John Ray posts a list, authored by Laurence W. Britt, of 14 characteristics of fascism. Despite it’s ridiculous conclusion, and its missing “15th characteristic” (which John takes pains to point out) I found it quite accurate. Which regimes today do these characteristics accurately describe? All the Arab regimes, with the possible exception (I hope) of Iraq. The headers are as follows:
1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.
2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.
3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.
4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.
5. Rampant sexism.
6. A controlled mass media.
7. Obsession with national security.
8. Religion and ruling elite tied together.
9. Power of corporations protected.
10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.
11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.
12. Obsession with crime and punishment.
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.
14. Fraudulent elections.
Which one doesn’t apply to Arab regimes? They all apply, to an extreme degree.
I would like to draw your attention to characteristics 9 and 13 – not because they are necessarily more important than the others, but because they are most likely to be misunderstood. It is commonly thought that big companies favor capitalism (free enterprise). Nothing could be further from the truth! A big company would like nothing more than to be institutionalized by the government. This is particularly true once the entrepreneurial founder has retired – though under fascist regimes a different kind of entrepreneurism flourishes: the art of currying favor with the government. (One expert at this kind of entrepreneurism was Osama Bin Laden’s father, who was a favorite of the Saudi royal family.)
It is a lack of imagination that makes a reader suppose that this list can be compatible with capitalism. “Power of corporations protected” surely doesn’t refer to your small-town general store, which could be the next Wal-Mart, nor does it refer to the tinkerer in his garage, who might stumble upon the next big thing. In relatively free economies, people like these are the primary source of corporations, and the biggest employers. The power of which corporations are protected? The big corporations, of course. From what do they want to be protected? From the free market, from the possibility that some insignificant, one-man, two-bit corporation, could one day challenge them. How do they achieve this protection? “Rampant cronyism and corruption.” Cronyism and corruption are enemies of free enterprise.
This system is not new, fascism is the modern-day incarnation of feudalism. At a time when the primary source of wealth was land, a small group of people – the aristocracy – sought to institutionalize its wealth by granting itself a monopoly on government (with consequent monopoly on the military). Now that the primary source of wealth is industry, a (not necessarily) new group of people seeks to do the same. Unfortunately for our ability to understand this phenomenon, we have no word for this group of people. Perhaps I should propose one: the fascistocracy.
UPDATE: Just to be clear, I have nothing against big business as long as it doesn’t get special favors from the government, i.e. as long as it maintains its success by better serving its customers. However, it should be noted that bigger government by nature favors big business – they are the ones with the resources to cope with increased bureaucracy and regulations, and the influence to get government contracts. Wherever the power of government is greater, you will find the economy more dominated by big business. The economies of Canada and Europe, for example, are much more dominated by big business than the economy of the US.
Posted by David Boxenhorn at July 30, 2004 10:40 AM