September 17, 2007
by Clay Barham

In 20th century America, spawned from the Old World, grew a modern version of the rule of a few over the many, called Fascism.  Founded on compassion for the downtrodden, it became popular with the workers, veterans, under and unemployed people in the Old World.  It was an easy sell. The lower classes tended to support it, as they had been accustomed to with royalty.  The upper classes saw themselves leading it as the new royalty.  The middle class was, as always, the victim of it.  The appeal to Americans grows from an ignorance of how America differs from the Old World.

The two foremost examples of the rise and strength of Old World Fascism were Italy and Germany, its notable leaders being Mussolini and Hitler.  Economic gains initially came from plundering the wealth accumulated by the middle class, later by conquest and plundering neighboring states. The ideology of both was the usual two-class system.  The proven elites running government and large corporations were the upper class.  Everyone else became the lower class, a class of people with lives managed by self-appointed elites who claim to know best.  The result was a command economy not far removed from what always existed in the Old World.  Looking back to the early and middle periods of the 20th century, it is plain to see how destructive and miserable the results of Fascism.

Does Fascism have an appeal to Americans today, and would it fit into the economy of America easily? The answers are yes and no.  Yes, there is an appeal today for Fascism, and no, it would not mesh with what we have experienced here at all.  In Italy and Germany, there was never a Free Market.  Management was part of both economic systems before Fascism reared its ugly head. It was simply a shift toward more aggressive managers. 

In America, the Free Market would have to shut down to allow the managers in. It would amount to a major, catastrophic disruption in the American way of life.  Yet, the politicians are proposing it in the 2007-2008 campaign for the presidency in 2009.  They do not try to hide their positions as they did several decades ago.  They are right up front about their desire and abilities to set America on a new course amounting to American-style Fascism.

Who, then, will become America's Mussolini or Hitler?  Will it be an Evita-admiring woman like Hillary Clinton?  As a woman, she seems to be adding the passion of even greater change to the program for a new Fascist dictatorship, as America's first female president.

How much disruption will the American economy go through to allow in the Fascists?  Most of the larger, more globalized corporations in America today, are rigid, structured dictatorships by necessity.  Boards and managers plan and direct what employees do in each fiscal year.  They must if they are to be responsible to their shareholders and employees. They build products or have services they market to their consumers and must see to it the supply is not interrupted. 

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The one interruption they cannot manage, however, is the continued loyalty of their consumers.  New enterprises spring up to entice consumers away if it is in the interests of consumers to switch.  If government steps in to squash the new competitor, as the bigger corporation would like, then it will secure continuity.  In a Fascist State, government keeps their elite cousins in big business happy by discouraging new and innovative substitutes.

In America, we are accustomed to new and better business services and products coming down the pipeline each year.  Keeping up with the demands and desires of consumers is a real necessity for any business that wishes to survive in a free and open market.  Fascists tend to protect the bigger firms that support them financially. 

It is their self-interest to prevent creative innovation and change taking place.  Then, the Free Market must go. Large American Corporations support politicians from both sides, looking to them to secure their domestic and international markets once in office.  Preventing challenges in the marketplace is what buys their support.

Will more voters in 2008 give the green light to the red light politicians to change America?  It is an easy sell to convince people that American Fascism is good for the Nation.  Many are selling and many are buying.  Too few are selling the defense of America from its New World roots.

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Clay Barham [send him email] has been a candidate for the California legislature and a stand-in talk show host for ABC.  He was educated in physical and behavioral sciences, with a Ph.D. in sociology.  He is the author of five books, with his latest being Foundations of Modern American Conservatism and Liberalism: The Roots of Freedom and Tyranny.  Visit his website at http://www.claysamerica.com.