Facism In America
By Emily Park
Introduction:
Facism: a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).
That is a word that you read in your average history class, a word that is associated with World War II or the swastikas. It is not a word that is commonly used to describe today’s national political state.
Unfortunately, that is not the case anymore. These United States are moving closer to facism than ever.
Lawrence Britt’s “14 Defining Characteristics of Facism” summarizes facism into several terms: a powerful and continuing nationalism, disdain for the recognition of human rights, identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause, supremacy of the military, rampant sexism, controlled mass media, obsession with national security, religion and government are intertwined, corporate power is protected, labor power is suppressed, disdain for intellectuals and the arts, obsession with crime and punishment, rampant cronyism and corruption, and fraudulent elections. Although not all of these requirements are met yet, the majority can be applied to America.
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
“Make America Great Again”. If this isn’t evidence, I do not know what is.
This country is not leading in anything that it should be proud of. It is not leading in neither the best education system, quality of life, nor healthcare. Instead, we are leading in three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending (also known as: the majority of our national budget goes to the funding of our military). So, in conclusion, we were never great to begin with (Premier Offshore - “US Leads the World in Only 3 Categories…”).
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
One current prime example is the Black Lives Matter movement. Protests have sprung nationwide in light of George Floyd’s death. The majority of these protests, although big in number of attendees, are peaceful.
The police, on the other hand, are not. They have used rubber bullets, tear gas, and guns to silence the crowd. There are videos of them beating up protesters and forcefully pushing innocent senior civilians. Even more so, the government has deployed and authorized the National Guard to control these Black Lives Matter movements.
If the First Amendment cannot be protected in a land where the Constitution of the United States of America is held in such high regards, the core of democracy and freedom has not prevailed. If anything, these human rights are given to a selected few and not all.
There are countless other examples of human rights being violated in America. Eleanor Roosevelt’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that every human on this planet is given a series of basic rights. These rights include the right to freedom of opinion and expression, family life, health and well-being, nationality, and religion. But where are these rights when Mexian families are torn apart and the children being put in cages due to artificial borders? Where are these rights when people are called terrorists by simply wearing a hijab and practicing their religion? Where are these rights when Americans gather to practice their freedom of speech?
These rights are nowhere in sight.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
In 2016, the scapegoat was immigrants, especially Hispanics. One of Donald Trump’s notorious campaign strategies was to propose a wall between the America-Mexico border. When he got elected president, he attempted to forcefully extract billions of dollars from Congress by shutting the government down in order to start his wall construction back in late December 2018. His plan failed (and made him an unpopular figure among his political party), making him relent, signing a bill to reopen the government. However, his State of the Union speech in the following year proved that Trump did not forget his wall (The New Yorker - “Trump’s Dangerous Scapegoating of Immigrants at the State of the Union”).
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had provided an unwanted limelight to Asian Americans. There were multiple news articles of Asians being violently attacked or called demeaning and discriminating names for “causing this quarantine situation”. President Donald Trump even called the Coronavirus the “Chinese Virus”. By scapegoating Asian Americans, the government put a face to the common enemy and made Asian Americans a target to blatant racism and fear.
4. Supremacy of the Military
Most of our federal budget is spent on our military. In other words, the majority of our tax money goes to military installations and 800 foreign bases. Strangely enough, no other country has a military base in America. Approximately $700 billion goes to the military (U.S. Department of Defense - “DOD Releases Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Proposal”). No other country on Earth spends as much money on their defense system than the United States.
Although some can see this fact as something to be proud of, it just shows how easy America is to jump to guns and bloodshed. It shows, if anything, that they are more ready to approach a military tactic than a diplomatic one, and that America is slowly leaning towards facism.
5. Rampant Sexism
Although there is not rampant sexism, there is subtle evidence of sexism integrated into the system. An example of this is salary; a woman earns $0.81 to a man’s dollar. Furthermore, many women face a tax penalty when they marry, resulting in a reduction of their labor force participation. In detail, the tax treatment for married couples has a higher impact on the spouse who has a lower salary; this spouse is usually women (Brookings - “10 facts about American women in the workforce”).
In addition, the higher the hierarchy a woman tries to climb, the more the glass ceiling is pushing down. This society is based on patriarchy and this glass ceiling is systemic. It is designed so that the man benefits. This applies to politics, business, STEM, etc.
