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one problem with the thread is that the definition of fascism from miriam webster is simply too vague. because the word gets folk riled up, it pays to be more exact when you use it. of course, being more exact will not have any appreciable effect on the "dont worry be happy" tendencies within american conservatism. but then again, dont worry be happy is always a possibility--remember nero? he was happy, he didnt worry.
fascist regimes are hypernationalist. they use nationalism as a political mask behind which they do as they like. nationalism is good for them, because it enables folk who support such a regime viscerally to pretend to themselves that nothing bad or strange is going on. one effect of this style of nationalism on the features that articulate it as an ideology is that these features/signifiers tend to get elevated to a quasi-sacred status--for a good window onto this lunacy here, have a look a the thread concerning the descration of the koran story. you get to read parallels being made, in all seriousness, between the koran and the american flag.
this despite other features, like the preference for working in the context of a state of emergency (war on "terror'), which is linked to both contempt for normal types of legal parameters--(think the iraq war on this one)--and contempt for democratic process, even in its weaker forms (like the american system)--democracy is slow and sloppy and involves bad things like dissent--better to undercut or suppress it. dissent is bad because it indicates divisions within the nation---which in fascist-land is a singular term, united in some Historical Mission (like "spreading freedom" in the george w bush sense of the term). to suppress dissent, there are a range of options, from direct physical suppression (mercifully, "we" are not there--though i still remember pretty clearly how much fun it was to be in america for people close to me who happened to be muslim right after 9/11) to a process of undercutting the legitimacy of information sources, no matter how weak conceptually (newsweek?) with the idea of forcing the loyal footsoldier (dont worry be happy) back from information to faith as the basis for their politics.
clearly the problem is that folk who think about this stuff get overexcited. clearly the solution is valium. dont worry, be happy--it seems to require a drug or two.
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a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
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