The idea that America is turning fascist has been popular on the Left for as long as I can remember: in the 1960s, when antiwar radicals raged against the Machine, this kind of hyperbole dominated campus political discourse and even made its way into the mainstream. When the radical Weather Underground went into ultra-Left meltdown and began issuing incoherent "communiqués" to an indifferent American public, they invariably signed off by declaring: "Death to the fascist insect pig that preys on the life of the people!"
Such rhetoric, too overheated for American tastes, was quite obviously an exaggeration: America in the 1960s was no more "fascistic" than miniskirts, Hula Hoops, and the rhyming demagoguery of Spiro T. Agnew. Furthermore, we weren't even close to fascism, as the downfall of Richard M. Nixon made all too clear to whatever incipient authoritarians were nurtured at the breast of the GOP.
Back in those halcyon days, America was, in effect, practically immune from the fascist virus that had wreaked such havoc in Europe and Asia in previous decades: there was a kind of innocence, back then, that acted as a vaccine against this dreaded affliction. Fascism – the demonic offspring of war – was practically a stranger to American soil. After all, it had been a century since America had been a battleground, and the sense of invulnerability that is the hallmark of youth permeated our politics and culture. Nothing could hurt us: we were forever young. But as we moved into the new millennium, Americans acquired a sense of their own mortality: an acute awareness that we could be hurt, and badly. That is the legacy of 9/11.
Blessed with a double bulwark against foreign invasion – the Atlantic and Pacific oceans – America hasn't experienced the atomizing effects of large-scale military conflict on its soil since the Civil War. On that occasion, you'll remember, Lincoln, the "Great Emancipator," nearly emancipated the U.S. government from the chains of the Constitution by shutting down newspapers, jailing his political opponents, and cutting a swathe of destruction through the South, which was occupied and treated like a conquered province years after Lee surrendered. He was the closest to a dictator that any American president has come – but George W. Bush may well surpass him, given the possibilities that now prese...
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...tting out all political opposition, and arresting thousands on account of their political and religious convictions – in Uzbekistan. How far are such people from rationalizing the same sort of regime in the U.S.?
At least one prominent neocon has made the case for censorship, in the name of maintaining "morality" – but now, it seems to me, the "national security" rationalization will do just as well, if not better.
McConnell is right that we are not yet in the grip of a fully developed fascist system, and the conservative movement is far from thoroughly neoconized. But we are a single terrorist incident away from all that: a bomb placed in a mall or on the Golden Gate Bridge, or a biological attack of some kind, could sweep away the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and two centuries of legal, political, and cultural traditions – all of it wiped out in a single instant, by means of a single act that would tip the balance and push us into the abyss of post-Constitutional history.
The trap is readied, baited, and waiting to be sprung. Whether the American people will fall into it when the time comes: that is the nightmare that haunts the dreams of patriots.
Our nation seems as if it is in a constant battle between freedom and safety. Freedom and security are two integral parts that keep our nation running smoothly, yet they are often seen conflicting with one another. “Tragedies such as Pearl Harbor, 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombings may invoke feelings of patriotism and a call for unity, but the nation also becomes divided, and vulnerable populations become targets,” (Wootton 1). “After each attack a different group or population would become targets. “The attack on Pearl Harbor notoriously lead to Japanese Americans being imprisoned in internment camps, the attacks on 9/11 sparked hate crimes against those who appeared to be Muslim or Middle Eastern,” (Wootton 1). Often times people wind up taking sides, whether it be for personal freedoms or for national security, and as a nation trying to recover from these disasters we should be leaning on each other for support. Due to these past events the government has launched a series of antiterrorist measures – from ethnic profiling to going through your personal e-mail (Begley 1). Although there are times when personal freedoms are sacrificed for the safety of others, under certain circumstances the government could be doing more harm than good.
When you look into veterans eyes, you can see several things that are important. The pride shines through, the pride of serving ones country, and the dedication to protect other peoples freedom even it if requires paying the ultimate price. These men and women give their lives to give us our freedom. As a one of the many individuals that they are protecting it is vital that we see that pride and appreciate where it comes from.
Philosophy is a complicated subject. Since the beginning of human existence, many tried to come up with theories about life, happiness, reality and knowledge. From philosophical ideas different beliefs sprung, and existence of different religions followed. Every theory raised by a philosopher attracted different followers. In today's modern society aside from major religions, there are thousands of others that suggest that their explanations to universal questions are the only accurate ones, and all of these religions seek to gain more followers to join their "way". One of these religions is the religion/philosophy of Taoism. Taoism has it roots in China, where the founder of Taoism Lao-Tse was searching for a way that would avoid the constant feudal warfare and other conflicts that disrupted his society during his lifetime. The result was his book: Tao-te-Ching. Lao-Tse described Taoism as a path or a way which one must follow in order to reach inner serenity and peace. In order to reach these inner goals one must live in harmony with nature and natural process that creates the balance in the universe.
America’s veterans should be honored because they have suffered through so many hardships that others could not and have not survived, and they did it for their country that they loved and still love today.
