Moderators: Elvis, DrVolin, Jeff
brekin wrote:This guy has culled some great definitions:
http://www.anesi.com/Fascism-TheUltimateDefinition.htm
Handy chart.
barracuda wrote:JackRiddler wrote:No shit. Hair-splitting pedantry. Desire to attack rather than have dialogue. Evasion.
You're not addressing my question: how does modernity figure as a requirement of fascism? What makes fascism different from similar types of oppression which occurred before the modern era? My opinion is that the answer has to do, again, with aesthetics, specifically modern aesthetics, for example, see: Marinetti.
Among other things, fascism is a kind of political reaction and degeneration that visits modern and modernizing societies when they enter severe economic crisis.
Luther Blissett wrote:The early 20th Century's version of fascism was made possible partially through its response to modernism (which also had its own built-in aesthetics [though, as a modernist, I would argue that the timeless aesthetic, a pursuit of self-improvement, Utopianism, and democracy, was derived strictly from form and immaculately inspired by the philosophy]).
We could have a similar discussion about defining modernism and socialism
Luther Blissett wrote:I think that the original quote might have had to do with "modernism" as opposed to "the modern world" or "the modern era" though of course I'm not sure. Modernism, as the rejection of all traditions, has been wrestling with, in opposition to, and competing with fascism since its conception around the late 19th Century, and vice versa. The early 20th Century's version of fascism was made possible partially through its response to modernism (which also had its own built-in aesthetics [though, as a modernist, I would argue that the timeless aesthetic, a pursuit of self-improvement, Utopianism, and democracy, was derived strictly from form and immaculately inspired by the philosophy]). We could have a similar discussion about defining modernism and socialism - two innately twinned concepts outside of the realm of politics and art.
1945-1980. Triumph and Consummation
Before we can follow the subsequent development of Modernism, we must turn to one of the darkest chapters of European history: the rise and fall of Adolf Hitler, the terror of National Socialism, and the Second World War.33
The worldview and self-concept of the modernist era, which had already found its artistic, scientific, political and social form and expression before the First World War, began during the interwar period (documented on pages 62 to 83) to spread throughout the Western world. The social and political models of the modernist idea — democracy, political equality of the sexes, separation of church and state, the right to education and information, and the protection of the private sphere — came hand-in-hand with hitherto unheard of claims to self-determination. The fulfillment of these claims, however, was perceived among broad strata of society not only as an enrichment but as a threat. The intellectual attitude of Modernism had not simply reduced dependence and social repression and helped raise the standard of living; it also destroyed the worldview and mental structures that until then provided protection and stability. The prevailing mood of the new era was marked by a general sense of insecurity.
This insecurity could be tolerated without objection only for as long as it shined in an optimistic light, i.e. for as long as the promises of the newly gained rights and freedoms could push the associated fears into the background. With the outbreak and mounting intensity of the material and spiritual crises of the postwar period, that was no longer the case. The ambiguity of the modernist era — the ineradicable link between freedom and insecurity — was increasingly perceived as intolerable. In nearly all European countries, radical nationalist and anti-democratic movements rose up with new offers of absolute certainties and promises that the life of each person and of the nation could be put back on solid spiritual and economic foundations. The declared goal of these movements, which we nowadays describe as fascist, was the creation of a totalitarian state. The most extreme and fateful manifestation of this attitude of mind (as a political revolt against the modernist idea) was found in German National Socialism.
The core of National Socialist ideology lay in Hitler’s Social Darwinist racial doctrine. According to that, humanity consists of superior and inferior races; the superior have the right to subjugate the inferior and use them in the service of their own goals and purposes. In this scheme the best and most valuable race is that of the German peoples, the "Aryan" race. The idealization of the Aryan went hand-in-hand with a fanatic anti-Semitism that in the end led to a systematic extermination of the European Jews.
The Jew functioned as a stand-in for all people, forces or institutions that directly or indirectly questioned Hitler's inflated self-image and claims to power. To Hitler, democracy and the League of Nations, pacifism, Marxism and modernist art were all Jewish inventions; the Soviet Union, "international finance capital," the German Revolution of 1918, the Weimar Republic and the Treaty of Versailles were all works of "international Judaism." It is pointless to refute these nonsensical claims. The common denominator that connects all of these manifestations branded as ”Jewish” is the mental attitude or worldview of which they were an expression. Hitler's image of the enemy — "international Judaism" — has a paradigmatic significance. It stood for the spirit of Modernism.
