The Puzzle of Fascism is a highly controversial new book written by Eric D. Williams. In this book, Williams offers up a single solitary concept, peppered with supporting details and arguments: Fascism and Fascist concepts are becoming more apparent in the American government and American society. Williams offers up many examples, including classic items such as mass control of the media and skewed propaganda, along with more less known items, such as the infamous Hegelian Principle. Though Williams offers up some compelling arguments and facts, some of the book did leave both unimpressed and unconvinced. Due to the fact that Eric Williams is not a very famous writer, little information exists about him that is readily accessible on the Internet (please note that this author should not be confused with D. Eric Williams, author of Heaven Is For Real). However, based on his previous books (The Puzzle of Fascism is his most recent), I have been able to deduce a bit about his typical subject matter. Williams has written and published four total books, including the one I am doing a review on. Of the other three, two detail the events of 9/11 and how it was supposedly an inside job by the American government (Williams hilariously quotes his own book as a source at one point in The Puzzle of Fascism). Based on these facts and with the use of typical terminology, it would be safe to say that Eric D. Williams in a “conspiracy theorist”. Obviously, I don’t like to throw this term around often, mostly due to the negative connotation that it has. However, by calling Williams this, I have not resigned myself to take all that he says with a grain of salt, but it has made a bit wary about the way that he presents his information and... ... middle of paper ... ...upt, Williams does not mention this at all. Overall, this book was a headache to read. Williams uses most of his arguments as an excuse to promote his anti-American government agenda, while also sprinkling a few decent arguments and a splash of emotion. It was also slightly frustrating, for there are definitely a few decent arguments that could be made on the subject, but instead of effectively establishing these problems and specifically elaborating on them, Williams spends most of his time complaining to the reader about the problems with the government. This book had an extremely large amount of potential, but it managed to fall quite flat. As I read the back of the book, I had had high expectations and thought that this book would prove to be an excellent sequel for my book from last semester. Although a few decent debates were made, this was not the case.
These were pivotal times in the annals of world history in the 20th century. Mussolini and Hitler’s rise to power was clearly a threat to the freedoms of the United States and its Allies. Through God’s grace and omnipotence, the US alliance, industrialization and intellectual might, we had the resources required to overcome the fierce and mighty threat of Fascism in the Free World.
Following the devastating terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, the Unites States found itself in a search for answers and revenge against those that had brought about this atrocity. The attack that has been compared to that of Pearl-Harbor elevated the tracking and collecting of terrorism from barely a priority, to the forefront of the American radar. I honestly believe that terrorism as the #1 priority is destined to remain at the top for the foreseeable future. The elemental thoughts on almost all American minds following the attacks were who had the strength and capability to could carry out such an attack on a country with the world’s strongest military and what led to their focus to attack the Untied States: In short, who attacked us, and why do they hate us? The Untied States formed a bi-partisan 9/11 Commission was formed to trace the roots of Al-Qa’ida, investigate the history of the 19 hijackers, examine missed opportunities of law enforcement officials to avert the disaster, and make recommendations to clean up the faulty incoherent intelligence-gathering operation. The 500+ page 9/11 Commission Report contained thirteen chapters of historical narratives, analysis and recommendations. All ten members of the bi-partisan commission signed off on the report, which has arguably become a national historical document. Just as the 9/11 Commission was created to find answers and recommend necessary follow steps to ensure history doesn’t repeat itself, Lawrence Wright sought answers as to why 3000 American lives were lost in the attacks on September 11th. An experienced traveler to the region, Lawrence Wright endeavored to do his own investigative study into the history, ideology and circumstances behind this large-...
7 May 2010 “Fascism in Germany and Italy.” Online Essays. 10 July 2007. 7 May 2010 “Italian Fascism.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.
Many conspiracy theories have been developed concerning what happened to the World Trade Centers on September 11, 2001, but there are a select few that, similar to the truth, cannot be disproved without quite a bit of effort. One theory is that the Twin Towers were destroyed by controlled demolitions. Another idea of what happened is that planes did hit the towers, but they were remote controlled. A third theory is that Al Qaeda is not responsible for the 9-11 attacks (The Top September 11 Conspiracy Theories, n.d.). And last, but certainly not least, is the theory that the 9-11 attacks were a false flag operation. When considering these theories, there are many different controversial areas that should be assessed to differentiate between fact and opinion.
Mussolini, Benito. “The Political and Social Doctrine of Fascism.” The Human Record . By Alfred J. Andrea and James H. Overfield. Vol. 2. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2011. 2 vols. 399-400.
David Bernstein is to be congratulated on so clearly, vividly, analytically and accurately showing seriousness of these new threats to free speech and civil liberties in the US. The Cato Institute also deserves credit for publishing the book since in Bernstein’s words ‘authors who take politically incorrect positions . . . face a particularly difficult time finding publishers among leading trade presses’ (p. ix). Cato at least is still the land of the free and the home of the brave.
