Someone told me I was insane if I thought America was a fascist state. I politely asked them for some reading on Fascism so I could better understand what it is. Crickets.
this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2024
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Voldemort is fascism
I feel like for there to be an answer to that question you have to ask yourself is fascism when the methods of a nations brutality are developing or when that brutality is brought home? In my opinion it is when the methods are developing.
Well...
The US has never been fascist because American Capital has never collectively felt threatened enough to the point of throwing away the pretenses of liberal democracy in favor of a class collaborationist mimicry of "socialism" under a direct dictatorship of the bourgeoisie without the smoke and mirrors. The closest they got to doing that was in between the Great Depression and FDR's successful implementation of the New Deal. In the course of the latter, some bougies felt so pissy about relinquishing some power and concessions to the proles under the ND's progressive program that they tried to bring about fascism themselves. This is not to say that not being fascist doesn't mean you can't work with and enable fascists, as most of 20th century to the present shows.
I'm against labeling the US as fascist because not only is it anachronistic but it also lets liberal "democracies" off the hook given how awful they've historically been. Just like I wouldn't label Ancien France as "fascist" either. Fundamentally, liberalism, fascism and "traditionalism" are all just tools in the box for Bourgeois rule. It has nothing to do with the supposed "sanctity" of the system holding back the tide of fascism as liberals see it.
(Tenting my fingers and nodding politely as I let you finish before getting up and pointing at you and screaming "Neeeeeeeeeeeeerd")
omg same bestie
Also the US lacked a vast swath of veterans traumatized by WW1, and who'd be more than willing to dish violence to their fellow citizens
Lenin defined fascism as a Bonapartist movement that emerges when capitalism in decline, and American capitalism certainly hasn't always been in decline, and it's government can't really be called Bonapartist in any sense.
Exactly. American ruling ideology has, for the most part, been overtly conservative and elitist even under its “progressive” eras, as opposed to the right wing populism that gives rise to fascism. Only thing that separated it from the old monarchies was that it put “entrepreneurs” as the rightful masters of society instead of aristocrats and royals.
It’s not like much has changed either since the mid-20th century. Even under the populistic overtures thrown out by everyone from Trump to Obama, there’s always the underlying assumption that the leaders of capital are the vanguard of political change. It’s arguably more present now than FDR’s time since a public program that doesn’t include a “partnership” with a dominant private corporate element is unthinkable in this day and age (“Obamacare” is a prime example).
I'm pretty sure he was referring to Napoleon III and the relation his faction had to the Paris Commune, not Napoleon the first. Obviously the Paris commune is a very different situation than what we're facing in America, though Lenin and Engels have both commented on America. To note, Paris was under siege by the Prussians at the time and capitalist power began to dissolve in the city, giving rise to workers councils. To get America to those conditions would require an unthinkably incredible embargo of goods flowing into the country.
If we got to that point everyone on the planet would be vaporized before the day was out.
Yeah, if anything Lenin's interpretation was mirrored most readily during the Spanish civil war.
and it's government can't really be called Bonapartist in any sense.
the structure of the government isn't (for now) but there's a decent chunk of people who want to elect a king once in a while and otherwise completely disengage from civic politics.