Anti-unionism is anti-democracy

It seems politically incorrect these days to accuse anyone of fascist leanings, or to even mention the F word. I wonder why this is. America gave up a fortune in lives and treasury to defeat fascism in the bloodiest war in history, but has not expended nearly as much energy keeping it at bay as it has communism.

The reason may be that capitalism and fascism enjoy a fruitful symbiosis, and that many American corporatists admire fascism, whether secretly or unwittingly. Indeed, in the years leading up to WWII, many of America’s corporate elite openly admired Adolf Hitler, and a few continued to do business with him during the war.

It’s a matter of historic fact that one of the first things Hitler did when he came to power in 1933 Germany was ban unions because he saw them as a threat to his power over workers. Hatred of unions has been a trait of American conservatism ever since unions appeared on the scene, for essentially the same reason. For this reason, it was completely in character for Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) to campaign against unions in the run-up to the recent election at the Chattanooga VW plant, where workers ultimately rejected the opportunity to unionize. This tactic is especially effective in the South, where despite the fact that workers are among the most exploited in the free world, people have an irrational fear of unions and would rather submit to the control of a corporation like the old Cannon Mills than fight to protect their rights.

I don’t mean to gloss over the corruption that has plagued unions over the decades, but corporations and government have not been immune to corruption over the years. Today unions are relatively corruption-free, and the same probably can’t be said for corporations and government. Indeed, as beholden as he probably is to corporations, it may be fair to argue that Corker is more corrupt than the union he campaigned against.

Thanks to the Supreme Court, the voice of corporations is louder than ever. Unions once put real people on an equal footing with corporations, but alas conservatives are successfully silencing that voice, effectively silencing American workers and preventing them from standing up for their rights. Sadly, the ultimate victim is democracy.

Smell the roses

While his list is slowly making the rounds, few Americans are familiar with Dr. Lawrence Britt and his compilation of 14 defining characteristics of fascism. One look at the list and it’s easy to see the parallels in the US today.

Today in the US, conservatives:

• Show their disdain for intellectualism and the arts by striving at every opportunity to cut funding for the arts and humanities. This is typified by attempts to cut contributions to Public Broadcasting and the NEA and NEH.
• Try wherever they can to restrict or prohibit unions or the labor movement in the public sector workforce, and however they can in the private sector (usually by promoting right-to-work laws that undermine the power of workers).
• Legislate in favor of corporations at the expense of the working class.
• Target minorities as often being responsible for society’s ills. Today it’s Latinos and Muslims.
• Exploit or create a bad economy to foster fear and mistrust of government.
• Buy control of mass media outlets to control the flow of information.
• Show a willingness to sacrifice human rights in the name of national security.
• Align with conservative Christians to promote an agenda that obliterates the separation of church and state.
• Manipulate or rig elections whenever possible to deny voters the opportunity to express their true will.

Of course I don’t mean to imply that all of our Republican legislators are closet fascists. I don’t think most of them are smart enough to understand the concept. No — they are enablers. The spirit of fascism is ingrained in America’s corporate mentality, where business is viewed as the ruler.

It’s hard to ignore these and other obvious parallels between the US today and fascist regimes of the past. Can you see them?

The scariest -ism

Let me set the record straight: in my view, fascism and communism are fundamentally economic systems, not political systems or ideologies. That they’ve become associated with politics arises from flawed, largely failed attempts to create political and social structures around them — to use them to govern. The two most prominent examples in the 20th century were Nazi Germany and the USSR. While fascism and communism were natural enemies, there was hardly a difference between the regimes that embraced them. Both were ruthless expansionist dictatorships that committed horrendous crimes against humanity.

Neither of these “-isms” has ever proven to be workable, nor is it likely that either ever will. Early Christians took a stab at communism, but the fact that it failed to flourish despite the rather leftist leanings of Christ shows it wasn’t something that would ever get off the ground. Cuba notwithstanding, communism isn’t a system that people will put up with for very long. The fascist experiments over the course of history have been even less successful.

That’s not to say the US couldn’t find itself on the slippery slope to fascism if the line between government and corporations blurs any further. Contrary to what conservatives would have you believe, democracies are much more susceptible to fascism than communism. We can already see alarming parallels between the trends in Germany during the waning days of the Weimar Republic and contemporary America. As in Germany, the right wing in the US is targeting labor unions. As in Germany, the right creates enemies among us where none exist — immigrants, gays, Muslims. As in Germany, American conservatives worship at the altar of Business.