With Hitler's seizure of power in Germany in January 1933 came the legal disenfranchisement and the material persecution of the Jews. At the same time, cultural life was to be "freed of all Jewish influence" (literally: "dejudaized"), protected from the subversive influence of "international" thinking, and regained as a province of "Aryan genius." Accordingly the Bauhaus was shut down on April 11th, 1933, followed by the infamous book burnings on May 10th and, finally, the "purging" of the museums and galleries.34
Hitler's foreign policy was marked by the same ruthless determination that he had displayed in the pursuit of his domestic goals. After the annexation of Austria, the bloodless occupation of the Sudetenland and subsequent absorption of the rest of Czechoslovakia, German armed forces overran the Polish borders on September 1st, 1939, setting off the most destructive war in history, which ended after five and one-half years with the utter defeat of the Axis powers.
The repercussions of the Second World War on cultural history were comparable to those of the French Revolution, this time affecting not just Europe but the whole world. Henceforth the world was split into two blocs divided by a boundary running right through the middle of a devastated Europe that had ceded its political, economic and intellectual hegemony to the new world powers — to the United States and the Soviet Union. The sense of self that had once sustained the Old World lay buried beneath the rubble.
The extent of the destruction and horror unleashed upon the world by a country as cultured as Germany — with its history of great thinkers, poets and musicians — the discovery of the concentration camps and the accounts of the systematic murder of six million Jews, the photographs of prisoners, the mass graves, the gas chambers and crematoria of Auschwitz, Dachau and Treblinka united the civilized world in its abhorrence of Nazi terror and shattered any remaining illusions about the intellectual and moral supremacy of Western civilization.
All progressive, liberal and anti-bourgeois tendencies, in spite of the often unbridgeable gulfs among them, were thus cast in a new light and gained newfound respectability and vindication. With his failed attempts at restoration, with his insane extreme of political absolutism, Hitler ultimately helped to bring about the triumph of precisely those ideas and principles that he had so bitterly opposed. Internationalism, social pluralism, democracy and communism became the dominant factors in the politics of the postwar world. To secure world peace and advance international cooperation, 52 governments convened on October 24, 1945 to adopt the charter of the United Nations, which among other goals purposed the protection of human rights and basic freedoms.
This reappraisal redefined the intellectual life of Western democracies, in particular influencing their artistic consciousness. Much of the old cultural context came to be equated with a Europe of power-hungry nation states, and with traditions and values that were held responsible for the catastrophe just endured. Modernist art was not tarred with the same brush; it represented one of the few achievements of Western culture that could still be idealized. Its condemnation by the Nazis and their persecution of its exponents made it into a symbol of intellectual resistance, of the integrity and continuity of a liberal European consciousness. In the United States and the countries of western Europe, the great masters of Modernism were now presented to a broader public in individual and major group exhibitions. The outsiders and the revolutionaries of the pre-war era became established figures.
Even as they celebrated their belated triumph, even as some of them — Matisse and Giacometti spring to mind — actually created their most important works, the artists of a war-scarred Europe lacked the will and strength to build on previous artistic developments in a creative and innovative way. That fell instead to the relatively unsullied and unburdened American artists, who had recently discovered modernist art for themselves, and who sought to create their own, truly American works that would rank alongside those of their much admired predecessors.
[...]
JackRiddler wrote:compared2what? wrote:I don't know why you're arguing in favor of putting it less well.
I don't, but it's complicated and my description touches upon many US contexts in which the f-word is appropriate. Given this country's preeminence as a modern-day producer of fascism internationally for profit, geostrategy and ideological solidarity, I don't react well to stuff like, "it's not fascist because _____ is not present or Country XYZ is worse." Especially given how often Country XYZ has been a US client state.
But we've come close to exhausting this aspect of the subject, haven't we?
.
Ron Paul: U.S. ‘Slipping Into a Fascist System’
barracuda wrote:Elvis, I'd say that although yes, we are in a state of verifiable fuckitude, that chart demonstrates a few crucial reasons to think we might not be a bunch of fascisti in American at least. For example:- Leftist refusal to compromise: Ha! That's all they really do here!
- Strikes, disorder, crime: When was the last time we had a decent strike that meant something?
- Military/police refusal to defend government: Apparently THAT ain't gonna happen.
- Desire for transcendant "new path": Here, we have a sustained ideological desire for new judges on "American Idol".
So perhaps we're not exactly fucked but certainly "fuckistic". And that's the good news, har.
Neal Ungerleider in Fast Company mag wrote:
http://www.fastcompany.com/3000272/nypd ... ate-monito
NYPD, Microsoft Launch All-Seeing "Domain Awareness System" With Real-Time CCTV, License Plate Monitoring [Updated]
By Neal Ungerleider
August 8, 2012
The New York Police Department has a new terrorism detection system that will also generate profit for the city.
