Tag: history

Fascist Manifesto

As I see it, The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 combines a Fascist Manifesto and Procrustean bed.  I cannot bring myself to read this right-wing screed.  My impression and understanding draw on admittedly limited sources.

Fascist derives from “fasces.”  In the Roman Empire, “magistrate” or magistrates were the highest government officials.  Their symbol of office was a bundle of rods wrapped with ribbon, holding an ax head, a “fasces.”  As carriers of the law, magistrates’ words were final.  (Older Americans may recall fasces on the obverse of our Winged Liberty Head dime.)

Merriam Webster defines Fascism as,
“a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) which exalts nation and often race over the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible oppression of opposition.”

A Manifesto is,
“a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, notions, or views of its issuer.”

Wikipedia explains the genesis and function of a Procrustean bed:
“In Greek mythology Procrustes   .  .  .  was a rogue smith and bandit from Attica who attacked people by stretching them or cutting off their legs, so as to force them to fit the size if an iron bed.

The word Procrustean is thus used by analogy to describe, for example, situations where an arbitrary standard is used to measure success, while completely disregarding obvious harm that results from the effort.”

Project 2025 would strap all Americans into it’s ultra-right-wing Procrustean bed.  They alone have the truth, and the rest of us will damn-well live according to it!

The Fascist creed was articulated by M*A*S*H’s major Frank Burns,
“The way I see it, if we all don’t march in step, if we don’t do as we’re told, if we don’t follow our leaders blindly, there’s no hope of saving our freedom!”

Nazis had Mein Kampf.  The Heritage Foundation has Project 2025.

Ironically, determined to impose Project 2025 on all Americans, far-right Fascists believe that some dark, left wing, cabal, Antifa, anti-Fascist, is working to force its values on everyone.

This is not so.  Perhaps to its detriment vis-à-vis conservativism, Antifa has no organization, no structure, no manifesto.  There are no card-carrying Antifains.  Anti-Fascists share a gut level, conviction that, so long as we do not harm others, Americans enjoy unalienable rights to believe and act according to our unique values and beliefs; however bizarre and incomprehensible those values and beliefs may be to others.

Antifa is not intent on destroying American democracy.

Antifa is the bedrock of American democracy.

On Socialism

Many Americans seem to harbor half-baked impressions of Socialism.  As I  understand it, under a Socialist-leaning government the production, distribution, and exchange goods and services are guided and intended to “promote the general welfare.”  I call Socialism free enterprise with a conscience.

There is no purely Socialistic government.  Many incorporate programs which may specifically or broadly be labeled “socialistic.” 

A government’s value—socialist, capitalist, communist, anarchy, monarchy—might be gauged by evaluating its citizens happiness.

According to “World Population Review” the “Happiest Countries in the World 2025” are:

  1. Finland
  2. Denmark
  3. Iceland
  4. Sweden
  5. Israel

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   23. The United States of America

The following is culled and quoted from Wikipedia.

Finland:

The happiest country on earth recognizes a collective responsibility to ensure everyone has a decent standard of living.  To facilitate citizens’ wellbeing and mitigate suffering, Finland incorporates cradle-to-grave, government funded, programs including unemployment insurance, family aid, welfare services, childcare services, disabled services, substance abuse users’ services, a guaranteed national pension plan, employee pension plans, and national health plans based on need, not on financial means.  Universal social insurance provides income security despite old age, illness, pregnancy, unemployment, and work-related injuries.

Fins enjoy nine years of free compulsory basic, followed by three years of secondary academic or vocational education, leading to university or polytechnic tertiary (college or university) level.  Adult education may have fees in some cases.

Denmark:

Losing the Happiness Sweepstakes by and eyelash, the constitutional monarchy of the unified Kingdom of Denmark, “protects and promotes the economic well-being of its citizens based on the principles of economic opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for citizens unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life.”

Under these precepts, Danes enjoy a high standard of living.  Denmark’s economy is characterized by extensive government welfare provisions.  A publicly funded system affords free universal healthcare to all citizens.   Under Folkstole, public education from ages 6 through college is free.  Denmark has the fourth highest ratio of tertiary degree holders in the world.  Its constitution, legislation, and policies support women’s, minorities’, LGSBQ’s, and human rights.  Denmark was the first country to recognize legality of same-sex partnership.  With strong support for trade unions Denmark boasts the world’s highest minimum wage. 

Iceland:

Reminiscent of its Scandinavian roots, “Iceland has a market economy with relatively low taxes compared to other OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries, as well as highest trade union membership in the world.  It maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides universal healthcare and tertiary education.  Iceland ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as quality of life, education, protection of civil liberties, government transparency and economic freedom.”

Sweden:

Fourth in Happiness, the Kingdom of Sweden ranks fifth in the Human Development Index (HDI) of life expectancy, education, and per capita income.  Like its Scandinavian cousins, Sweden’s Nordic social system includes a welfare state, multilevel collective bargaining, universal healthcare, and tertiary education for its citizens. The Kingdom has government-funded healthcare for all citizens “although private healthcare also exists.”  

