Some of America’s leaders are determined for the United States to give up its sovereignty and become a global nation.  Also, as a result of leaning toward globalization, the demographics and the ideologies of America’s new citizenry have changed.  The home grown Americans of the twentieth century who believed in democracy and the American way of doing things are decreasing rapidly.  They have been replaced by people who have migrated to America from all over the world.  Of course, there is nothing wrong with different nationalities becoming American citizens.  Differing backgrounds are not so bad if you take the best that all cultures offer and melt them into a better way.  But, many of these new citizens come from countries that do not promote freedom for the masses.  Therefore, some of them bring their nondemocratic, political ideologies with them and, of course, pass their beliefs on to their children.  As a result, the number of Americans who favor the government outlined in the United States Constitution has decreased.  Many of America’s new citizens, including some of its elected leaders, would like to replace America’s constitutional republican form of government with possibly socialism, fascism, or communism.  However, since communism involves the violent overthrow of the government, the American citizenry would not accept this form of government, unless they lose their right to bear arms and purchase ammunition freely.  Of course, some of America’s leaders would like to take away the Second Amendment rights of all American citizens, too.    

Are there elements of socialism in America today?  Yes, elements of socialism do exist in America today.  Have you heard the word “government bailout” recently?  Yes, you have. Of course, you will probably hear it even more in the weeks and months to come.       Based on the definition of socialism, according to Wikipedia, Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital and creates an unequal society.  All socialists advocate the creation of an egalitarian society, in which wealth and power are distributed more evenly. Therefore, since one of President Obama’s main planks in his agenda is to spread the wealth in America and since spreading the wealth coincides with the definition of socialism, it is obvious that socialism is about to become incorporated into the American way of life, like it or not.

Socialism originated in middle of the 19^th century.  It was the brainchild of Karl Marx, a German philosopher who wrote two books related to communism and socialism. They were The Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital (1867).  These two books basically promote a way of life directed by the government.  Some of his ideology centered on the following:

1. The elimination of private property

 2. The redistribution of wealth through heavy taxation

 3. The abolition of unemployment through social welfare programs

 4. Mandatory state-sponsored and state-supported education.

Do any of Karl Marx’s beliefs sound familiar to you?  Of course, they do, since we either have them now or they are on the verge of becoming part of Americanism.  But, sad to say, Karl Marx’s ideological beliefs were responsible for his own downfall.  Yet, modern-day nations are attempting to live by his belief system.  In fact, his own family suffered while he was attempting to create a perfect society.  Most of his income came from gifts from Friedrich Engels whose father was a factory owner, the type of person that Karl Marx abhorred.

How is socialism achieved?  Socialism, according to Wikipedia, is achieved by complete nationalization of the means of production, distribution, and exchange or state control of capital within the framework of a market economy.  Obviously, the current government bailout program for America’s business sector and its subsequent part ownership of private businesses, such as the banking industry and the automobile industry, would be socialistic in nature.  There have even been some members of Congress who have called for the nationalization of certain industries in the United States, such as the airline industry and the automobile industry.  Of course, it does not take the intelligence of a rocket scientist to figure out the road that the United States is on the verge of traveling down. The road is clearly marked U.S. Highway American-Style Socialism.

If a Democratically-controlled Congress backs President Obama’s new economic travel plans for U.S. Highway American-Style Socialism, America would cease to be the greatest nation in the world.  Instead, the American Dream would be doomed. In fact, it would be replaced by the American Nightmare. As a result, most Americans would awake one morning to face a new reality; their wealth has been spread so thin that they now must surrender to the will of the government.  Therefore, those who want egalitarian equality will have it, but at the sacrifice of many freedoms. Then, just maybe, the voters who elected President Obama and other leaders who are attempting to lead the United States down a road of economic destruction will finally recognize the trap that has been set for them.  However, it might just be too late.

Another road that America could travel down is U.S. Highway American-Style Fascism. Since the terrorist attacks on New York City on September 11, 2001, terrorism has been the main thought on most people’s minds in America.  However, recently the downward spiraling economy has replaced terrorism as the main concern on the minds of most Americans.  Therefore, as a result of the events triggered by the greed of unscrupulous Wall Street corporate elite, thousands of Americans are in danger of losing their homes, jobs, and/or their retirement pensions.

The United States Congress, the Federal Reserve, and the President are attempting to correct the current economic crisis in hopes of preventing another great depression. As most Americans already know, they are bailing out the companies that loaned money to risky borrowers who cannot pay back their loans.  It is going to cost taxpayers approximately one trillion dollars or more to hopefully jump start the economy again. However, even with the United States government involvement, it will take months to get the U.S. economy back on track, since there is no quick fix.  But, is the government’s involvement in America’s economic crisis too fascist in nature?