The New York Police Department is embracing online surveillance in a wide-eyed way. Representatives from Microsoft and the NYPD announced the launch of their new Domain Awareness System (DAS) at a Lower Manhattan press conference today. Using DAS, police are able to monitor thousands of CCTV cameras around the five boroughs, scan license plates, find out the kind of radiation cars are emitting, and extrapolate info on criminal and terrorism suspects from dozens of criminal databases ... all in near-real time.
New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly first announced that Microsoft had the NYPD's Domain Awareness System under development at the Aspen Security Forum in July. Microsoft has quietly become one of the world's largest providers of integrated intelligence solutions for police departments and security agencies. Although DAS is officially being touted as an anti-terrorism solution, it will also give the NYPD access to technologies that—depending on the individual's perspectives—veer on science fiction or Big Brother to combat street crime. The City of New York and Microsoft will be licensing DAS out to other cities; according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City's government will take a 30% cut of any profits. "Citizens do not like higher taxes, so we will (find other revenue outlets)," said Bloomberg. Bloomberg continued that "I hope Microsoft sells a lot of copies of this system, because 30% of the profits will go to us."
According to publicly available documents, the system will collect and archive data from thousands of NYPD- and private-operated CCTV cameras in New York City, integrate license plate readers, and instantly compare data from multiple non-NYPD intelligence databases. Facial recognition technology is not utilized and only public areas will be monitored, officials say. Monitoring will take place 24 hours a day, seven days a week at a specialized location in Lower Manhattan. Video will be held for 30 days and then deleted unless the NYPD chooses to archive it. Metadata and license plate info collected by DAS will be retained for five years, and unspecified “environmental data” will be stored indefinitely.
Cameras are primarily deployed in the Financial District, Midtown Manhattan, and at strategic transportation points like bridges and tunnels. In addition, radiation detectors capable of identifying radiation contamination from chemotherapy, x-rays, medication, industrial uses, and terrorism will also be deployed.
Although NYPD documents indicate that the system is specifically designed for anti-terrorism operations, any incidental data it collects “for a legitimate law enforcement or public safety purpose” by DAS can be utilized by the police department. The NYPD will also share data and video with third parties not limited to law enforcement if either a subpoena or memorandum of understanding exists. The DAS system is headquartered in a lower Manhattan office tower in a command-and-control center staffed around the clock by both New York police and "private stakeholders." When this reporter visited, seats were clearly designated with signs for organizations such as the Federal Reserve, the Bank of New York, Goldman Sachs, Pfizer, and CitiGroup.
The system also allows deep, granular analysis of crime patterns in real time. Information about suspects can also be quickly called up. At a press conference, Microsoft's Jennifer Tisch showed how integrated geographic information systems could display layers of real-time crime analysis for both misdemeanors and felonies. In addition, real-time access to multiple databases belonging to the NYC and other organizations can bring up a massive personal history--including both criminal and public domain information--from any suspect in a matter of seconds. [Please Note: "Suspect" meaning - anyone. - NL]
At the Aspen Conference, Kelly praised DAS as a next-generation law enforcement tool. Civil libertarians, however, are concerned. The NYPD has been at the center of recent controversies involving civil rights and surveillance; in July, a 911 call revealing an NYPD anti-terrorism safe house in New Jersey was released. The safe house in the college town of New Brunswick was monitoring Muslim-American college students; the safe house/apartment's landlord feared the NYPD apartment might have been harboring terrorists.
In response to a question about civil liberties at the press conference, Bloomberg and Kelly noted that similar systems have been used in the private sector for years--and that mobile phone companies track the intimate, granular details of users' locations. [Note: Well there you go! Done. Justified! - NL]
Similar systems have already been deployed in Baltimore and the United Kingdom. However, the NYPD DAS system is one of the largest in scale that has been publicly announced.
For more stories like this, follow @fastcompany on Twitter. Find Neal Ungerleider, the author of this article, on Twitter and Google+.
[Image: JordiDelgado via Shutterstock]
JackRiddler wrote:The incoming "squadristi" are likely to encounter plenty of friends and fellow travelers on the inside! Fascism germinates within the state and military long before the declared fascists take command of it - as was the case in late Weimar Germany, which I mentioned above.
Barracuda wrote:- Military/police refusal to defend government: Apparently THAT ain't gonna happen.
Prosecutors: Ga. murder case revealed terror plot by US soldiers operating militia inside Army
By Associated Press, Updated: Monday, August 27
LUDOWICI, Ga. — Prosecutors say a murder case against four soldiers in Georgia has revealed they formed an anarchist militia within the U.S. military with plans to overthrow the federal government.
