Following Bill Moyers' special this week on PBS concerning the media's lack of critically challenging the propaganda of the Bush administration leading up to the War in Iraq, I post the following points for people to reflect on. We must constantly be vigilant to guard the democracy we have be blessed with. It can easily be destroyed if reason and critical thought is replaced with irrationalism and fear.
Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3. 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.
4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
6. 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.
7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
9. 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.
10. Labor 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.
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.
12. 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.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
27 April 2007
22 April 2007
Which Side Are We On?
By Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
Read as the commentary on the April 19 edition of Community Bridge.
In early February, President Bush told a group of Wall Street executives that "income inequality is real; it's been rising for more than 25 years. And the question is whether we respond to the income inequality we see with policies that help lift people up, or tear others down."
It's ironic that this president raised the issue of income inequality because his own trickle-down economic policies have contributed to the growing gap between the very rich and everyone else, a situation worse today than at any time since the '20S.
Despite Bush's professed concern, the budget he recently submitted to Congress will exacerbate the enormous gap between the rich and the poor, squeeze the middle class, reward war profiteers and hurt those most in need.
The president's budget cuts the number of children receiving childcare assistance by 300,000 and terminates food stamps for 280,000 families. At a time when veterans urgently need access to healthcare, the president's budget imposes a new enrollment fee for Veterans Administration healthcare as high as $750. And the list goes on and on.
Over the next decade, the Bush budget would cut Medicare by $252 billion and Medicaid by $28 billion. In 2008 alone, education will be cut by $1.5 billion and the Environmental Protection Agency will lose $509 million.
The administration claims-we just don't have the money to reduce childhood poverty or provide universal healthcare. Meanwhile, millionaires would receive an average tax break of $160,000 per year at a cost of $739 billion over the next decade. And, the president's 2008 defense budget - $6o8 billion - is more than at the height of the Vietnam and Korean Wars.
Class warfare is being waged in America and the wrong side is winning. It is time for the new Democratic majority in Congress to stand with the working families of our country. It is time we offer a budget that reflects the needs of working people instead of the wealthy.
And it is time for citizens across the nation to stand up and demand that their representatives and senators, Democrats and Republicans, do so and thereby represent the interests of all Americans, not a select few.
We must ask: Which side are we on? Are we for the rich and the powerful or the middle class and working families?
As a member of the Senate Budget Committee, I see a pretty clear answer. I will not be voting for more tax breaks for the outgoing CEO of Home Depot, who recently received a $210 million golden parachute. Rather, I will be voting to substantially increase financial aid for low and middle class families so that every American, regardless of income, can receive a college education.
I will not support a tax cut for the former CEO of Pfizer, who received a $200 million compensation package. Instead, I will vote to substantially increase funding for childcare so that families can find affordable and quality care for their children.
The former CEO of ExxonMobil, who managed to get a $400 million retirement package, does not need more tax relief. It is far more important that we keep our promises to the veterans of this country who now find themselves on waiting lists to get the health care they need.
If we as a nation are serious about creating a more egalitarian society, we need to invest more federal resources in education, health care, housing, infrastructure, environmental protection and sustainable energy. We also have to reduce our national debt. Given that reality, Congress must develop the courage to stand up to the big money interests and roll back the tax breaks for the wealthiest one percent, stop corporate welfare, eliminate unneeded defense weaponry, and demand that the wealthy and powerful rejoin American society.
We should do nothing less.
-Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
This editorial appeared in the March 2007 edition of In These Times magazine. In These Times is dedicated to informing and analyzing popular movements for social, environmental and economic justice; to providing a forum for discussing the politics that shape our lives; and to producing a magazine that is read by the broadest and most diverse audience possible.
Visit them at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/
Read as the commentary on the April 19 edition of Community Bridge.
In early February, President Bush told a group of Wall Street executives that "income inequality is real; it's been rising for more than 25 years. And the question is whether we respond to the income inequality we see with policies that help lift people up, or tear others down."
It's ironic that this president raised the issue of income inequality because his own trickle-down economic policies have contributed to the growing gap between the very rich and everyone else, a situation worse today than at any time since the '20S.
Despite Bush's professed concern, the budget he recently submitted to Congress will exacerbate the enormous gap between the rich and the poor, squeeze the middle class, reward war profiteers and hurt those most in need.
The president's budget cuts the number of children receiving childcare assistance by 300,000 and terminates food stamps for 280,000 families. At a time when veterans urgently need access to healthcare, the president's budget imposes a new enrollment fee for Veterans Administration healthcare as high as $750. And the list goes on and on.
Over the next decade, the Bush budget would cut Medicare by $252 billion and Medicaid by $28 billion. In 2008 alone, education will be cut by $1.5 billion and the Environmental Protection Agency will lose $509 million.
The administration claims-we just don't have the money to reduce childhood poverty or provide universal healthcare. Meanwhile, millionaires would receive an average tax break of $160,000 per year at a cost of $739 billion over the next decade. And, the president's 2008 defense budget - $6o8 billion - is more than at the height of the Vietnam and Korean Wars.
