State of the Union, 2010
Nick P. at Black Sun Gazette:
Last year the economy entered a free fall. Conditions that haven’t been approximated since the 1930s were the norm. It is time to take a cold, hard look at America as it exists at the beginning of 2010.
It is time to look at things in a way that goes beyond the surface, bullshit analysis of the corporate media. America and the world currently stand at a cross roads. We are in the eye of a perfect storm that combines the worst elements of 1914 and 1929.
Tuesday Morning Nightmare News Roundup
From Black Sun Gazette
Hey kids. Sorry I’ve been a little incommunicado as of late. I had to move Fort Black Sun Gazette and it was really time consuming. I’ve also ended my life as a jizz-mopper to be a full-time freelance writer. All in all, it’s going really well. But you aren’t here to hear about my personal life. You’re here to get information that gets you pissed. To welcome myself back to the site, I’d like to give you this morning’s nightmare roundup of news you can’t use. Read this and get pissed. Then take action.
A Beginner’s Guide to Fascism, Part IV
Chris M. at Black Sun Gazette
One way to fight fascism is to get some historical perspective. Fascism is distinct from capitalism and socialism. It’s as silly for the left to say capitalists and fascists are the same, just as it ridiculous for the right to say that socialists and fascists are the same. Take a look at the people in the Nazi’s concentration camps – Jews, Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Communists, Anarchists and Trade Unionists – not capitalists. The answer is organizing among the working class, paying special attention to the working poor, reaching out to the lower middle class who were some of the biggest early supporters of the fascists. I urge people to read stuff by people who were eyewitnesses to the rise of fascism like Daniel Guerin (an anarchist)…
An Ethical Question: Does a Nazi Deserve a Place Among Philosophers?
Patricia Cohen investigates in the New York Times:
For decades the German philosopher Martin Heidegger has been the subject of passionate debate. His critique of Western thought and technology has penetrated deeply into architecture, psychology and literary theory and inspired some of the most influential intellectual movements of the 20th century. Yet he was also a fervent Nazi.
Now a soon-to-be published book in English has revived the long-running debate about whether the man can be separated from his philosophy. Drawing on new evidence, the author, Emmanuel Faye, argues fascist and racist ideas are so woven into the fabric of Heidegger’s theories that they no longer deserve to be called philosophy. As a result Mr. Faye declares, Heidegger’s works and the many fields built on them need to be re-examined lest they…
A Beginner’s Guide to Fascism, Part III
From Chris M. at Black Sun Gazette
Some think fascism in America will resemble Nazi Germany, but I think it will it will look more like Fascist Italy. People picture skinheads and Klansmen, but in Italy it was different. Fascists used racist rhetoric, like Slavs were backwards and Africans were savages, but these were typical attitudes in Europe at the time. Institutionalized racism didn’t occur til 1938 when Mussolini under pressure from Hitler passed anti-Jewish laws. Italo Balbo the charismatic right hand of Benito protested this change. Hell, Mussolini even had a Jewish mistress. The fascists of today will look a lot like the very familiar, mostly white, working and middle class.
A Beginner’s Guide to Fascism, Part II
From Chris M. at Black Sun Gazette
At first, Mussolini opposed World War I. He was a socialist and raised in radical working class family who named him after Benito Juarez. Later, he joined joined the pro-war socialists who advocated Italy joining France and Great Britain against the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires. They argued that these empires were more oppresive and by fighting a “revolutionary war” they could create new opportunities for the Italian working class and liberate the subjects of the evil empires. Italy was victorious in battle, but was swimming in debt due to the war. Italy also failed to get the former German colonies in Africa or any of Austria’s former possessions in the Balkans.
A Beginner’s Guide to Fascism, Part I
From Chris M. at Black Sun Gazette
Fascism is complex and sometimes contradictory ideology. While it may be fun to call Bush Hitler and Obama Stalin, it doesn’t make it so, they are both capitalists. Democrats and Republicans have been playing good cop, bad cop for the capitalist system for well over a hundred years now. This doesn’t mean fascism can’t happen here in the good old USA. We should examine where fascism came from, what is it, and how it works. By knowing these things we can figure out what fascism might look like in America and how we can fight it.
Open Thread: Oath Keepers
From Black Sun Gazette
I am somewhat bewildered at the inability of my readers to see the Oath Keepers as the threat to American democracy that they clearly are. It’s almost as if my British friends were to say that the BNP were stand up guys, using their platform as the ultimate means of appraisal. Indeed, the constant recourse to the “Declaration of Orders We Will Not Obey”- as if this stood outside of a broader social context, and their framing was without meaning- is particularly troubling. As is the sentiment, repeated by people intelligent and politically savvy enough to know better, that the Oath Keepers are worthy of praise because they “defend the Constitution” or some other vague, trans-class expression of support.
Full Article at Black Sun Gazette
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Fascism Watch: Oath Keepers and the BNP
From Black Sun Gazette
There are more troubling signs of a growing fascist movement not only domestically, but internationally. It seems that the problem is far more advanced than I would have originally thought. Once again, the sum total of recent history (Clinton impeachment, Bush v. Gore, the 2004 election), current social conditions, rising street level right wing movements, disaffected soldiers coming back from Iraq, the history of fascist movements, and the piss poor track record of declining powers, paints a very grim picture of a growing fascist movement both at home and abroad. The Democrats will not protect you. The only way to stop them is through militant action in the streets.
Fascism Watch: Police and Military Lining Up Against Obama
Klint Finley writes for Mutate:
To their credit, the “Oath Keepers” acknowledge the Patriot Act’s erosion of civil liberties as well. But where were they during the 8 years that Bush was president? Obama gets 400% more death threats than Bush but still lets people carry assault rifles around him, and the Oathers think that they’re being persecuted? Bush had people hauled away for wearing the wrong t-shirts.