Israel:

The first four countries in our happiness sweepstakes share a common physical environment and similar cultural values.  In fifth place, Israelites inhabited a starkly contrasting physical environment and compelling motivation, Judaism!

Israel is a parliamentary democracy.  Government programs include education from primary through 12th grade, and tertiary education.  “Healthcare in Israel is universal and participation in a medical insurance plan is compulsory.  All Israeli residents are intitled to basic healthcare as a fundamental right.”  “All residents of Israel must pay insurance contributions in order to qualify for welfare.”  Welfare programs include old age pensions, disability pensions, unemployment benefits, and income support.

Socialism recognizes that we are not equal.  Each of us is born with inherent strength and weaknesses then environment kicks in.  Fate favors a few and kicks the hell out of the rest.  In contrast with a dog-eat-dog, devil-for-the-hindmost economy, is it surprising that folks are happier when we care and look after each other?

Footnote:

According to “World Population Review” the “Murder Rate by Country 2025” per 100,000 of population:

   Finland 0.9825
   Denmark 0.986
   Iceland 1.073 
Sweden 1.147
Israel 1.626 
United States of America: 5.763!

Somebody Had to Pay

In Cold Blood Truman Capote recounts thirty-three-year-old Richard Hickock and thirty-six-year-old Perry Smith’s, November 15, 1959, slaughter of Kansas farmer Herbert “Herb” Clutter, his wife Bonnie, daughter Nancy, and son Kenyon.  Comments Capote attributes to the killers suggest why some young men murder total strangers.  Smith called, “(Mr. Clutter) a very nice gentleman.  Soft spoken.  I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat.”  One of the pair explained, “Somebody had to pay.”

Pay for what?

In a Dalas, Texas, motorcade, November 22, 1963, twenty-four-year-old Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

On a balcony of Memphis, Tennessee’s Lorayne Motel, April 4, 1968, forty-year-old James Earl Ray assassinated the Reverand Martin Luther King Jr.

In the kitchen of Las Angeles’s Ambassador Hotel, June 5, 1968, twenty-

four-year-old Sarhan Sarhan assassinated Robert F. Kennedy.

At Colorado’s Columbine High School, April 20, 1999, eighteen-year-old Eric Harris and seventeen-year-old Dylan Klebold massacred12 students and 1 teacher.

At Newtown, Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary, December 14, 2012, twenty-year-old Adam Lanze shot to death twenty, six- and seven-year-olds and six adults.

Shooting from the 37th floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, October 1, 2017, sixty-four-year-old Steven Paddock killed 60 and wounded over 400 at the Route 91 Harvest music festival.

At Parkland Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Valentine’s Day, 2018, nineteen-year-old Nickolas Cruz murdered 17 and injured 17 students.

At a Buffalo, New York, Tops Market, May 14,2022, eighteen-year-old Payton Gendron murdered 10 and wounded 3 African Americans.

At Uvalde, Texas’s, Robb Elementary School, May 24, 2022, eighteen-year- old Salvador Ramos murdered nineteen students and two teachers, and wounded 17 others.

At a Highland Park, Illinois, 2022 Independence Day parade twenty-one-year-old Robert Eugene Cremo III killed 7 and wounded 47.

At Buttler Pennsylvania’s Farm Show Grounds, July 13, 2024, a round from twenty-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks’s AR-15-style rifle snipped the top from former President Donald J. Trump’s right ear. 

It is natural to look for the roots of these men’s acts in ethics and philosophy, in Democrat/Republican, Liberal/Conservative politics.  I believe their motive is far more gut-level!  These men are Losers!  And they know it!

In Fate’s game of Monopoly, Richard Hickock, Perry Smith and the rest will never own a hotel on Boardwalk or penthouse above Park Place; not even a shack on Baltic Avenue.  These men are condemned to humanity’s dustbin.  And they know, hate, and resent it!

A High School Annual never labeled Richard Hickock or Perry Smith, “Most likely to succeed.”  Erik Harris and Dylan Klebold had not hope of being voted “Most Popular.”  Adam Lanza or Nikolas Cruz would never be elected Student Body President.  Payton Gendron or Salvador Ramos never dreamed of being Homecoming King.  Robert E. Crimo III may have fantasized seducing a High School Princess, but he knew it was out of the question.  Friendless and “bullied, Thomas Matthew Crooks felt fated to empty bedpans, wipe asses, and change diapers in a nursing home.

Today, the faces of these friendless, fearful, furious young men eclipse all others in the Yearbooks.  They are Mass Murderers!

Age and the magnitude of his massacre seem to make Paddock an outlier.  Did his act derive from the same irrational Rage as the younger shooters?

I’ll wrap this up by citing Erich Fromm.  In The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness this renowned social psychologist, psychoanalyst, and philosopher argues that men need to “make a dent.”  If nowhere else, they  sometimes make it “in someone’s head.“