The Danger of American Fascism

An article in the New York Times, April 9, 1944.
From Henry A. Wallace, Democracy Reborn (New York, 1944), edited by Russell Lord, p. 259.

 

  1. On returning from my trip to the West in February, I received a request from The New York Times to write a piece answering the following questions:
    1. What is a fascist?
    2. How many fascists have we?
    3. How dangerous are they?
  2. A fascist is one whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends. The supreme god of a fascist, to which his ends are directed, may be money or power; may be a race or a class; may be a military, clique or an economic group; or may be a culture, religion, or a political party.
  3. The perfect type of fascist throughout recent centuries has been the Prussian Junker, who developed such hatred for other races and such allegiance to a military clique as to make him willing at all times to engage in any degree of deceit and violence necessary to place his culture and race astride the world. In every big nation of the world are at least a few people who have the fascist temperament. Every Jew-baiter, every Catholic hater, is a fascist at heart. The hoodlums who have been desecrating churches, cathedrals and synagogues in some of our larger cities are ripe material for fascist leadership.
  4. The obvious types of American fascists are dealt with on the air and in the press. These demagogues and stooges are fronts for others. Dangerous as these people may be, they are not so significant as thousands of other people who have never been mentioned. The really dangerous American fascists are not those who are hooked up directly or indirectly with the Axis. The FBI has its finger on those. The dangerous American fascist is the man who wants to do in the United States in an American way what Hitler did in Germany in a Prussian way. The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power.
  5. If we define an American fascist as one who in case of conflict puts money and power ahead of human beings, then there are undoubtedly several million fascists in the United States. There are probably several hundred thousand if we narrow the definition to include only those who in their search for money and power are ruthless and deceitful. Most American fascists are enthusiastically supporting the war effort. They are doing this even in those cases where they hope to have profitable connections with German chemical firms after the war ends. They are patriotic in time of war because it is to their interest to be so, but in time of peace they follow power and the dollar wherever they may lead.
  6. American fascism will not be really dangerous until there is a purposeful coalition among the cartelists, the deliberate poisoners of public information, and those who stand for the K.K.K. type of demagoguery.
  7. The European brand of fascism will probably present its most serious postwar threat to us via Latin America. The effect of the war has been to raise the cost of living in most Latin American countries much faster than the wages of labor. The fascists in most Latin American countries tell the people that the reason their wages will not buy as much in the way of goods is because of Yankee imperialism. The fascists in Latin America learn to speak and act like natives. Our chemical and other manufacturing concerns are all too often ready to let the Germans have Latin American markets, provided the American companies can work out an arrangement which will enable them to charge high prices to the consumer inside the United States. Following this war, technology will have reached such a point that it will be possible for Germans, using South America as a base, to cause us much more difficulty in World War III than they did in World War II. The military and landowning cliques in many South American countries will find it attractive financially to work with German fascist concerns as well as expedient from the standpoint of temporary power politics.
  8. Fascism is a worldwide disease. Its greatest threat to the United States will come after the war, either via Latin America or within the United States itself.
  9. Still another danger is represented by those who, paying lip service to democracy and the common welfare, in their insatiable greed for money and the power which money gives, do not hesitate surreptitiously to evade the laws designed to safeguard the public from monopolistic extortion. American fascists of this stamp were clandestinely aligned with their German counterparts before the war, and are even now preparing to resume where they left off, after “the present unpleasantness” ceases:
  10. The symptoms of fascist thinking are colored by environment and adapted to immediate circumstances. But always and everywhere they can be identified by their appeal to prejudice and by the desire to play upon the fears and vanities of different groups in order to gain power. It is no coincidence that the growth of modern tyrants has in every case been heralded by the growth of prejudice. It may be shocking to some people in this country to realize that, without meaning to do so, they hold views in common with Hitler when they preach discrimination against other religious, racial or economic groups. Likewise, many people whose patriotism is their proudest boast play Hitler’s game by retailing distrust of our Allies and by giving currency to snide suspicions without foundation in fact.
