Fascist? Bah. I won’t believe it until the US decides to invade Ethiopia.
I suggest you read Freakonomics. He has an interesting discussion on the lack of correlation between getting elected, and the amount of money spent on campaigning. Or this, for that matter.
Could you please give a few quotes of US officials saying that the Chinese economic model works better than ours? If you are thinking of the Harry Reid quote recently, he did not say that the Chinese economic model worked better than ours. And I have heard a great deal about human rights violations and how much the Chinese pollute.
Well, that’s the point - a large majority of folks in the US are not poor. Something like 85% of us, in fact. So what you claim as a drawback of the US model is, in fact, one of our great strengths.
As mentioned, I suspect you have no concrete definition of “fascist” in any sense you can explain.
Regards,
Shodan
[QUOTE=nilum]
We’re also continually hearing from our own government about how well the Chinese model works, if it’s not the Internet infrastructure, it’s their economy.
[/QUOTE]
I have read a few things by Thomas Friedman about this, and i don’t think anyone doubts that China’s economy is “working” in the sense that it is growing. But I don’t recall a lot of admiration for the “Chinese model” coming from US officials. Can you provide a citation or two?
Since I don’t expect nilum to look this up on his own…
The author does argue that the U.S. was corporatist under FDR, but not fascist. He feels is it possible to be corporatist without being fascist.
If America is the next Egypt, I get to be Pharaoh! The Mississippi will do for a Nile.
I’ve been trying, but my broker can’t find it on any of the exchanges.
Yeah, sounds great until you have to marry your sister.
We were just saying that since most of the opposition to Mubark seems to be due to unemployment and high prices, what he should’ve done is commissioned a new pyramid. It would’ve put a lot of Egyptians to work, would’ve helped tourism and pyramids are cool.
Egads, we are the next Egypt!
The Bank Bail-out was a) revenue neutral over the long-term and b) didn’t cost anything remotely vaguely close to 12 trillion dollars even in the short term. Also the 12 trillion dollars is what the debt stood at 18ish months ago, thats certainly not the same thing as the total debt ever issued by the US equaling 12 trillion. Also running up large deficts is the opposite of “Massive amounts of financial capital have been sucked out the United States and moved abroad, explains Fitts”. When the US borrows money from other countries, they’re sending their capital here.
Also I’m not sure why I’m bothering examining this, since its obvious nut-jobbery. The only thing I learned from that summary was that Bush I did a really crappy job appointing a Assistant Housing secretary.
Who?
Sorry, I have to ask, simply because you’re talking as if this is a person of major importance and prominence, whose conjectures deserve our immediate and total respect.
I’ve never heard of this person, and I’d wager 98% of the SDMB regulars haven’t either. Why is her take supposed to be gospel?
Does George H.W. Bush himself think the US is a fascist state, or that a revolution is looming? No- so, why not listen to HIM, rather than to one of his minor assistants?
Former administration member, current 9/11 Troofer.
Pardon, one former assistant to a former cabinet official.
The problem with the Mississippi valley is there aren’t enough rocks for proper pyramids. This is why the Mound Builders instead built, you know, mounds.
Don’t be silly. Our modern, fascist pyramids are built out of steel and concrete. And our trains, of course, will run on time!
Trains? We don’t need no stinkin’ trains! We have to use our excess jobless population in some way! It’s all part of the plot to get rid of the poor and the jobless through starvation or ‘other means’. As long as Hittite’s just leave us alone for a while…
-XT
I clicked on the link. I listened for several minutes, got bored, noticed how long it would be, and unclicked.
As far as an uprising is concerned, as long as the United States retains a democratic government I would certainly not join an uprising. An uprising on the left would be like the black ghetto riots, and student disturbances during the middle 1960s to early 1970s. It would not have popular support. There would be a right wing backlash, just like there was back then.
If there was an uprising on the right I would enthusiastically fight it, because I hate the teabaggers and everything they stand for.
As far as the United States being a “fascist country,” that is silly hyperbole. There is nothing equivalent to the black shirts or the brown shirts. There is robust political debate. Those who publically condemn President Obama, or the government are cheered, not imprisoned. Those who condemn the rich and the business community will be jeered, because most Americans like and respect rich people, but again they are not arrested and punished.
The United States is a representative democracy where the political center is to the right of where it is in Europe and the British Commonwealth.
Fascism is unlikely in the United States because the American people are too individualistic. What is possible is a partial reversion to the status quo of the last quarter of the nineteenth century. This is the period of time between the end of Reconstruction and the beginning of the Reform Era.
Back then there was nothing equivalent of Social Security, Medicare, unemployment compensation, minimum wage legislation, or income taxes. Government intervention in the economy was limited to tariffs, business subsidies, and the violent suppression of trade union activity. Blacks were reduced to second class citizenship and subdued by the terrorism of the Klu Klux Klan.
I don’t think even that is possible these days. I just can’t see the US ever going back to the days where a large part of the governments monetary needs are able to be met through tariffs and import costs, because I can’t see Americans really wanting to give up the benefits they derive from government services. While a lot of people want to cut something from the budget somewhere, it’s all about cutting what YOU use or think is important, not cutting what I use or think important.
I also can’t see the US going back to the days where blacks were treated as less than second class citizens (and certainly not back to slavery)…we, as a people, are past that now. This isn’t to say that everything is perfect, but we stepped across that fence decades ago and I don’t believe there is any going back…not unless the country changes in some fundamental and drastic way. For one thing, can you see minorities meekly going back to being treated as second class citizens? To just taking whatever society decides to do to them? I can’t. I can’t see most ‘white’ Americans playing along either, which means it would be some minority of reactionary racist types…which probably wouldn’t end well for them, unless they managed to get a hell of a lot of their buddies into positions of power at the local, state, federal and military levels. :dubious:
Other than that, though, I agree with your post completely…I think it was well said, FWIW.
-XT
If there was a revolution in the States, you might find it more difficult than expected to move to Canada, especially after they already took in a couple millions of refugees. You might be welcomed from behind barbed wire by nice mounties with loaded automatic guns .