Fascism & CENSORSHIP implies the STATE suppresses info.... Not publishers, peer review panels, or advertisers... Being rejected and censored are two different things... Rejection = not being published here... Censorship = not published at ALL.... Academics/professors like Noam Chomsky & Howard Zinn are/were HIGHLY critical of US policy & its policy makers... "Mainstream" publishers might have kept their distance but both managed to publish a slew of books with "alternative" outlets, creating almost a leftist niche market... The FBI even opened a file on Zinn, monitored his activities, gave a green light for his arrest (during a state of emergency) but he was never detained... And while Noam Chomsky was arrested in the 60's it was for marching on Washington & not for his left of center views...
Characteristics of Facism
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Not really semantics.... Considering there are media outlets that don't operate as the "PR arm of the plutocracy..." Independent/alternative media sources, however small, often provide exposure for info that mainstream media neglects or "suppresses..." The internets provide the same function... In a country like say China, which is 8 steps ahead of the US in the Facism department, the internets are HEAVILY regulated... And in Kim Jing Il's North Korea the internets don't even exist... I know he's not a facist but he seems to be working on it...
Zinn was suspected of being a member of the communist party... He denied it but the McCarty era witch hunt label stuck with him... As for Chomsky he signed a petition or something & was charged with conspiracy, if I'm not mistaken...
Suppressing intellectuals that express and promote political ideologies that differ too far from the status quo....not sure if either one of those is a punishable offense in a free society.
I agree with the alternative media comments. There are definitely worse places to be as far as censorship and access to information goes, so I agree there as well. The American people, by and large, open up and say "ah" for their regular spoon feedings from the media. I can blame the power structure for swallowing the media apparatus in this country, but we cannot claim that information and alternative views aren't available. That's one thing to be thankful for. Unfortunately, almost all alternative media is highly marginalized by the mainstream media and those who are hypnotized by it.
Also, what does it say for us, even if you can make a solid argument for 3 or 4 or 5 of these criteria not being met by the US, but the other 8, 9, 10, whatever actually stick? Not a good prognosis, IMO.
I agree with the alternative media comments. There are definitely worse places to be as far as censorship and access to information goes, so I agree there as well. The American people, by and large, open up and say "ah" for their regular spoon feedings from the media. I can blame the power structure for swallowing the media apparatus in this country, but we cannot claim that information and alternative views aren't available. That's one thing to be thankful for. Unfortunately, almost all alternative media is highly marginalized by the mainstream media and those who are hypnotized by it.
Also, what does it say for us, even if you can make a solid argument for 3 or 4 or 5 of these criteria not being met by the US, but the other 8, 9, 10, whatever actually stick? Not a good prognosis, IMO.
Zinn was never arrested... & Chomsky was engaging in civil disobedience... Think he was protesting... Unlawful assembly, refusing to disperse... Same type of stuff most protesters get arrested for...
Alternative media sources are marginalized but exist non the less...
And I'll concede some of the criteria fits the US... But to call the United States a facist country seems a bit lazy to me... The US has elements of socialism but I don't think anyone is arguing that we're a socialist country...? Mussolini was focused, sincere... Recent presidents have been lucky at best... Calling our government facist gives it too much credit...
Alternative media sources are marginalized but exist non the less...
And I'll concede some of the criteria fits the US... But to call the United States a facist country seems a bit lazy to me... The US has elements of socialism but I don't think anyone is arguing that we're a socialist country...? Mussolini was focused, sincere... Recent presidents have been lucky at best... Calling our government facist gives it too much credit...
Honestly, I don't think we're a Fascist country. I do think it could happen rather quickly, much quicker than people think it could. A couple more bailouts, cutting public services and entitlements...deep depression (all things being reported as possibly imminent by media, politicians, and economists)...a little social disorder and pressure on public offices or riots...commodities up, dollar down, etc., the Fascism hammer could fall hard and fast, in an effort to quell dissent. We're very apathetic in general, but the cable, phones, internet, electricity are still on. I don't think we're conditioned for life without those things, especially not in large numbers for sustained periods of time.