Fascism is a Big Business-Big Government partnership that relies on propaganda to control its citizens. In the book titled Friendly Fascism, Bertram Gross argues that the United States and other capitalist countries practice a new form of fascism. Classical fascism can be defined as a government partnership with business that advances the political ideology of a nation. This political ideology advances with the help of big business and can be delivered through violence. Classical fascist states include Hitler’s Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, and Konoye’s Japan. Neo-fascism or friendly fascism is similar to classic fascism in that Big Government and Big Business create a partnership. The difference between classic and friendly fascism is that
The Oxford dictionary defines Fascism as “An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.” An online dictionary proposes this definition ‘a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.” Both of these definitions outline the controlling nature of Fascism, which is personified in Richard. Use of the term grew in popularity from the 1920s – 1940s when many Fascist governments reigned, beginning with Mussolini’s regime in Italy. Similarly the Nazi government of Germany also exhibited many of the ideals of Fascism.
Orwell presents that the word fascism now only signifies something not desired (Orwell 514). Fascists aren’t dangerous however. You aren’t going to have a conversation with a fascist for hours upon end, and then after finding out he is a fascist flee in fear. Fascisms definition has been obscured by the hand of politicians. They did this through the process of presenting speech after are given to patriotic crowds, and claiming that fascist wanted to harm your family. These speeches get the crowd so excited that eventually everyone is saying that fascist are bad, and needed to be hunted down. When in fact fascism is just a political system in which the government tries to put the well-being of the country over the well-being of individuals by having a dictator. Politicians contortion of these words, over time, often leads to adverse side effects. The translation of fascism along with many other words has created a lack of tolerance to foreign ideas and cultures. We don’t tolerate fascists just because we think it is something bad. The problem presented with the translation of fascism to an alternate definition has also occurred in modern day with the meaning of the word Islam. Islam is a religion, but if you go and ask any panel of average day Americans you will probably get that Islam means terrorist.
If we allow this country to slide to the left any more than it is today, this country will be gone for good in very short order. World history has proven this fact time after time and I for one do not need to ignore history for the sake of accommodating internal enemies of the country.
In Charles Dickens Bleak House, Chancery is portrayed as a disease that plagues the Victorian society. Dickens uses the suits and the lawyers of Chancery to display its effects on the whole society.
A largely debated topic in today's society is whether or not psychedelic drugs should be legalized for medicinal purposes and if they should, how this legalization would affect the communities in which they’re being prominently medicinally used. Although many scientists have argued that psychedelics pose a mental health risk, closer examination shows that communities would have a significantly lower depression rate if certain psychedelics were legalized. Now to fully understand how psychedelics could be beneficial or the opposite thereof, you’ll need to understand how they work and what they are. What a psychedelic drug is, the immediate effects, both mentally and physically, and how communities might benefit and function with the sudden use of these drugs.
We should honor veterans because the effects of war are still prominent in their everyday lives. The majority of veterans experience both mental and physical health issues as a result of war. Because of these disabilities, they may find it difficult to keep a job or be able to do every day functions by themselves. There are approximately 21.8 million veterans in the world today and roughly 22 veterans die every day due to their mental and physical disabilities. We should honor them because not only did they suffer during war, but they are still suffering from the effects of war and some are not getting the proper help that they need.
Ghirardo points out that the relationship between modern architecture and fascism is not as clear as recent analysis might have it. What do you think was the aspiration for modern 'rational' architecture and why would it be associated with socialist politics? Further, why was there such a close relationship between modern architecture and fascism in Italy in the pre-war years, but not in germany?
The idea of Taoism was originally presented by Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu. His beliefs and views on this philosophical system were stated in Tao te Ching, which in English is interpreted as ‘The Classic book on the way of Virtue’. The book, which has very little known about its roots and creation, talks about what effect behaviours can have on an individual’s life, and how to prevent these behaviours from having negative consequences. For many people in the modern day, the Tao te Ching provides an insight into ‘the art of living’ and how to live in a world of peace and joy. I agree with his philosophy that he presents in his book, in that people living the natural way and not forcing outcomes of life and situations leads to a better sense
The unprecedented terrorist attacks at the key economic, political, and military power centers in the United States on September 11, 2001 led to immediate restrictive measures among states in the global north and the international community as a whole. The perceived unprecedented threat of international terrorism had to be confronted with nothing less than a global “war on terrorism”. As a nation, Americans were born fighting; therefore, Americans will stop at nothing to protect their rights in the nation. Citizens who condone this type of patriotism – those who condone violence inflicted upon other nations other than their own show that they are complicit with a terrorist regime. The Reluctant Fundamentalist, written by Mohsin Hamid, resonates
Hence, censorship is essential in society to eliminate discrimination on basis of race and gender, protect children, maintain stability and restore what censor sees as lost moral values. Censorship occurs when expressive materials like books, magazines, movies, videos, music or works of art are restricted to particular audiences based on their age or other characteristics. http://www.ala.org/oif/intellectualfreedeomandcensorship.html) Censorship is not a recent development. It wasn’t imposed properly or there weren’t strict regulations before.