We're not fascists...we're just militantly conservative.
I have observed a disturbing trend in conservative circles: an undying devotion to an American ideal of fascism. Is it right that we are supporting a push for super-patriotic agendas (click on the first link under "News results..."), and a denial of the cries of the poor and disenfranchised?
Sure, there are some extremists that make the whole thing sound too far-fetched, but overall the evidence is rather compelling.
Heil, Bush! Heil, Bush!
posted by Aaron Bynum at 08:50
7 Comments:
That was a great read, and one worth repeating. I'm reading 1984 right now, and while it's obviously a work of fiction, I keep thinking that that's the path the U.S. is on.. hopefully people will continue to have critical political discourse and shape the government that way.
5:30 AM
I just finished reading 1984 about a month ago. The printing I read contained an interview with Ray Bradbury that took place not too long ago (within the last five years). It was great to get his perspective on the current state of free speach, government, and censoring. I don't mean to be Chicken Little, but the Germans had no idea what Hitler was really up to until after the war. There's just too much going on in the U.S. right now to ignore it. I do, however, need to take a break and breathe deeply a few times to regain a sane perspective on the whole situation.But I do agree with you, moofruot, the best way to prevent this is to get it out in the open and have free discourse about it.
11:06 AM
The one thing I hate most about the media is its blatant self-censorship. For reasons of either corporate concerns, or as a result of being owned by a giant conglomerate whose primary interest is profit, news corporations are spewing out half-truths and sometimes outright lies which don't get realized until it's already public knowledge and too late to reverse. Or they will focus on a story that has no real relevance for true, political discourse among its citizens, prefering instead to get that "shock factor" and rake in as many consumers as possible while diverting people's attention from real issues.
The whole Clinton scandal was a perfect example of this. The "War on Terror" is the new Clinton scandal - used to focus the U.S. citizens towards something which will keep their heads out of all the problems that administration has brought to its people. One of these problems seems to definitely be a sort of pseudo-fascism which comes along with warmongering. Keep us good and scared, and mindless and automatic and predictable, so it will make us furiously loyal citizens who question nothing and support the administration blindly.
"Us" and "them" takes on whole new meaning during wartime, and it's something that permeates the collective unconsious of every individual who walks the land. The ripple effect after Sept. 11th was terrifying to me, especially after I started university in 2003 and really got into media studies, which opened my eyes forever to how this all works. No, the discourse certainly cannot ever stop, 'cos as soon as that happens, there is no more democracy as we know it.
I think it's really good that people like you question and probe for real answers. Since Sept. 11th, it's been like one really horrifying movie playing out... really unbelievable to me. Moreso because people in your country seem to have changed - seem to eat up all the lies like candy. Much like people in my country keep voting the damn Liberal party in even after all the scandal (but had the Conservatives got in, they would have been in bed with Bush in 2 seconds flat so I'm somewhat OK with the Liberals for that reason alone [I digress]).
I guess no one believed Hitler could propagate such horrors in Germany either, and to this day we grasp for answers as to how we could have let that happen. If you take a look in the U.S., it's happening all over again, and some far-fetched Hitler vs. Bush comparisons are not as far-fetched as maybe we think... it's the subtle character of the comparison that is most terrifying - that 250-some million people seem to be in this unquestioning, blindly loyal mode at the worst possible time. Which is why it's refreshing and truly necessary that people like you, and the guy you linked to, are using your heads to pick apart what's really going on here. You give me hope. Thank you.
7:27 AM
Gah! No, I did not read "1984". I read "Fahrenheit 451". Sometimes I wonder about myself.
8:42 AM
moofruot,
Unfortunately, I was one of those sheep that got Bush into office the first time around. It was the first presidential election I could legally vote in and I was still riding the wave of my parents' political leanings. That and if you're a member of the Nazarene denomination (which I am) it's just assumed that you're going to vote Republican. Well, a good friend of mine prompted me to start thinking about why I voted how I did. Needless to say, I haven't changed my opinions on too many things, but I have started voting for those candidates whose views more accurately reflect my own.
I am of the personality type that latches onto an idea and rides it until I'm either dead or strongly convinced to believe otherwise. I say that because I'm cautioning myself (and others) to take a balanced view of all the going-ons in global politics. I'm not so anti-government that I'll become the next unabomber or anything like that, but I do have to be careful not to become too cynical and caustic. There are good things being done by the Bush administration (wait...wait...they'll come to me). There is however, very overwhelming evidence that there's quite a bit more bad going on in the Bush administration. That's why I'm calling them out.
Contrary to popular foreign opinion, this last election was one of the closest in history. Bush does not have the undying support of 250 million people. The popular vote numbers in last year's election are the following: 59,668,261 Americans voted for Bush, and 56,172,264 voted for Kerry. With the July, 2004 population estimate placed at 293,027,571, some simple math (this is not statistically accurate data) would indicate that 152,374,337 people are in support of Bush's administration, but then again, things have changed quite a bit since he actually took office for his second term. I'm sure the percentages aren't the same now.
I agree that the media conglomorates are guilty of self-censorship. My perception is that they are putting "news" pieces together that will draw the biggest crowds instead of giving the public the truth about current events.
I'm honored to have impacted you. Thanks for the encouragement.
9:51 AM
It's interesting to me how people always accuse the right of being fascists, nazis, warmongers, etc., etc. What about the left? Does anyone with half a brain truly believe that con-men like Jesse Jackson or senile, inebriated idiots like Ted Kennedy truly care about the "poor and disenfranchised." (Play violins now, please.) Don't get me wrong, I think "Dubya" made some pretty stupid decisions and many of his views are primitive at best. But please stop with this asinine idea that anything conservatives do is wrong and anything liberals do is right. It reminds me of some cheap horror film which has to pit good vs. evil (aka Catholicism or Evangelical Christianity).
2:01 PM
daniel,
As a moderate conservative, I agree. I just call things as I see them. I really do need to do a piece on the socialist agenda of the extreme Left. Thanks for pushing me in that direction. A good nudge is necessary now and then. Oh, I entirely agree that "Progressive Liberals" care very little for the needs of the common American.
"But please stop with this asinine idea that anything conservatives do is wrong and anything liberals do is right."
I never made that claim. Liberals do just as many outrageous things as do the conservatives. I don't like either group, but I like the alternatives even less as they just seem to be a subgroup of the extreme end of either of the two major parties (I'm thinking Green party and Constitutionalists here).
4:10 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home