On a daily basis, simple acts that can come off as casual can also have underlying misogynistic tones. For example, a woman is considered a “cat lady” when she is single and in her 30’s while a man would be considered as an “eligible bachelor”. Society expects men to engage in sexual intercourse often while women are to be virgins until marriage. The dress code in schools is addressed mainly to girls in order for them to not “show too much skin”. Do not invalidate a woman’s opinion or emotions because they are menstruating. Do not invalidate a woman’s ability to lead because they have estrogen and are “too emotional”.
On the other hand, let us talk about men. Men are expected to show less emotion, engage in sexual intercourse with multiple women, and to show masculinity. In simpler terms, “be a man”. Have testosterone, do not cry, be confident, be strong, be a leader, have a high income to support your family, like sports… the list is endless. However, people seem to forget that men have estrogen as well.
Although it is not as common as with women, men too can be sexually assaulted. Men too can be subjected to toxic masculinity as well as society’s high expectations. Their emotions are validated. If a man was to be raped, that rape case is just as serious as a woman’s. Men can go into humanities fields instead of STEM.
At the end of the day, both sexes are victims of society’s toxic expectations.
6. Controlled Mass Media
5 corporate companies own most of the media today: Times Warner, Disney, Murdoch’s News Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany, and Viacom. Other major news organizations such as New York Times Corporation (owns the New York Times) and Tribune Company (owns The Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times) are also very prominent in the media industry (PBS - “Who Owns the Media?”).
By cologmorating companies, the news outlets can filter news to their liking, resulting in an ignorant mass public. Keeping the narrative in control of a selected few companies is therefore frightening. I am sure that you have read at least a couple classical dystopian novels such as The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Giver by Lois Lowry, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, 1984 or Animal Farm by George Orwell, or Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. All these novels have one thing in common: a society controlled by the government through use of filtered media and propaganda. See the connection?
7. Obsession with National Security
Back in 2001, due to the tragic events of 9/11. The Department of Homeland Security was established under George W. Bush. 9/11 was when the obsession with national security escalated. Ever since, the American-Middle Eastern foreign relationship has been rocky at best. Muslims have been associated with the word “terrorists” as well as being subjected to further inspections at airport screening.
Years later and things have not changed. Refugees fleeing violent and tyrannical countries are a threat to national security. Imported automobiles, according to the Trump administration, are a threat to national security. A government committee declared that- due to foriegn ownership- the dating app Grindr is a threat to nation security. What was once available for public viewing, numerous government papers have suddenly been classified.
Even the words “national security” were not as uttered frequently in the past than now. Between 1918 to 1931, these words were only mentioned four times by sitting presidents. By 1945, a government official or White House correspondent cannot attend a dinner party without hearing talk of the “future security of the United States.” After World War II, the National Security Act of 1947 was signed, establishing the National Security Resources Board, the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), and as well as the National Security Council. The National Security Agency was established 5 years later (The Atlantic - “The Strange Career of ‘National Security’”).
This fear of threats of national security can also be connected back to the United States’s military budget of $700 billion.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
Religion in government is one of the most pressing issues today. Although the Constitution states that the people have the freedom of religion, the U.S. government has proven again and again that that is not the case.
The post 1964 Bible condemns homosexual relationships and intercourse (actually, the Bible originally condemned pedophilia but in 1964, it was edited to homosexuality). Gay and transgender rights are constantly targets by conservatives.
The Trump Administration had submitted a brief to the Supreme Court in June of 2020, arguing that tax-payer organizations should have the right to refuse service to same sex couples and others whom they consider to be violations of its religious beliefs. In simpler terms, they should have the right to refuse service to members of the LBGTQ+ community (NBC News - “Adoption agency should be able to reject gay couples, Trump administration argues”).
The same month, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBTQ+ employees from workplace discrimination nationwide, a sign of progress (Los Angeles Times - “Landmark civil rights law extends to LGBTQ employees, Supreme Court rules”). However, it is still evident that Catholic and Christian beliefs have great influence on the government. It is not entirely convincing that the Supreme Court is on the side of justice as it should, but only time will tell.
