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Originally Posted by ottopilot
In it's origin, fascism was not BAD or EVIL. It was a concept born out of economic strife which leaned in the direction of a strong central government, highly nationalized economy, and social management. Mussolini was very popular among liberals until the war in Europe. Are these not some of the basic characteristics of liberalism and socialism? Are these not facts?
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Socialism = more gummint = "liberals" = fascism.
Indeed, by that definition you're absolutely right.
Of course, by your definition you cannot even begin to account for the 20th century's most significant events. Small price to pay for being "right". Carry on!
I spent some time after 2001.9.11 thinking about what to call the Bush regime. At the time, the Bush cabal was being compared to the Nazis, even in the mainstream press. After kicking the idea around for a while, i decided that the label "fascist" didn't really help define our current situation. Whereas in classical fascist regimes (fascist Italy, say, or Japan from 1931-45) the body politic as imaginary incorporation of the national-totality mattered, in contemporary America, it doesn't. It mattered to Hitler that you brushed your teeth, because you could bite a Russian on the ass if it came to that. Women mattered, workers mattered, and what they did mattered because the entire population was engaged in a total war.
This is no longer true. Our connection to the war is mediated by money and television. It's not coporeal, not even in an imaginary sense. The war is no less real for that, and we are no less connected to it.
People are sick and can't pay for health care? Their teeth are falling out? Bush & Cheney couldn't care less. People are opposed to the war? So what? We'll have it anyway, with Blackwater!