America is one word that brings the hope of freedom to many people around the world. Since the United States’ humble beginnings freedom has remained at the core of its ideologies and philosophies. People of all races, nations, and tongues have found refuge in America. The National Anthem proclaims, “…land of the free, and home of the brave” (Key, 1814). But has America been consistently a land of the free? Unfortunately freedom has not always reigned. There is a constant struggle to overcome fear and prejudice in order to provide a true land of freedom. In times of heightened tension, the masses of common people seek to find a scapegoat. Often, this scapegoat is a minority with ties to current negative events. As fear uncontrollably grows, it can cause people to allow and commit unspeakable atrocities.
For Americans, the word “democracy” itself is strong enough to conjure up notions of a nation unhindered by an oppressive government where citizens are able to engage in the freedom of speech, press, and religious choice and practice. So powerful are American pro-Democratic sentiments that it is a common thought that any other country that does not prescribe to a liberal democracy is somehow inferior. Yet as time marches on, the feelings of superiority by American citizens become more and more unfounded. For, right before our eyes, the very notion of democracy, that Americans become braggarts about, is disappearing. While the U.S. government boasts of the freedoms it affords its citizens, it corrupts such an image through repeated non-democratic actions. While citizens cherish the affordances of a liberal democracy, many do not make the effort to support such a system; taking it for granted that no matter what, a democracy is a self perpetuating entity. In this paper I will argue that the liberal democracy that supposedly defines American government is a declining entity due to overt acts against the principles of democracy by the United States government and also due to the decline of civic engagement by United States citizens. The fact is, no system of government can be perpetuated if the government and its citizens do not work to keep their ideals alive and in practice.
Each and every individual country has its own ideologies, economies, and ways of governing. In the early 1900’s Italy had developed its own ideology that had a huge impact on the lives of the Italian people. This ideology was known as Fascism. Fascism was not only a way of governing, but it was also known as a social organization. Fascism became what it was in response to the movement of social theories. There is much more behind the idea of fascism such as where it came from, who the creator of Fascism was, and why it was popular among many civilians.
The Fascists’ social and economic policies up to 1939 significantly aided their control over Italy yet may not be cited as the sole cause. The Fascist party’s social and economic policies along with other factors attributed to the overall control of Italy. Through such policies it was a certainty that the Fascist party would hold complete power over the population of Italy in each aspect of an individual’s life whether it was their leisure time through the Dopolavoro or at work under the corporate state system which was formally introduced in 1934. This complete domination of the Italian peoples’ lives could be argued to have been the instrumental factor behind the Fascists’ control over Italy up to 1939. Other factors which assisted the Fascists’ control of Italy include censorship of anti-Fascist ideologies and criticisms of the party, the secret police OVRA, political reforms and Mussolini’s personality. The censorship and intimidation of those opposed to the Fascist regime meant that the majority were too scared to speak out against the government and the press were heavily censored also, ensuring that only a positive image of the Fascists was conveyed. OVRA, the secret police, terrified the population of Italy and this enforced the idea that criticism would not be tolerated and severe punishments would be administered if opposition was discovered. The reform of the electoral system in July 1923 meant that to gain 2/3 of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies, a party only had to receive 25% of the votes. This system almost guaranteed the Fascist party the majority of the seats and therefore ultimate control over Italy. Mussolini’s personality could be argued to be an important reason behind the Fascists’ control over Italy; he ...
... to a new level, by having the younger generation understand on what happened during that time period. This would be an excellent book for those who have an interest in politics. Something that made the book not interesting was the length of the book. There were too many pages that as a reader it will become boring or less entertaining. Lastly Pearlstein does not mention who the characters are, just stating their name in the book. To where the assuming the reader knows who these people are, when perhaps they don’t.
Many sections of the book were unnecessary and useless for my certain task. Most of the book was also written in a story format and was not cold hard facts. However Chapter 5 gave an in-depth description of the Boston Tea Party and also the effects it had on the colonist. It also stated what the colonies did about this and how they went about rectifying it.
...nd enjoyable. The one thing that did bug me was that Youngs does not directly tie his thesis directly to the end of the book. It would have been helpful for the reader to be able to confirm Youngs’s intention for writing the book, but since he fails to re-introduce his argument in the end, it left me questioning that intention.
To be able to research and connect the dots of these extreme and what seems “non relatable” subjects and make them relate in order to convey a problem for us to see. Unfortunately, our country did not look at this seriously enough. The book also shows a great deal of progress our country has made in such little time. In the matter of a decade, the technical, social and political ups and downs of our society started to have this snowball effect that has now turned into modern day America. One of the first major themes of the book deals with civil rights.
In the novel, Brave New World, by Adolous Huxley we are introduced to a world where an all-powerful government dictates the occupation, intelligence, morals, and values of an individual. The government known as the World State controls the entire process of a human, from life to death. The society is based almost solely on an consumer foundation, where making money is the sole goal of the government. Although the society is radical in its nature there are certain aspects of modern ideology that are present in it. For the purpose of this essay only conservatism will be used to analyze the society of the World State. In latter paragraphs you will see the similarities and differences between conservatism and the government of the Brave New World. Though there are very distinct differences, in many ways the conservative ideology supports the World State.