Don't you just love how modern American politics feels more like a fifth grade class where girls have cooties and boys are gross. Instead of outlining real and helpful policies that are actually going to benefit the American people, all we really hear is hear words like stupid, vindictive, elitists, and my personal favorite – fascist. It's one of the more popular “buzzwords” of the current political culture. If you happen to “Google” the word you might see something like this:
“Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/ FASH-iz-əm) is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement, characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.” (Wikipedia)
If you don’t like someone, say for instance, a political opponent; you can just start tossing out words like fascist, brownshirt, or even compare them to Adolf Hitler. If labeling someone who disagrees with you a “racist” doesn’t shut them up, you can up your game and play the fascist card.
However, we should probably examine historical evidence concerning actual fascists.
Let’s, for example, talk about the National Socialist Party. Just in case you’re not up on your history –– that would have been the political party of one Adolf Hitler. You remember him, right; WWII, the march across Europe, ghettos, concentration camps, gas chambers, and the extermination of more than six million Jewish men, women, and children for the crime of being Jewish? Pretty ugly stuff. I mean, where in this great modern world could you actually find people who hate jews?
But who were the National Socialists? What were their policies?
The National Socialists believed in free health care and guaranteed jobs.
They confiscated inherited wealth and spent vast sums on public education.
They purged the church from public policy, promoted a new form of pagan spirituality.
The National Socialists asserted the authority of the state to regulate every aspect of civil life.
They conducted campaigns against smoking cigarettes and other perceived social vices.
The National Socialist party supported abortion (that's killing your baby), euthanasia (that's killing your grandma), and gun control (that's preventing you from stopping someone who wants to kill you).
They despised the concept of free market, and maintained strict racial quota systems in their universities—where campus speech was strictly regulated.
The Nazis (I mean the National Socialists) led the world in organic farming and alternative medicine. Hitler was a strict vegetarian (he didn't eat meat), and Himmler was an animal rights activist (which means he liked kittens more than babies, old people or jews).
So, if you’re on the lookout for the fascists in our midst - you probably won’t find them goose stepping down the avenue, but you might find them teaching a class at Columbia or even a ninth grade history class in East Overshoe. Wouldn’t it be just awful to hate fascists and find out you just voted for one.
Be careful when you're slinging mud I in . . . some of it might land on you.
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