constructed, and the entire cycle perpetuates itself. This is the essence of living in a Corpofascist state. The perpetuation is not infinite as the weight of the corruption and demagoguery will eventually erode the system from within. It will be a classic case of the cancer killing the host and itself in the process. How long and how terrible the suffering of the people under the system is a matter of how much of a fight the beast puts as it is being destroyed.
So What?
Given the above analysis, one has to ask, does the term “Islamofascist” even make any sense. The simple answer is no.
The main reason is that by nature fascism is a form of government, not an incurrence of political ideology like Nazism, Stalinism, Maoism, Arabism or Islamism. Therefore, a non-stateless entity is incapable of being fascist by the very nature that a system of government is lacking.
So are there governments in the world today which meet the criteria for a Corpofascist state? Yes, of course. To varying degrees there are numerous nations across the globe that meet the criteria. Is it unexpected? Not at all. Is it worrying? Yes. However, I propose an increasingly worrisome proposal. A certain nation, the richest and most powerful in the world, founded on the principles of freedom, liberty and justice has succumbed to the sweet nectar of Corpofascism.
A cursory look at the operations and characteristics of the United States Government reveals that the good ole US of A meets each and every one of the criteria mentioned above. The United States is a great nation in theory and on paper; the great experiment in liberty, freedom and democracy. And it still can be. However, in actuality the once proud banner of freedom and justice has been hijacked. The USA is a thriving example of a Corpofascist state. I will not go into presenting detailed facts in this narrative. That is not my objective. My objective was to highlight the traits of a Corpofascist state in order to engage the reader to follow up and apply the criteria for themselves.
Nonetheless, a look at the application of the Corpofascist criteria against readily available information – out there in the public domain - would lead even a fleeting reader in agreement. The only problem is that majority of the American people are not aware of this.
The solution is not too late. There is still time to change, but time is running out and a shift in the public consciousness and awareness is imperative. The first step is becoming aware of the issues and realizing the problem. It is important to realize that the problem is deeper and is more than solely the cause of one administration over another. It is a pervasive problem that has clung itself at the roots of government. Informed citizenry must come together to make people aware about the depths of corporate influence and corruption within the American government. Focus must be paid to the root case (corporate influence) and this issue must be confronted head-on through activism, information programs, and ‘spreading the gospel.’ Only then can real change be brought into the system.
The ultimate goal is not to reach a state of utopia. No government system is perfect, to believe so would be irrationally naïve. However, there is a point in time where the threshold between the checks and balances of a society can only be stretched so far. The line has been crossed, and now it is time for individuals to exercise their social conscious and fulfill their obligation as a citizen. And this matters not only for the American people. Being the only superpower and current imperialistic nation in the world, the functioning of the American government apparatus has far-reaching consequences on the livelihood and lives of all individuals that inhabit the planet. Most will say that the fate of the world depends on it.
As President Eisenhower stated in his farewell address, Jan. 17, 1961:
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex.
May I add guard against the unwarranted influence of any industrial or corporate complex. Only then can the American dream of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” be achieved.
larry
I have ben in touch with Jerome's son Danny. He sent me Jeromes winter Lecture schedule and I am going to a lecture in West Newton, Mass. on January 8.
I will listen of course but I want to bring along informetion you have sent me in the past and I hope youhave access to it because i no longer know when you sent me the comments.
We have to do something and talking to Jerome's son Danny and letting him know how bad it is should re4ally get the wheels turning on a level you and I can not fathom.
I am not proud of and neither is Jerome, the fact that he was behind Joe Mcarthy in the 50s but he was behind the Kennedys, stopping Vietnam, ending the cold war which I happen to think of the beginning of the end, and everything else you can think of.
All I am saying is he has connections and between the two of them they can get us in the right direction to make a difference.
You sent me three things I will be searching for but I am hoping you have instant access too.
1. Was a list of the top 10? clandestine laws passed in 2008.
2. You sent me to lists of secret laws that were passed the numbers 1101 and 1102 were two. One list you just sent this week maybe two days ago that I will shortly start going through the comments to find the latest list but I hope you have them handy.
* If you want a reminder as to what this guy is about pleas go to http://therelentlessliberal.blogspot.com and click on Lears more about Jerome Grossman. You will be more than impressed! Stay in touch, Jim
larry
Charles Sullivan said...if we see ourselves as god’s morally superior chosen people; if we are selfish and greedy beyond redemption—then we are complicit in all of the horrible crimes that government commits in our name.
That is true on a Government level but not on an individual level. I am 100% principled and I know I am morally superios to everyone in this Government. Until I researched Thomas Jefferson I iddn't know why I was so different to everyone else. Anyway on a country level we are the problem and superior to no one!
We have a Horrrible past as a country. The presant is Horrible and the future will be the most Horrible because of the decider and this statement by Sullivan...
Government that is not accountable to the people is accountable to no one. That kind of government can only become fascist and prey upon the people it is supposed to serve. Such government must be abolished and replaced by genuine democracy—government of the people, by the people, for the people—all of the people, not just those with wealth and social status.
This Government as you know is accountable to no one but Bush and a genuine democracy—Government of the people, by the people, for the people—all of the people, not just those with wealth and social status is now just a mere dream.
Thanks for the input Bud take care and stay in touch!
Larry yo know I have published this list before: 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
4. Supremacy of the Military
5. Rampant Sexism
6. Controlled Mass Media
7. Obsession with National Security
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
9. Corporate Power is Protected
10. Labor Power is Suppressed
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
14. Fraudulent Elections
Man that is just sio America today. Once again Bush is accusing others of what he is guilty of doing to cover it. In contrast to the idiocy of the coined term Islamo-Fascism I coined the word Christo-Fascism. It is all perverted Religion and we are so screwed. I must admit I have never heard the term Corpo-Fascism but that too applies.
This is going to prove to be the worst Fascist rule the world has evwer seen and may not survive because the examples set by Hitler, Mussolini, and the rest of them, have been "improved" if you can say that. Any way you look at it we and the world are in trouble!
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