9. Corporate Power is Protected
America is a capitalistic nation with corporations. I will break it up to you: corporate power takes away the people’s rights. Big corporates such as Google, Facebook, and Apple earn billions in subsidies and exploit workers for their own profit. Furthermore, tax codes permit (and I even dare say encourage) corporations to avoid taxes while simultaneously hoarding capital. These top 0.1% plunders the natural world for profit (Counterpunch - “How Corporate Power Killed Democracy”). Moreover, a significant body of research shows that major businesses in their respective industry have grown their revenues in the past decades (Harvard Business Review - “The Conundrum of Corporate Power”).
The bigger the government, the bigger the corporations grow, and big business wanting protection from the government is a recurring theme in U.S. history, as shown by the history of steel back in President’s Teddy Roosevelt’s term. In the early 20th century, U.S. steel lost market and became vulnerable due to smaller steel companies cutting their prices. This forced the United States Steel group to turn towards politics for protection as the economy turned against their favor. Steel conglomerates showed favorability in government control of the steel industry. This is one example of corporate power and big government working hand in hand (CATO Institute - “Big Business and Big Government”).
As America becomes a more capitalistic society, corporations will only gain power and the government will continue to protect them.
10. Labor Power is Suppressed
As corporate powers increase, labor power will be suppressed. In short, labor unions mean an increase of minimum wages as well as a bad publicity image. During President Nixon’s terms, there were high rates of inflation. People of authority blamed unions for being a major cause of inflation. Although the Nixon administration took the usual steps to solve this problem, corporations became increasingly impatient. They were in a hurry to build more factories because worker wages increased. This resulted in the workers’ favor because the corporates agreed to pay overtime in turn for more factories being built.
However, from then to 2012, labor declined. During the administrations of George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, labor could not win any legislative changes. There was hope during President Barack Obama’s election but corporate powers supported his election. Ever since then, labor unions declined in numbers. Union density in the public sector was 36% from 1980 to 1985, the private sector fell from 20.6% to 15.5%. There were 17 million private sector union members in 1970 but it experienced a 32% decline in 14 years.
The decrease of labor unions is alarming because decreasing labor unions directly correlates to an increase of corporate power. If corporate power (top 0.1%) controls the rest of the 99.9% while the big government supports them, union workers and the people are left vulnerable (Who Rules America? - “The Rise and Fall of Labor Unions In The U.S.”).
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
This requirement is not met yet.
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
While this requirement is not yet met, a current subtle example of this is the police. Fun fact: police officers have monthly quotas on the number of tickets or arrests. That is why there are a higher number of tickets issued towards the end of the month.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
The level of corruption in the White House is frightening. A couple weeks ago, President Donald Trump used national guardsmen and federal officers in order to force Black Lives Matter protesters aside at Lafayette Square. These officers used tear gas and rubber bullets to push the protesters because the President wanted a Bible PR photo-op. The President ordered an assault on his own people because he wanted a photo-op. This action is a blatant abuse of power (The Guardian - “A photo op as protests swirled: how Trump came to walk to the church”).
President Trump has also been known to practice cronyism. Having his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, command his own shadow force under President Trump’s administration, shows how corrupt he is. He chooses people to work under him based on the amount of support he can receive from them, not their qualifications (The New York Times - “Trump’s Corruption: The Definite List”).
14. Fraudulent Elections.
The FBI launched a series of investigations regarding possible links between Russia and President Donald Trump’s election back in July of 2016. In summary, the Bureau was searching for any evidence that the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, interfered with the 2016 election by releasing detrimental information about Hilary Clinton (CNN - “2016 Presidential Election Investigation Fast Facts”). The investigation lasted for years but on December 9, 2019, the Justice Department released a report detailing 17 significant errors committed during the process of submitting FISA warrants. Although the report concluded that there was no political conspiracy involved in the campaigns and the investigation was officially predicated, the opening of such an inspection is a definite red flag- one that should not be ignored.
Not to mention, voting frauds as well as violations of voting rights are common, eroding the legitimacy of election results on district, state, and as well as a federal level.
Concluding Remarks:
As shown above, these are some examples as to why the United States of America is moving towards facism. There are countless more I wish to add to this article, but alas, it is 5:43 in the morning and I am tired and writing this made me feel hopeless. Thank you for reading and stay educated.