I have little good to say about Obama, but I can’t say that his administration is less tolerant of dissent than Bush’s.
From the Oather’s Declaration of Orders We Will NOT Obey: “We will NOT obey any order to conduct warrantless searches of the American people, their homes, vehicles, papers, or effects — such as warrantless house-to house searches for weapons or persons.”
I take this…
Today’s Lesson in Operant Fascist Movements
From Black Sun Gazette
I don’t want to go into a huge thing right now. My feelings on American fascism have been addressed here frequently. But I did want to bring to everyone’s attention The Oath Keepers. Comprised largely of former military and police officers (rut-roh, Shaggy!) they use the most American symbolism possible and couch their opposition to legitimately elected civilian government in (what else) “Constitutionalism.”
UK police use anti-terrorist legislation to stop climate change activist travelling
Want to go to Copenhagen to protest at the UN summit? The Orwellian state marches ahead in the UK.
From the Guardian website.
UK border police used anti-terrorist legislation to prevent a British climate change activist from crossing over into mainland Europe where he planned to take part in events surrounding the forthcoming United Nations summit in Denmark.
Chris Kitchen, a 31-year-old office worker, said he feared his treatment by police could mark the start of a clampdown on protesters, hundreds of whom are planning to travel to Copenhagen for the climate change talks in December.
Airport Trials Naked-image Security Scans
Reported here on the Guardian website:
Passengers can refuse to undergo virtual strip by full-body x-ray scanner that leaves little to the imagination of security staff.
Originally, passengers had to remove their jackets when passing through airport security. Then it was belts, and soon shoes had to come off too. But those who feared that losing one’s trousers was the next logical step will find scant comfort in the news that an x-ray machine that produces “naked” images of passengers will be introduced at a British international airport today.
Read More.
Machines Designed to Change Humans
I remember how my mom used to yell at my dad because he was always trying to explain how we’re being farmed.
The Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab creates insight into how computing products — from websites to mobile phone software — can be designed to change what people believe and what they do.
Yes, this can be a scary topic: machines designed to influence human beliefs and behaviors. But there’s good news. We believe that much like human persuaders, persuasive technologies can bring about positive changes in many domains, including health, business, safety, and education. We also believe that new advances in technology can help promote world peace in 30 years. With such positive ends in mind, we are creating a body of expertise in the design, theory, and analysis of persuasive technologies,…
Militarism, War, and Dictatorship
Nick P at Black Sun Gazette
There is a clear trajectory of the American ruling class away from normal, democratic rule. Increasingly, over the last fifteen years, there has been a tendency to move towards naked authoritarianism. I have spoken on Black Sun Gazette repeatedly on the subject of nascent American fascism. While I don’t wish to downplay the significance of obviously fascist figures such as Glenn Beck receiving a hearing in the mainstream media, perhaps this is not the form that dictatorship in the United States will take when democratic norms finally collapse. Indeed, America’s history is arguably closer to and more intimately intertwined with that of Latin America. Perhaps the model for the catastrophic end of American democracy is not the lumpen thugs of Europe, but the Latin American military strong…
Tragedy, Terrorism, and Glamor: A Review of The Baader Meinhof Complex
From Black Sun Gazette
Last night I had the opportunity to take in The Baader Meinhof Complex with some friends at Portland, OR’s gorgeous Hollywood Theater. The film is about the Red Army Faction, also known as the Baader-Meinhof Group. The group carried out a series of terrorist attacks on the West German government and the U.S. military in Germany in the 1970s and 80s. The film focuses on the first generation of the group, while touching upon the “Commando” groups that followed. It gives a balanced account of the limitations of political terrorism, while never letting imperialism and war off the hook.
Today’s Signs of Nascent Fascism
Nick P writes at Black Sun Gazette:
Following up on yesterday’s commentary on fascism, I present the following roundup of news sources pertaining to the issue. I would also like to direct my readers to Klintron’s blog Mutate!, which also has a follow-up. If you ever needed clear signs that elements of the ruling elite are moving America toward fascism- real fascism as a mass political movement aimed at the working class, foreigners, Blacks, and anyone else who gets in their way makes a convenient scapegoat- here they are.
American Fascism: What It Is, How To Fight It
Nick P writes at Black Sun Gazette:
My friend Klint blogged an interesting post on the subject of fascism here. I have briefly spoken on the matter here, but wish to provide a fuller, more elaborate picture.
Fascism is more than a nationalist, authoritarian, right-wing political movement. It has certain characteristics which are specific to it, and do not exist in every right-wing political movement. Fascism, so far as I am concerned, is not a cohesive political ideology. Rather, it is a grab bag of “everything and the kitchen sink, too” that serves the needs of the ruling class in utterly destroying independent political and social movement by the working class. Much of my analysis of what fascism is and how it works is lifted directly from Leon Trotsky’s Fascism: What It Is…
Fascism by the Numbers
Klint Finley, Mutate:
As a follow-up to my recent post Is It Too Late to Stop Fascism in the US?, I worked from the definition of fascism proposed by Robert Paxton.
There are several other definitions of fascism, many of which are listed on the Wikipedia entry Definitions of Fascism. I’ve decided to go through the definitions that include specific lists of criteria and see which of them the United States fits.
I’ve made the case before that when Ronald Reagan signed the Military Cooperation with Law Enforcement Officials Act, he was quietly declaring martial law and creating a police state (and that the US has never really lived up to its liberal democratic ideals). I’m sure those with more knowledge of the right-wing populist movement of the 70s that culminated in Reagan’s election…
