When Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, he and the Republican
Party began to use so many strong-arm tactics to get their way that leftists
began to call his leadership style “friendly fascism.” Some liberals complained
that we were doing an injustice to those who lived under fascist military
governments in such places as Argentina and Chile. Yet for many of us, the similarities
worked.
Still, rather than shrinking government for the common
individuals he did the opposite, trying to restrict all kinds of constitutional
rights—free speech, search and seizure laws, expanding the FBI and DEA and
launching the fascist-like “war on drugs.”
Since the Tea Party has been making gains in the Republican
Party we have a new kind of leadership that is very different and yet it is
just as oppressive as the “friendly fascist.” The new word is “Libertarianism.” There is
actually a whole political party that uses that name. Their ideas are showing
up in the Republican Party, mostly as a part of the Tea Party movement. When
the Tea Party uses it, they talked as if they are anarchist freeing all the
individual people from government intrusion into their lives. They really do
want less government, even an expansion of our civil liberties, especially our
gun rights. But the reality is that they aren’t really taking away government
oppression—they are transferring it to the private sector. Whether a person is smoking a joint or posting a comment on Facebook that is
critical of the military, they will be punished. But not from the
police or courts, but fired from their jobs. Repression comes from the private
sector. Drug testing allows a corporation to identify a marijuana smoker and
they can either force them into a drug treatment facility[i] or just
fire them. Some companies have fired people for posting comments or pictures on
Facebook that are critical of our country’s hero worship of veterans. They have
been fired. So those who break the nation’s rules don’t have to worry about
ending up in jail. They have to worry about unemployment, possible homelessness
and other necessities of life that come with having a job.
The libertarians are quick to point out that our government
does not oppress us for speaking out against it as would happen in Cuba or
North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of…). When we point out that people
get fired from their jobs they say that is different and the oppression doesn’t
count because there is a private unwritten contract that people have with their
employers. They made a chose to work for a company. They choose where they work
and if they don’t like their employer’s terms they can chose to work elsewhere.
So actions by the private sector don’t count.
The Libertarians act as if a job was just a hobby to pass
the time and that jobs are easy to get or change. The reality is that jobs are scarce
and a lot of people take what they can get. When they are suddenly fired their
very survival is at stake. It is not just an inconvenience to get fired; it is
a catastrophe for many working people. As many leftists like to say “It isn’t
official censorship, but it is effective censorship.”
The new libertarians go far beyond censorship. Corporations
are no longer satisfied to back a candidate and simply expect that politician
to grant their businesses benefits and advantages. Now they want direct
control, sometimes actually writing the laws they want and using dim-witted
puppets to get them passed. That is what we have with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
That organization actually merges politics and business in a way that makes
them in-separatable. The organization holds large meetings and conventions that bring business people and politicians together behind
closed doors that chart out political platforms that all the people
will have to live with and endure. The people who vote for them are simply
handing their government entities over to business organizations that hope to
control all aspects of those voters’s daily life.
Elections have always been about private moneyed interests,
behind the scenes, that work for their political interests. It used to be “you
wash my back—I’ll wash yours.” Now it is more of a direct ownership. ALEC
actually writes new laws to be passed and provides politicians with ready made
speeches. The politician can be a complete political dullard as long as he or
she is willing to mouth the party line of his/her handlers.
While friendly fascism is a label that tries to draw a parallel
to fascist Italy, NAZI Germany or many of the past military governments in
South America, libertarianism is actually closer to the warlord system that
developed after the fall of the last empress in China, Dowager Cixi (慈禧太后). There was no central
government or authority. Private armies of warlords took control of whatever
territories they could and ran those territories with absolute power. Peasants
and workers were treated as slaves. The war lords could do whatever they wanted
to the people at anytime and there was no courts are government system to
protect anyone against the whims of the warlords.
The idea is that large corporations can own politicians and
carve out pieces of their own territories. With smaller government they can
create a situation where they actually have more authority than government
agencies, such as courts, regulatory agencies, even police. The Koch Brothers,
David and Charles, are the most visible and active single company that has
taken action to create their own empire within the US and they have their own
think tanks and fake grass roots organizations, such as Americans for Prosperity.
The overall goal of the libertarians is just as right-wing
as any type of fascism. Yet the mechanics of this trend are completely
different. We need to be aware of the dangers of this trend and expose it to
the people whenever it is possible.
-សតិវ អតុ
American
Family Insurance- the American Dream!- propaganda
)
Corporations
are so integrated to the political system, they now mix their commercial
messages with political propaganda designed to re-enforce support of the
system. The above ad promotes the “American dream” to build up support for our
economic system.
[i]
Through my personal experiences, I have found that drug treatment facilities,
which many people are court ordered to attend (DUIs, drug arrests, etc.), try
to get people to “change their thinking.” In some cases they are encouraged to
be more law abiding and passive towards the system. Without a doubt many
promote and encourage religion, usually Christian, but not exclusively. This is
a great bonanza for our conservative Christian churches, which benefit when
people have lost control of their lives to addiction and begin to rely on their
religion for sobriety. See War on Drugs/ War on People,
1996.
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