Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
United we stand: Los 14 Principios Universales del Fascismo puestos en práctica en Honduras - Lo que pasa cuando la gente no sabe lo que es fascismo
Council for Secular Humanism
Laurence W. Britt
Note
1. Defined as a “political movement or regime tending toward or imitating Fascism”—Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary.
References
Andrews, Kevin. Greece in the Dark. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1980. Chabod, Frederico. A History of Italian Fascism. London: Weidenfeld, 1963. Cooper, Marc. Pinochet and Me. New York: Verso, 2001. Cornwell, John. Hitler as Pope. New York: Viking, 1999. de Figuerio, Antonio. Portugal—Fifty Years of Dictatorship. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1976. Eatwell, Roger. Fascism, A History. New York: Penguin, 1995. Fest, Joachim C. The Face of the Third Reich. New York: Pantheon, 1970. Gallo, Max. Mussolini’s Italy. New York: MacMillan, 1973. Kershaw, Ian. Hitler (two volumes). New York: Norton, 1999. Laqueur, Walter. Fascism, Past, Present, and Future. New York: Oxford, 1996. Papandreau, Andreas. Democracy at Gunpoint. New York: Penguin Books, 1971. Phillips, Peter. Censored 2001: 25 Years of Censored News. New York: Seven Stories. 2001. Sharp, M.E. Indonesia Beyond Suharto. Armonk, 1999. Verdugo, Patricia. Chile, Pinochet, and the Caravan of Death. Coral Gables, Florida: North-South Center Press, 2001. Yglesias, Jose. The Franco Years. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1977.
Analysis of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Franco’s Spain, Salazar’s Portugal, Papadopoulos’s Greece, Pinochet’s Chile, and Suharto’s Indonesia, all share at least some level of similarity:
- A propensity toward pursuing a militaristic and aggressive foreign policy
- the need for authority by natural chiefs (always male), culminating in a national chieftain who alone is capable of incarnating the group's historical destiny;
adulation of a single charismatic national leader said to possess near superhuman abilities and to be the truest representation of the ideals of the national culture, whose will should therefore literally be law
"Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer"? (Un pueblo, un imperio, un guía - Una tierra, un pueblo, una voz: Paz)"Arbeit macht uns frei"(La verdad nos libera)? La primera un motto nazi, la segunda frase "El trabajo nos libera" es un motto que aparece aún hoy en las puertas de campos de concentraciones como el de Dachau, donde los soldados nazis lo usaban para incentivar a los judíos y comunistas o gente en contra del régimen a trabajar. Viva Micheletti! Foto tomada del NY TimesEmphasis on the absolute necessity of complete national unity, which is said to require a very powerful and disciplined state organization (especially an extensive secret police and censorship apparatus), unlimited by constitutional restrictions or legal requirements and under the absolute domination of the leader and his political movement or party
- .Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
Despido o suspensión de salario a maestros en paro (FUENTE: EL HERALDO HONDURAS)
- Power is Suppressed Because the organizing power of labor is the
only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed .
Policía no tolerará más tomas de vías
Actuará con “firmeza” si es necesario, anuncia el viceministro de Seguridad, Mario Perdomo
Feminist women organized in the Honduran Women’s Collective (CODEMUH) feel it is importantto expose, both nationally and internationally, the situation that women maquila workers areexperiencing in this country.Workers are being forced to participate in so-called “Marches for Peace” [pro-coupdemonstrations]. In some companies, workers are selected from high-producing work-groups,groups that achieve their quotas. Workers are not asked whether they want to participate or not,and in at least one case, the administrators of a cooperative are being forced to participate.Employers are also insulting the anti-coup demonstrators, saying they are trouble-makers whowant to harm participants in the “Marches for Peace.”
- Obsession with Crime and Punishment -- Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses, and even forego civil liberties, in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
- Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
A sophisticated apparatus for systematically propagandizing the population into accepting these values and ideas through skilled manipulation of the mass media, which are totally monopolized by the regime once the movement comes to power
Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause.The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
Prohíben parqueo de buses en residenciales
- Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
- Fraudulent Elections
- Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
- Corporate Power is Protected. The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
- Rampant Sexism.The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated
- Religion and ruling elite tied together. Unlike communist regimes, the fascist and protofascist regimes were never proclaimed as godless by their opponents. In fact, most of the regimes attached themselves to the predominant religion of the country and chose to portray themselves as militant defenders of that religion. The fact that the ruling elite’s behavior was incompatible with the precepts of the religion was generally swept under the rug. Propaganda kept up the illusion that the ruling elites were defenders of the faith and opponents of the “godless.” A perception was manufactured that opposing the power elite was tantamount to an attack on religion.