In
the United States, many still believe that this nation was founded under
Christian values and that True America Patriotism is the backbone of this
country. Since the 2016 Presidential Election where Trump was the winner, we
have seen a huge surge of right-wing fascist organizations and religious
extremists in the US. According to the Southern Poverty of Law, there numerous
hate groups under the following categories: Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi, White
Christian Identity, Nationalist, Racist Skinhead, Neo-Confederate, Black
Separatist, Anti-Immigrant, Anti-LGBTQ, and Anti-Muslim. Western-style
chauvinistic fascist group like the Proud Boys is one clear example of how they
conflate Patriotism and Christian values as the only way to bring America back.
The beliefs of Christians are as
flawed and imperfect as all religious beliefs around the world. Unfortunately,
it seems that true genuine or non-violent traditional Christian values are
being co-opted and radicalized by a new Christian movement known as
Dominionism. This religious movement seeks to mask itself in the mantle of the
Christian Faith and American Patriotism. The word Dominionism comes from
Genesis 1:26 - 31 in which God gives human beings “dominion” over all creation.
Even though their members are not as high in numbers, but the members within
this group are highly influential. Today, their numbers are three-time as higher
than before since Donald Trump was elected to office in 2016. Author and a former chief editor war correspondent for the New York Times wrote a book called American
Fascist where he writes about the rise of Dominionism,
"Dominionism now controls at least
six national television networks, each reaching tens of millions of homes, and
virtually all of the nation’s more than 2,000 religious radio stations, as well
as denominations such as the Southern Baptist Convention." (Chris Hedges 10)
I believe that Capitalism is
antithetical and in the eyes of Jesus Christ, I also believe he will not
condone it. Capitalism, money, and greed for power are against all Jesus’s
beliefs that he preached before he was crucified. This current system that we
are in does not give room for people to learn all the enlightenments of many
critical thinkers and philosophers like for example Immanuel Kant, Aristotle, Plate,
Voltaire, and St. Augustine, which I believe we need to go back study, and
perhaps learn something from these individuals to build a better society.
Critical thinking and the rise of illiteracy in the United States are one of
the many reasons why education is falling apart. When a country is being run as
a corporation that only a few percentages of people benefit from it, that gives
little room for freedom and a democratic country, instead, we have become a
failed state. Corporations’ biggest donors are groups like the Dominionism and
other extreme right-wing Christian religious group in the United States. Chris
Hedges also goes on to say that,
“Corporations such as Tyson Foods,
- which has placed 128 part-time chaplains, nearly all evangelicals or
fundamentalists, in 78 plants across the country – along with Purdue, Wal-Mart,
and Sam’s Wholesale, to name a few, are huge financial backers of the movement.”
(Chris Hedges 22)
Classic Totalitarianism vs Inverted Totalitarianism
German-born American political theorist Hannah Arendt wrote about the scientific tactics on total domination and the steps on how to control the mass people in a totalitarian system such as the Third Reich in Germany during the rise of Nazism. The three steps to total domination are described as Hades, Purgatory, and Hell, however, these are just analogies described as evil tactics to crush humanity's spirit. The first essential step is to eliminate the juridical individual or the political opposition by way of disenfranchisement. The second step is to demoralize them to the point of rendering their consciousness impotent. And finally, the third step of maintaining Total Domination is the destruction of ones’ individuality, one's identity through thought and action.
In a classical totalitarian system,
power is controlled by a political demagogue, however, the late political
philosopher Sheldon Wolin who wrote in his underrated book “Democracy
Incorporated” mentions that a totalitarian state, it can also be
controlled by a corporate state as opposed to a political leader. This form of control
from the state is called “Inverted Totalitarianism” in which money buys
politicians, tv airwaves, radio commentators, and almost every news media
outlets in this country; all these methods are implemented to serve corporate
needs. Corporate state can impose draconian laws to oppress the mass majority of
people that oppose it.
Biden vs Trump, two clowns, same
circus
In today’s US politics, it is now
clear that there is no more party left that represents the poor, the working
class, blacks, and people of color from all ethnic and religious groups.
Biden’s history of passing domestic and foreign policies has been a total disaster
when he was Delaware’s senator and Vice-President under the Obama
Administration. From the crime bill that accelerated the incarceration of
Blacks and Latinos to the vote on the Iraq war, Joe Biden has done more damage
to this country than the current president Donald Trump. Of course, that is not
to say Donald Trump has not hurt this country either, but if you look at
Biden’s past and current policies, we are still are paying the price due to his
past policies.
The democratic party has become the
new centrist or perhaps a new version of the republican party with distorted
political views. The current republican party has become more of a cult with
Nazi sympathizers and conspiracist theorists that rely on “alternative facts”
from their so-called reliable sources.
During the rise of fascism in
Germany before Hitler came to power, Russian Revolutionary and Political
Theorist Leon Trotsky wrote about how SDP (Social Democratic Party) in Germany
at the time failed the people in which it gave the open path to fascism. Trotsky writes about how many political
leaders were more opportunistic and did little to help the German people.