...
Prosecutor Isabel Pauley says the group bought $87,000 worth of guns and bomb-making materials and plotted to take over Fort Stewart, bomb targets in nearby Savannah and Washington state, as well as assassinate the president.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/ ... story.html
brainpanhandler wrote:I don't know. I mean it's not like they're defending the bill of rights or anything. I guess it depends on how you define "government".
We have tens of thousands of broken people coming home and they are being largely left to fend for themselves. The VA is a disaster. The economy is a disaster. There's no GI bill. There's no jobs. A certain portion of veterans were fascist leaning psychopths before they went in. What are they when they come home? Just as the only real difference between a cult and church is numbers, so too getting a critical mass of defectors ready to plot the overthrow of the government distinguishes a lone, crazy plot with a couple of kooks from a full on, coordinated movement with serious and credible intentions.
barracuda wrote:brainpanhandler wrote:I don't know. I mean it's not like they're defending the bill of rights or anything. I guess it depends on how you define "government".
I'm tempted to define our government at this stage of the game as the mechanism by which private property and big business is sanctified and protected.
The impetus for my remark above had to do largely with the actions of the police during the Occupy protests, when it seemed their motivations were well revealed.
barracuda wrote:brainpanhandler wrote:We have tens of thousands of broken people coming home and they are being largely left to fend for themselves. The VA is a disaster. The economy is a disaster. There's no GI bill. There's no jobs. A certain portion of veterans were fascist leaning psychopths before they went in. What are they when they come home? Just as the only real difference between a cult and church is numbers, so too getting a critical mass of defectors ready to plot the overthrow of the government distinguishes a lone, crazy plot with a couple of kooks from a full on, coordinated movement with serious and credible intentions.
I wouldn't seriously consider a bunch of mutilated and PTSD'ed ex-cannon fodder as a threat to overthrow the government. Veterans aren't charged with "protecting the government" anyway, so it's not like they have agency to abandon that function and allow it to fall.
Generally speaking I view veterans as among the most extremely disenfranchised individuals in society.
Mussolini essentially came to power by mustering a private army estimated at about 200,000 and marching on Rome, where he was met with acquiescence by the military and granted the reins of government.
JackRiddler wrote:A neo-confederate is certainly on friendly terms with neo-fascists, if we should even make a distinction between them; and yet at the same time Ron Paul also stands in formal opposition to the growth within the official institutions of what I've been terming post-fascism, which is an equal if not far greater concern.
(No defender of Paul, yet I find it hard to see how the present-day Republican leadership differs from him in any substantive way, except for their fanatically enthusiastic support of imperialism, new foreign wars and the drug war with its attendant mass imprisonment.)
me repeating wrote:
[...]
We talk as though the US is separable from its global empire, when even the domestic police forces now operate around the globe, and thousands of fusion centers and joint task forces have been created in a push to integrate the military and imperial agencies with federal, local and state police forces, private security contractors and the rest of the big corporations within a single "security" framework. You all know the ideal. Whether it ever works perfectly or not, they want one web of finely-tuned surveillance, pre-crime detection and enforcement, global and domestic, legal and extralegal, overt and covert, online and on the street.
[...]
Capitalism and the national security cult have accomplished this, without need of neo-fascist ideology (though there's plenty that rhymes with it in the Great American discourse). If the feared ideological right-wing extremists who are supposed to be the Only Acknowledgeable Fascists take the government over, they'll have at their disposal a bigger, more rationalized and better-oiled machinery of repression than ever, honed through decades of development and plenty of practice within enclaves as varied as Baghdad, South Central, and New Zealand (where the FBI had free rein to arrest Kim Dotcom), and seething with resentment at freeloaders and America haters. The incoming "squadristi" are likely to encounter plenty of friends and fellow travelers on the inside! Fascism germinates within the state and military long before the declared fascists take command of it - as was the case in late Weimar Germany, which I mentioned above.
You know what? We're not "there" yet - that's why it so important to avoid denial about where we're heading, get the word out, and prepare for mass protest on a general strike level - not just to grow rutabagas on the balcony, essential as that will also prove.
brainpanhandler wrote:Alchemy wrote:That is good to know then, I have read that quote attributed to him in countless text books and on the net. Goes to show you cant trust much of what you read anymore. But the quote is pretty accurate in any case.
Another famous (and accurate) quote with questionable origins:
"When fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in the flag and waving a cross." - ?
http://technoccult.net/archives/2010/03 ... g-a-cross/
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 31 guests