Class warfare is being waged in America and the wrong side is winning. It is time for the new Democratic majority in Congress to stand with the working families of our country. It is time we offer a budget that reflects the needs of working people instead of the wealthy.
And it is time for citizens across the nation to stand up and demand that their representatives and senators, Democrats and Republicans, do so and thereby represent the interests of all Americans, not a select few.
We must ask: Which side are we on? Are we for the rich and the powerful or the middle class and working families?
As a member of the Senate Budget Committee, I see a pretty clear answer. I will not be voting for more tax breaks for the outgoing CEO of Home Depot, who recently received a $210 million golden parachute. Rather, I will be voting to substantially increase financial aid for low and middle class families so that every American, regardless of income, can receive a college education.
I will not support a tax cut for the former CEO of Pfizer, who received a $200 million compensation package. Instead, I will vote to substantially increase funding for childcare so that families can find affordable and quality care for their children.
The former CEO of ExxonMobil, who managed to get a $400 million retirement package, does not need more tax relief. It is far more important that we keep our promises to the veterans of this country who now find themselves on waiting lists to get the health care they need.
If we as a nation are serious about creating a more egalitarian society, we need to invest more federal resources in education, health care, housing, infrastructure, environmental protection and sustainable energy. We also have to reduce our national debt. Given that reality, Congress must develop the courage to stand up to the big money interests and roll back the tax breaks for the wealthiest one percent, stop corporate welfare, eliminate unneeded defense weaponry, and demand that the wealthy and powerful rejoin American society.
We should do nothing less.
-Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
This editorial appeared in the March 2007 edition of In These Times magazine. In These Times is dedicated to informing and analyzing popular movements for social, environmental and economic justice; to providing a forum for discussing the politics that shape our lives; and to producing a magazine that is read by the broadest and most diverse audience possible.
Visit them at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/
02 April 2007
In ten years, what kind of Manhattan do you want?
by Christopher E. Renner
I began reading a book this week that stuck my interest for the title alone: American Fascists; The Christian Right and the War on America by Chris hedges, the author of Losing Moses on the Freeway. In this book, Hedges challenges the Christian Rights’ religious legitimacy and argues that at it core it is a mass movement fueled by unbridled nationalism and a hatred for an open society. I you enjoy programs like “Evolutionary Faith” which is what won us our Kansas Broadcasters award, you will enjoy reading this book.
According to Hedges, all it is going to take is another national crisis like the attack on the World Trade Towers for the Christian Right to make a concerted effort to destroy American democracy. Much as they did in supporting the passage of the Patriot Act, which has grossly curtained our civil rights and recourse to judicial remedies for the invasions of privacy and the right to habeas corpus.
As we have seen in this year’s Kansas legislative session, the right has done everything they can from attacking academic freedom to denying people access to health insurance because of the individuals they love, the Right’s anti-democratic agenda is clear.
On April 3 Manhattanites have some serious decisions to make that will affect the long-term livability of our community. After suffering through four years of a theocratic-laden city government that carried out policies threatening the very nature of civic government, much as Hedges discusses in his book, we have had two years of “don’t rock the boat,” just when we needed real dynamic leadership to ensure that our redevelopment as a community was structured in a way that was beneficial to all residents. Unfortunately, positive vision-driven leadership has been lacking on the issues of redevelopment, public health and safety.
I have read letters in the Mercury exalting the more extreme candidates to the City Commission who will address the “tax issue.” What these letters do not do is explain is why we have a “tax issue” to begin with. Because of the theocratic vision of our former City Commission, that held unrestricted capitalism as next to Godliness - a theological dictum that has little, if any, support in the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth - at a moment when the City should have intervened to protect property owners from the unbridled speculation of a few developers, no action was taken. Homeowners like myself are now paying for artificially high property values caused by the “hands off” approach of the past.
I am very concerned with the mantra of “lowering the mil level” as the Golden Fleece of the current property tax concerns. Lowering the mil level will most help those whose homes have the most value, who SHOULD be paying more taxes than those of us who earn less than $30,000 a year and have seen our home values increase by 150%. It will do nothing to correct the mistakes of the past. That requires much more effort than what I have seen in the superficial rhetoric of several ill-informed candidates.
Moreover, we have real quality of life issues to be concerned about. I think the redevelopment in the North and South end of downtown Manhattan is missing the boat. We do not need more big box stores. We need commercial space that will allow small business owners to thrive and provide opportunities for the diversity of our community to be reflected in commercial establishments. We do not need to look like Johnson County. We need more public space, not more privately controlled space. Dial Reality is not going to be challenged to change their course of action by the social conservatives running for City Commission. If anything, these politicians will only further contribute to suburban-sprawl feel of the development and will force even more average-income families and individuals to leave our community.
But my real concerns have to do with how, as a municipality, we respond to the social service needs of those who are returning to our community after having served in the War in Iraq. Ft. Riley is our largest employer and as a community we will have to respond to issues we prefer not to talk about. First, we have priced the enlisted troops out of the home-ownership market, a grave mistake. Then we have issues like: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is suffered by at least 18 percent in the returning enlisted personnel, 30 percent among National Guard and Reservists troops. Sexual assault in the military is up 24% over last year. Many children have one or both parents stationed in Iraq. Needs for programs like the Boys and Girls Club and Big Brothers and Big Sisters cannot keep up with the increased demand for services. Childcare is approaching crisis proportions.