Some Americans believe that the United States could turn into a fascist nation as a result of too much government involvement in the current economic dilemma, instead of permitting “the invisible hand” of the market to solve the problem in time.  But, since the United States is a Constitutional Republic, what would have to happen to change America’s political ideology from democracy to Fascism?  According to Henry A. Wallace, Vice-President for President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1941-1945,

Fascism could very easily replace democracy in the United States.  If his ghost from the grave could speak to present-day Americans, he would readily pronounce that “It can happen here.”  However, it probably would not be a frontal attack.  Vice-President Wallace believed that it would be more subtle.  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. (1)

In a 1944 New York Times article, the former Vice-President expressed his concerns of a future fascist state in America. Vice-President Wallace stated,

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. … 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.  Nonetheless, at that time there were few corporate heads that had run for political office, and, in Wallace’s view, most politicians still felt it was their obligation to represent W e the People instead of corporate cartels.  American fascism will not be really dangerous, until there is a purposeful coalition among the cartelists, the deliberate prisoners of public information… (1)

Mr. Wallace also believed,

American fascists would have to lie to the people in order to gain power.  And, because they were in bed with the nation’s largest corporations - who could gain control of newspapers and broadcast media - they could promote their lies with ease.  How would fascists then be recognized?  The American fascists are most easily recognized by their deliberate perversion of truth and fact, Wallace wrote.  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 claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution.  They demand free enterprise, but they 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. (1)

If America was on the verge of becoming a fascist state, what characteristics of Fascism should Americans watch out for in the days to come?  The first characteristic of Fascism is to identify the enemy of the state and to rally around the leaders of the nation to defeat the enemy.  The major enemies could be racial, ethnic or religious minorities, liberals, communists, socialists, or terrorists.  The second characteristic of Fascism is to spend more money on the military than on domestic spending.  Also, the military is depicted as worthwhile and glorified occupation.  The third characteristic of Fascism is to control the mass media either directly or through government legislation.  Censorship is used regularly, especially during war time.  The fourth characteristic of Fascism is to use fear over national security to control the masses.  The fifth characteristic of Fascism is the protection of corporate power.  Since the money people and the power elite are responsible for electing many of the leaders of a nation, business and government leaders work hand in hand.  The sixth characteristic of Fascism is to have an obsession with crime and punishment.  Law enforcement agencies are given too much power.  As a result, people are willing to overlook police brutality and to give up many of their personal freedoms for the sake of patriotism.  The seventh characteristic of Fascism is to appoint groups of friends to control the government.  This often leads to corruption as these friends protect each other as they manipulate the government.  Finally, the eighth characteristic of Fascism is to manipulate elections.  Leaders of fascist regimes attempt to have their candidates win illegally. (2)

It is obvious that some characteristics of Fascism do exist in the United States in the 21^st century.  First, since September 11, 2001, the United States has been fighting terrorism, the enemy of the state, on many fronts.  Second, in order to fight terrorism around the world, more money is spent on the defense budget than the domestic budget.  Third, much of the news that is broadcasted to the American people is not always true.  It is distorted for propaganda purposes, such as it was in the recent presidential campaign. Fourth, since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, there are many examples of using the fear factor in America to motivate the masses.  Fifth, as can be seen in some of the activities on Wall Street, corporate power has been protected in recent years.  Sixth, as a result of the Patriot Act, people have been willing to lose some of their personal freedoms for the sake of helping possible terrorists to be apprehended.  However, why should Americans have to give up any freedom for the sake of patriotism?  Seventh, politicians giving their friends lucrative government jobs have been occurring for decades in the American political system.  This permits politicians the opportunity to pay their friends back for helping them get elected.  Finally, voting fraud is very prominent in many elections that have taken place in the past ten years.  In fact, the outcomes of many elections that have occurred in the past few months are being questioned by some election “watchdog” agencies.  Also, thousands of people who were registered to vote in the 2008 General Election have been dead for years. Get the picture.

Over 50 percent of Americans have bought into the economic travel plans of President-elect Barack Hussein Obama.  At high noon on January 20, 2009, America will take a sharp left to begin a new destination.  This new destination could destroy the very essence of the American way of life that began on April 30, 1789, when George Washington became the first President of the United States.  In fact, this new destination might even be responsible for replacing the United States Constitution with a form of government that America’s Founding Fathers would detest.  But, they are not here to defend the United States against the tyranny at hand.  They are not here to protect the ripe fruits of their labor, such as freedom and democracy, from being plucked off the vine. Instead, the new grafted vines might just produce fruits of tyranny and unconstitutionalism that are sour and distasteful to those who might just be forced to eat them.  However, regardless of what happens during Barack Hussein Obama’s administration, God is still in control.  Possibly, God is going to use President Obama to wake up all Americans to the plight that faces them in the future if they do not return to the God of America’s Founding Fathers.

 

 

References

 

 1. Appelbaum, Jake. “The Ghost of Vice President Wallace Warns: “It Can Happen Here” Interesting People. 1 November 2005<http:// www.commondreams.org>.

 2. Britt, Lawrence W. “Wake Up and Smell the Fascism” Project for the Old American Century 3 November 2005<http://www.oldamericancentury.org>.

Dr. Parnell is a retired public school educator and presently teaches social science courses at a private, Christian high school in Georgia. He is the author of From Schoolhouse to Courthouse: Exposing America’s New Terror from Within (Wheatmark Publishing, ISBN: 1-58736-613-4). He is also a guest columnist on several online websites.