http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1346767,00.html

I mostly agree, though there are elements of fascism within Bushism, its not exactly fascist. This helps explain it.

But although there is a rise in Puritanism in the US, is the US Puritanical? I mean, take the "Girls Gone Wild" phenomena...or is this just that the hypocracy (which must be central to puritanicals) is more obvious nowadays?

Also, there's something inherently un-puritanical about the ethos of consumption spread by the high priests of the church of Bush.

Monbiot's summary is necessarily oversimplified, I think, and runs into a few historical problems. In C17 England, eg, the Puritan rationalizers he describes held power for a fairly short period of time -- with the Restoration (1660), although mercantile capitalism continued to surge ahead, dominant political, social, and cultural attitudes changed drastically.

And the emphasis of the American form of Puritanism of the same period was somewhat different, perhaps because historically delayed.

Still, there are provocative parallels. On another thread, we started talking about the Great Awakenings (spiritual revivals) in American history, the first of which occurred after the late C17 spasm that was Salem, and was clearly connected to the decisive shifts of economic power Monbiot refers to.

Maybe what is happening in the U.S. right now is the nasty puritanical backlash that precedes Great Awakenings, which tend to be times of energy at least and some generosity.

The red herrings thrown to the people have ever been thus:

quote:

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The pursuit of adulterers and sodomites provided an ideal distraction for the increasingly impoverished lower classes

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While southern countries' fascism was strongly supported by the Roman Catholic church, German nazism was more associated with Protestant, Lutheran religion. (This aspect of Nazism has been substantially avoided until recently; nonetheless it is significant).

Someone interested in arguing that "puritanism" is Bush's central ideology would have to explain us why the historically puritan areas of the US, such as New England, voted against Bush.

Those fundamentalist strains of Christianity which supported Bush have SOMETHING to do with Puritanism, but also with many other Protestant understandings of the Bible.

And I'm not sure lots of Catholics didn't support Bush, too, especially people who are anti-choice.
That is a not-very-Puritan thing, since Puritans and "Papists" didn't mix. Their disagreements were fundamental to the English Civil War.

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. TOP

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. TOP

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. TOP

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. TOP

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. TOP

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. TOP

7. Obsession with National Security -
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses. TOP

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. TOP

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. TOP

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. TOP

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. TOP

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. TOP

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An interesting note to end this article: As of January 2004, the United States fulfills all fourteen points of fascism and all seven warning signs are present. But we're not alone. Israel also fulfills all fourteen points and all seven warning signs as well. Welcome to the new republic, redefined, revised and spun. It is not too late to reverse this in either country, but it will be soon. The first step is realizing it. The second step is getting involved. As the propaganda slogan disguising our current war goes, "Freedom isn't free." But our war for freedom isn't abroad, it's here at home.