I have heard nothing coming from the mouths of those speaking loudest on the “tax issue” as to how our community will respond to these pressing issues. This not only concerns me, but makes me ask why are these people running for office? We do not need more religious zealots who intend to impose their religious views as public policy and political carpetbaggers who will support the developers sitting in City Commission seats. We need individuals who have the knowledge, skills and vision to make Manhattan a better community for everyone who lives here.
I want to encourage people to get out and vote in this April’s election. The Manhattan we have in 10 years will depend in large part on the decisions of this election. Moreover, I hope when we go the polls, we will consider the human needs of our community and make responsible decisions rather than decisions that are based on short-term fixes and self-serving rhetoric.
I began reading a book this week that stuck my interest for the title alone: American Fascists; The Christian Right and the War on America by Chris hedges, the author of Losing Moses on the Freeway. In this book, Hedges challenges the Christian Rights’ religious legitimacy and argues that at it core it is a mass movement fueled by unbridled nationalism and a hatred for an open society. I you enjoy programs like “Evolutionary Faith” which is what won us our Kansas Broadcasters award, you will enjoy reading this book.
According to Hedges, all it is going to take is another national crisis like the attack on the World Trade Towers for the Christian Right to make a concerted effort to destroy American democracy. Much as they did in supporting the passage of the Patriot Act, which has grossly curtained our civil rights and recourse to judicial remedies for the invasions of privacy and the right to habeas corpus.
As we have seen in this year’s Kansas legislative session, the right has done everything they can from attacking academic freedom to denying people access to health insurance because of the individuals they love, the Right’s anti-democratic agenda is clear.
On April 3 Manhattanites have some serious decisions to make that will affect the long-term livability of our community. After suffering through four years of a theocratic-laden city government that carried out policies threatening the very nature of civic government, much as Hedges discusses in his book, we have had two years of “don’t rock the boat,” just when we needed real dynamic leadership to ensure that our redevelopment as a community was structured in a way that was beneficial to all residents. Unfortunately, positive vision-driven leadership has been lacking on the issues of redevelopment, public health and safety.
I have read letters in the Mercury exalting the more extreme candidates to the City Commission who will address the “tax issue.” What these letters do not do is explain is why we have a “tax issue” to begin with. Because of the theocratic vision of our former City Commission, that held unrestricted capitalism as next to Godliness - a theological dictum that has little, if any, support in the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth - at a moment when the City should have intervened to protect property owners from the unbridled speculation of a few developers, no action was taken. Homeowners like myself are now paying for artificially high property values caused by the “hands off” approach of the past.
I am very concerned with the mantra of “lowering the mil level” as the Golden Fleece of the current property tax concerns. Lowering the mil level will most help those whose homes have the most value, who SHOULD be paying more taxes than those of us who earn less than $30,000 a year and have seen our home values increase by 150%. It will do nothing to correct the mistakes of the past. That requires much more effort than what I have seen in the superficial rhetoric of several ill-informed candidates.
Moreover, we have real quality of life issues to be concerned about. I think the redevelopment in the North and South end of downtown Manhattan is missing the boat. We do not need more big box stores. We need commercial space that will allow small business owners to thrive and provide opportunities for the diversity of our community to be reflected in commercial establishments. We do not need to look like Johnson County. We need more public space, not more privately controlled space. Dial Reality is not going to be challenged to change their course of action by the social conservatives running for City Commission. If anything, these politicians will only further contribute to suburban-sprawl feel of the development and will force even more average-income families and individuals to leave our community.
But my real concerns have to do with how, as a municipality, we respond to the social service needs of those who are returning to our community after having served in the War in Iraq. Ft. Riley is our largest employer and as a community we will have to respond to issues we prefer not to talk about. First, we have priced the enlisted troops out of the home-ownership market, a grave mistake. Then we have issues like: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is suffered by at least 18 percent in the returning enlisted personnel, 30 percent among National Guard and Reservists troops. Sexual assault in the military is up 24% over last year. Many children have one or both parents stationed in Iraq. Needs for programs like the Boys and Girls Club and Big Brothers and Big Sisters cannot keep up with the increased demand for services. Childcare is approaching crisis proportions.
I have heard nothing coming from the mouths of those speaking loudest on the “tax issue” as to how our community will respond to these pressing issues. This not only concerns me, but makes me ask why are these people running for office? We do not need more religious zealots who intend to impose their religious views as public policy and political carpetbaggers who will support the developers sitting in City Commission seats. We need individuals who have the knowledge, skills and vision to make Manhattan a better community for everyone who lives here.
I want to encourage people to get out and vote in this April’s election. The Manhattan we have in 10 years will depend in large part on the decisions of this election. Moreover, I hope when we go the polls, we will consider the human needs of our community and make responsible decisions rather than decisions that are based on short-term fixes and self-serving rhetoric.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