  11. The American fascists are most easily recognized by their deliberate perversion of truth and fact. Their newspapers and propaganda carefully cultivate every fissure of disunity, every crack in the common front against fascism. They use every opportunity to impugn democracy. They use isolationism as a slogan to conceal their own selfish imperialism. They cultivate hate and distrust of both Britain and Russia. They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest. Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection.
  12. Several leaders of industry in this country who have gained a new vision of the meaning of opportunity through co-operation with government have warned the public openly that there are some selfish groups in industry who are willing to jeopardize the structure of American liberty to gain some temporary advantage. We all know the part that the cartels played in bringing Hitler to power, and the rule the giant German trusts have played in Nazi conquests. Monopolists who fear competition and who distrust democracy because it stands for equal opportunity would like to secure their position against small and energetic enterprise. In an effort to eliminate the possibility of any rival growing up, some monopolists would sacrifice democracy itself.
  13. It has been claimed at times that our modern age of technology facilitates dictatorship. What we must understand is that the industries, processes, and inventions created by modern science can be used either to subjugate or liberate. The choice is up to us. The myth of fascist efficiency has deluded many people. It was Mussolini’s vaunted claim that he “made the trains run on time.” In the end, however, he brought to the Italian people impoverishment and defeat. It was Hitler’s claim that he eliminated all unemployment in Germany. Neither is there unemployment in a prison camp.
  14. Democracy to crush fascism internally must demonstrate its capacity to “make the trains run on time.” It must develop the ability to keep people fully employed and at the same time balance the budget. It must put human beings first and dollars second. It must appeal to reason and decency and not to violence and deceit. We must not tolerate oppressive government or industrial oligarchy in the form of monopolies and cartels. As long as scientific research and inventive ingenuity outran our ability to devise social mechanisms to raise the living standards of the people, we may expect the liberal potential of the United States to increase. If this liberal potential is properly channeled, we may expect the area of freedom of the United States to increase. The problem is to spend up our rate of social invention in the service of the welfare of all the people.
  15. The worldwide, agelong struggle between fascism and democracy will not stop when the fighting ends in Germany and Japan. Democracy can win the peace only if it does two things:
    1. Speeds up the rate of political and economic inventions so that both production and, especially, distribution can match in their power and practical effect on the daily life of the common man the immense and growing volume of scientific research, mechanical invention and management technique.
    2. Vivifies with the greatest intensity the spiritual processes which are both the foundation and the very essence of democracy.
  16. The moral and spiritual aspects of both personal and international relationships have a practical bearing which so-called practical men deny. This dullness of vision regarding the importance of the general welfare to the individual is the measure of the failure of our schools and churches to teach the spiritual significance of genuine democracy. Until democracy in effective enthusiastic action fills the vacuum created by the power of modern inventions, we may expect the fascists to increase in power after the war both in the United States and in the world.
  17. Fascism in the postwar inevitably will push steadily for Anglo-Saxon imperialism and eventually for war with Russia. Already American fascists are talking and writing about this conflict and using it as an excuse for their internal hatreds and intolerances toward certain races, creeds and classes.
  18. It should also be evident that exhibitions of the native brand of fascism are not confined to any single section, class or religion. Happily, it can be said that as yet fascism has not captured a predominant place in the outlook of any American section, class or religion. It may be encountered in Wall Street, Main Street or Tobacco Road. Some even suspect that they can detect incipient traces of it along the Potomac. It is an infectious disease, and we must all be on our guard against intolerance, bigotry and the pretension of invidious distinction. But if we put our trust in the common sense of common men and “with malice toward none and charity for all” go forward on the great adventure of making political, economic and social democracy a practical reality, we shall not fail.

