Fascism For Freedom

[Henry Musikar]

I have a neighbor who insists that Fascist is incorrect for anything but the
Italian party that coined the term, and that Totalitarianism is more
correct.  After insisting that he was wrong, I'm no inclined to agree unless
I hear a cogent argument otherwise.  That said, I agree with Rich.  

Look at the states that have inarguably succumbed to Totalitarianism, and
it'd be hard to argue that the USA should be counted amongst them.  On the
other hand, no matter what Cuba has accomplished, its one party, take it or
be harassed system IS Totalitarian, though perhaps far from at its worst.
Capitalism is not inherently more, or less, Totalitarian than Socialism.

Henry Mu
Sr. IT Consultant
http://astore.amazon.com/tdcoccamsaxe-20/ 

-----Original Message-----
From: rich

On Sat, Oct 3, 2009 at 2:09 PM, Joseph Tracy wrote:
> My point was that Nixon was pragmatic and what he did stuck,  China became
> cheap labor for the capitalists, the dollar became the world's primary
> reserve currency, Chile put the kebosh for decades on Latin American
> countries' move to nationalize extractive industries, while Hitler brought
> himself and his country to ruin.The comparison is a stretch but I think of
> fascism as a broader pattern than the specific and unique horrors
> perpetrated by the Nazis.
______

I don't think the US is a fascist state. it has fascist tendencies but
maybe what we need is new terminology

>The Japanese were also cruel and ruthless and aggressive but we don't have
the same image of them as the incarnation of evil.
______
coincidentally, just watched the epic Japanese film, The Human
Condition, which I think addresses the above directly. highly
recommend it by the way--the militaristic domination of Japan during
the war is strongly seen as well, evil. (The increasing strain of that
in post WW2 American history is definitely a parallel. An interview
with a tribal sheik in Anbar province who fought against the Sunni
insurgents today noted that the Americans basically have two ways of
dealing with its enemies/future partners--we either pay you or kill
you. That's how cracked the US deals with its foreign policy
problems.)


To the people bombed, starved , tortured and terrorized during the
> Johnson Nixon Reagan years  probably hard to tell the difference between
one
> boot and another. For decades the POTUS has been called the leader of the
> "free" world.
_________
absolutely. I don't think Americans realize the level of destruction
we laid down in SE Asia. I have no problem thinking of Nixon and
Kissinger and Rumsfeld as war criminals.

rich


>
> On Oct 3, 2009, at 12:40 PM, rich wrote:
>
>> He was smarter and more effective than Hitler in extending his nations
>> imperial power and the power of the executive branch
>> _______
>> insane
>
>