by Paul Bigioni
Observing political and economic discourse in North America since the 1970’s leads to an inescapable conclusion: the vast bulk of
legislative activity favors the interests of large commercial enterprises. Big business is very well off, and successive Canadian and
U.S. governments, of whatever political stripe, have made this their primary objective for at least the last 25 years. Digging deeper
into twentieth century history, one finds this steadfast focus on the well-being of big business in other times and places. The
exaltation of big business at the expense of the citizen was a central characteristic of government policy in Germany and Italy in the
years before those countries were chewed to bits and spat out by fascism. Fascist dictatorships were borne to power in each of
these countries by big business, and they served the interests of big business with remarkable ferocity. These facts have been lost
to the popular consciousness in North America. Fascism could therefore return to us, and we will not even recognize it. Indeed,
Huey Long, one of America’s most brilliant and most corrupt politicians, was once asked if America would ever see fascism. His
answer was, “Yes, but we will call it anti-fascism”.
By exploring the disturbing parallels between our own time and the era of overt fascism, I am confident that we can avoid the same
hideous mistakes. At present, we live in a constitutional democracy. The tools necessary to protect ourselves from fascism remain
in the hands of the citizen. All the same, I believe that North America is on a fascist trajectory. We must recognize this threat for
what it is, and we must change course. I propose to identify the core economic elements of fascism. In doing so, I will show that
present-day political fashions are leading us down the path already trodden by Italy and Germany.
Consider the words of Thurman Arnold, head of the Anti-trust Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in 1939:
“Germany, of course, has developed within 15 years from an industrial autocracy into a dictatorship. Most people are
under the impression that the power of Hitler was the result of his demagogic blandishments and appeals to the
mob… Actually, Hitler holds his power through the final and inevitable development of the uncontrolled tendency to
combine in restraint of trade.”
Arnold made his point even more clearly in a 1939 address to the American Bar Association:
“Germany presents the logical end of the process of cartelization. From 1923 to 1935 cartelization grew in Germany
until finally that nation was so organized that everyone had to belong either to a squad, a regiment or a brigade in
order to survive. The names given to these squads, regiments or brigades were cartels, trade associations, unions
and trusts. Such a distribution system could not adjust its prices. It needed a general with quasi-military authority who
could order the workers to work and the mills to produce. Hitler named himself that general. Had it not been Hitler it
would have been someone else.”
I suspect that to most readers, Thurman Arnold’s words are bewildering. Most people today are quite certain that they know what
fascism is. When I ask people to define fascism, they typically tell me what it was, the assumption being that it no longer exists. I
have asked this question on numerous occasions, and the usual answer contains references to dictatorship and racism which trail
off into muttering when the respondent realizes that he or she knows almost nothing about fascism’s political and economic
characteristics.
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0930-25.htmthus, history repeats itself. . . There are many present examples that come to mind reading this article. Do you see them, too?
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