 

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Southern Sage
Southern Sage

Henry Wallace was a Communist stooge. Our country narrowly averted catastrophe when he missed out on the White House. Even FDR, no strong enemy of the Reds in his administration, knew this guy was a kook. Henry Wallace was a perfect example of Boobus Americanus: at heart, a decent compassionate man who really thought he could make the world a better place by doing good. As is often the case, he was rolled by the Communists and their assorted friends. He made a fool of himself and was hooted off the stage of American politics by the American people awakened from their stupor and the terrible years of war and Depression. His life story was an American tragedy.

Anonymous
Anonymous

n. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism. ………….

The rest of the definition: https://www.wordnik.com/words/fascism

But in today’s political climate it’s just about anyone or any position you don’t like and want to slander and slur for any reason, but particularly to put an end to a political argument you are losing because you have no valid defense of your position in it.

robert h siddell jr
robert h siddell jr

America needs a benevolent dictator now to undo as much damage as possible already done by Liberals and the GOP.

hardscrabble farmer

I think the word is ‘projection’.

goofyfoot
goofyfoot

“I heard from God today, and she said that she’s ashamed. What have we done? And what have we become?”
“I heard from el Diablo today, and he swears he’s not to blame.”
and I understood, cause I feel the same.
Five Finger Death Punch – Wrong Side of Heaven

Westcoaster
Westcoaster

Thanks for posting this, Admin. I doubt most Americans even know what a “fascist” is; high time they learned because we have one beating and banging on the door to the WH (Trump).
Might be a good idea to outline what a “Democratic Socialist” really is, since we have Sanders on his way to being the Dem nominee. If I see anything juicy that explains this I will forward to you.

bb

According to Jonah Goldberg we already have a light form of fascism. In his book Liberal Fascism we already have fascism in many programs within government.This includes the military industrial complex and the welfare state. Good read.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Westcoaster,

Sanders can’t even handle a disruptive “black lives matter” demonstrator, do you really think he can handle Hillary?

Even Trump will have a hard time with that.

kokoda
kokoda

Coast….we have a Fascist in the WH today.

Regardless of any prior definitions, Fascism is government and Mega-Corps joined at the hip – each provides benefits to the others. Obama’s regulations and Exec. Orders have benefited the Corp’s and the wealthy. And by so doing, he has stuck it to the middle class and the poor. The Corp’s also get cheap immigrant labor. The gov’t gets campaign funding and a compliant media.

javelin
javelin

Liberal Fascism–and thy primary tool is cultural Marxism. How is that for the perfect wedding of evils.

Anonymous
Anonymous

I have been watching “Good Wife”Ever since Valery Jarret made her cameo appearance as a woman whom rose above the glass ceiling,I have noticed each episode is nothing but Dem propaganda.Then notice Michelle Obama was wearing the same exact outfit as Good Wife.Sad to turn it off

Overthecliff
Overthecliff

bb, the fascism we have is getting heavier all the time. The last thing we need is a lecture about freedom from a Stalinist son of a bitch.

NickelthroweR
NickelthroweR

Greetings,

A lot of this is pie in the sky bullshit. From where I sit, fascism, communism and democracy all look the same to me. For example, the people voting themselves endless benefits looks no different than the State claiming ownership over everything. Each one is an abusive system of control and thievery.

The prediction that our way of doing things would soon resemble Nazi Germany’s way of doing things was a no brainer. I’ll always throw my money down on the side of mismanagement, malfeasance and narcissistic berserkerism when betting on the bearing of any state anywhere in the world.

flash
flash

Are we there yet?

Democracy Sold Out To Greed
December 1, 2015 | Categories: Articles & Columns | Tags: | Print This Article Print This Article

While the “free Western media” cheers, the Western “democratic” governments sell out the peoples of the Western world to corporate tyranny

Paul Craig Roberts

John Massaria has turned my interview with Julian Charles into a video.

The video helps me to bring home that “Western democracy” is a sham, a total lie.

Every Western government and Washington’s Asian vassal states are totally under the control of private corporations and private interest groups. The corporations govern, and they are in the process of institutionalizing their governance with the Trans-Pacific and Trans-Atlantic Partnerships. The purpose of these “partnerships” is to make global corporations higher than the laws of the “sovereign” countries in which they do business.

Anything, whether law, rule, regulation, or moral principle that interferes with corporate profits is outlawed as “a resraint on trade.”

Western civilization is over and done with. Nothing remains except historical achievements that are no longer understood or appreciated.

Democracy Sold Out To Greed

Billy
Billy

What a pantload.

Just more “RAAAYCISSMS! POOR JOOS!! EVIL MUNNY!!!”… and he throws in Catholics just to include us…

Who the fuck was this guy? Sounds like one ignorant sumbitch…

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