Reformists, under Leon Trotsky’s view, were a waste of time
“We are, apart from all other considerations, interested in dragging the reformists from their asylums and placing them alongside ourselves before the eyes of the struggling masses. With a correct tactic, we stand only to gain from this.” (Trotsky 234)
If Joe Biden does not make any
radical changes that will address people’s grievances within the next two
years, I fear the mass people in this county will revert to voting into office
a right-wing Christian demagogue. This time, the next president will not be a buffoonish or idiotic person like Trump, but a charismatic, savvy, and
manipulative person with an extreme Christian conservative view backed by
religious movements like the Dominions or any other extreme fundamentalist
organization.
Fascism in history and in today’s
world.
Fascism was created during the era
of mass politics and appealed to the emotions of people in despair by using
extreme rhetoric, rituals, and carefully stage-managed ceremonies. Robert
Paxton, author of The Anatomy of Fascism writes that,
“Fascism does not rest explicitly upon an elaborated philosophical system, but rather upon popular feelings about master races, their unjust lot, and their rightful predominance over inferior peoples.” (Paxton 16)
There have been many debates and
discussions between scholars about fascism in both the past during WII and the
modern era today. Some argued that fascism died after the fall of Adolf Hitler
and that right-wing politics has been decimated and does not have the same
political strength and backing as before. However, I would argue that fascism
is coming back but in a different form, perhaps in a form of a
corporate-fascist system backed financially by extreme religious groups.
Fascistic organizations still exist and are scattered in certain countries in
Europe. During the ’90s, fascist “skinheads” were attacking immigrants in
Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, and Italy. In that same time frame, certain
fascist and neo-nazi political parties were back on the rise and as Paxton wrote,
"The first participation of a neofascist party in a European government in 1994, when the Italian Alleanza Nazionale, a direct descendant of the Italian neo-fascist party." (Paxton 173)
Conclusion
Fast forward till today, we have
numerous fascist elements within the Trump administration along with Nazi sympathizers
in the White House. Since Trump’s remark after the Charlottesville, Virginia killing
of activist Heather Heyer where he said, “there many good people on both sides”
and that there was “blame on both side”, we are living in an era where some
believe they are the superior race (White Supremacy) while certain other types
of people or inferior.
The killing of George Floyd that
sparked another widespread nation protest was pretty much the final draw and
exposed the systemic racism and segregationally economic problem Blacks, Latino
and other people of color are experiencing in the United States. These issues
have been going on for decades and Joe Biden was part of it during the signing
of the 1994 Crime Bill. Both Democrats and Republicans have failed us all for
many years now and continue to do so during this Global Pandemic we are facing.
As for the current president, Trump is not the problem, he is a symptom of a
bigger problem…a systemic problem. Joe Biden’s winning of the election is not
the solution and will not solve our problem. If we do not do anything and just
become apathetic to the current state we are in, say farewell to America, and
hello to Fascism in an Inverted Totalitarian system that is slowly creeping
upon us.
We must continue to pressure our
political leaders for radical change, sooner or later the streets will speak
again, and I predict mass civil unrest throughout this nation will spread if
nothing is done. Some people will view it as anarchy or a people’s front
revolution, for many, it could be a sign of hope. As a current student majoring
in philosophy and religion, I came upon a 2010 article from the Philosophy and
Phenomenological Research, author Pablo Gilabert argues when it comes to Immanuel
Kant's theory of duty,
“Some duties of this category can
be specified so that they extend demands of justice and that some of them have
a global scope.” (Gilabert 5)
In other words, duties can be a
part of a theory of justice for the people witnessing massive injustice in this
country and worldwide. It is time for a Revolution. The Revolution is now! It
is time to rebuild a better world.
by César Omar Sánchez. Community organizer, New York/New Jersey Cuba Si Coalition, Advisory Board Member of ProLibertad: Free All Political Prisoners Campaign.
Reference
Arendt, Hannah. “Totalitarianism in
Power.” The Origins of Totalitarianism. Penguin Classics. 2017.
Hedges, Chris. “Faith.” American
Fascists: The Christian Right and The War on America. Free Press, p. 10-22
Trotsky, Leon. “What next?” The
Struggle Against Fascism in Germany. Pathfinder Press. p. 234.
Paxton, Robert O. The
Anatomy of Fascism. Vintage Books, 2005. pp. 16-173
Wolin, Sheldon S. Democracy
Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism.
Princeton University Press, 2017.
SPL Center, Team.
“Frequently Asked Questions about Hate Groups.” Southern Poverty Law Center,
18 Mar. 2020,
www.splcenter.org/20200318/frequently-asked-questions-about-hate-groups.
Gilabert, Pablo. “Kant and the Claims
of the Poor.” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, vol. 81,
no. 2, 2010, pp. 382–418. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20779568.
Accessed 7 Dec. 2020.
