Happy Fourth of July, America
Here, have another hotdog.
We here at Cappuccino are NOT in a celebratory mood this fourth of July. There are too many horrors, too many erosions of a woman’s right to reproductive healthcare, of American voting rights, freedoms of speech, the separation of church and state. The idea of celebrating the “independence” of such a nation seems ironic at best, which is why we are taking the day off to reflect on where we go from here.
Cappuccino will be back tomorrow with a week full of fun surprises, so stay cool and stay tuned.
Love to you all. We’ll muddle through this … somehow.
Robert O. Paxton, a former professor of social sciences at Columbia University and longtime historian of the political movement, sets out to formulate a working definition in his new book, "The Anatomy of Fascism." According to Paxton, there have only been two true fascist regimes, Nazi Germany and Italy under Mussolini....
Fascism is:
"... a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion."
-- Robert O. Paxton, 'Anatomy of Fascism' [4267] Kindle edition.
"(F)ascism is less a plan for governing -- the Nazis and Italian Fascists were perfectly willing to eject parts of their stated programs if they interfered with forming fortuitous alliances with the rich and powerful -- than it is a strategy for seizing power."
Quoted from "Who's a Facist?," Laura Miller, Salon.com, Apr 19, 2004.
http://www.salon.com/2004/04/19/fascism/
Supplementary points on Fascism, and what Paxton calls its “mobilizing passions:”
-- A sense of overwhelming crisis beyond the reach of any traditional solutions.
-- The primacy of the group, toward which one has duties superior to every right, whether individual or universal, and the subordination of the individual to it.
-- The belief that one's group is a victim, a sentiment that justifies any action, without legal or moral limits, against its enemies, both internal and external.
-- Dread of the group's decline under the effects of individualistic liberalism, class conflict, and alien influences.
-- The need for closer integration of a purer community, by consent if possible, or by exclusionary violence if necessary.
-- The need for natural chiefs (always male), culminating in a national chieftain who alone is capable of incarnating the group's historical destiny.
-- The superiority of the leader's instincts over abstract and universal reason.
-- The beauty of violence and the efficacy of will, when they are devoted to the group's success.
-- The right of the chosen people to dominate others without restraint from any kind of human or divine law, right being decided by the sole criterion of the group's prowess within a Darwinian struggle.
Eco: Ur-Fascism
http://www.thephora.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-91353.html
Don't let anyone tell you that Trump and his cult are anything other than fascism, pure and simple. Note that it is still fascism even if it has not yet obtained absolute, hegemonic power.
Backatcha. Celebrating feels inappropriate today. At a time when Conservatives are heavily invested in rolling back rights, it doesn’t feel as if there’s much independence to celebrate. 🤬💩🖕🏻