Signs of Creeping Fascism

Fascism is  "a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism" says Dictionary.com.

There are always interests that seek fascist power wherever there are profitable resources. Fascism begins with a greed for power and creeps through organic systems so that it appears as a grass roots movement.  We may not suddenly slip into a fascist state or even choose it, but it does find its way slowly and we are better off if we can recognize some of the signs. Below are signs that seem to me to indicate its invasion.

When people vote for a party that has made it clear they have no value for civil society’s democratic institutions then you know that fascism has found roots in your neighbourhood.

When their leader says that people don’t care about their government being found in contempt of parliament then are rewarded with a majority, you know that fascism has deep roots in your neighbourhood.

When peaceful protesters are kettled, imprisoned and intimidated with threats of torture you know that fascism is supported with big money.

When the president of the world’s most powerful nation has to provide a full birth certificate to prove he has the right to be president, then you know that fascism is backed by very powerful big money and that media is its handmaiden.

When media incites hatred towards minorities – racial, religious, gender and sexual orientation, you know that fascism's brainwashers are prepared to invoke violence on their sleepy public.

When wars are organized that cost much more than the social programs being cut to pay for them you know that fascism is well established enough to spread seeds of division and ultimately a contempt for life.

When mainstream religions begin to protest human rights under the guise of some biblical verse you know that fascism has crept into the most sacred institutions of civil society and have turned theology into a weapon.

When the news headline reports a rise in gay bashing, the rape and murder of native women, the killing of spouses and children, the physical and mental abuse of patients, you know that fascism has undermined the mental health of society.

When politicians and economists say socialism must be destroyed and replaced with free markets you know that fascism has invaded the board rooms.

When environmentalists are lambasted and false science is broadcast globally, you know that, unchallenged, everything life depends upon will be destroyed for the sake of power.

This is how fascist power alienates the mind and the body . This is how power makes life redundant. If the fascist can't rule the world, he will destroy it.

But once power is turned around with an interrogation of structures instead of people, a celebration of diversity,  expressions of loving kindness, and the majority of thinking citizens engage in the building of their society, fascism dies. Fascism needs humans to feed it with hate and fear in order to survive.

This is the great irony - no matter the extent of contempt fascism has for humanity, it only survives because we give our power to it.

Revisiting Jack Layton's Letter to Canadians

During the Leadership convention of the NDP, I heard Olivia Chow use Jack's Legacy in the future tense.  Reminding us to carry it forward. Let the task transcend the individual egos of candidates, news show hosts and media interests.  This is more than entertainment. This is deeper than the sound bite, and the playing field is much wider than the convention centre.  We all have a part to play in that legacy. Choosing a leader is just the start. We must support whoever is chosen to bring our ideals to a troubled world.

August 20, 2011

Toronto, Ontario

Dear Friends,

Tens of thousands of Canadians have written to me in recent weeks to wish me well. I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughtful, inspiring and often beautiful notes, cards and gifts. Your spirit and love have lit up my home, my spirit, and my determination.

Unfortunately my treatment has not worked out as I hoped. So I am giving this letter to my partner Olivia to share with you in the circumstance in which I cannot continue.

I recommend that Hull-Aylmer MP Nycole Turmel continue her work as our interim leader until a permanent successor is elected.

I recommend the party hold a leadership vote as early as possible in the New Year, on approximately the same timelines as in 2003, so that our new leader has ample time to reconsolidate our team, renew our party and our program, and move forward towards the next election.

A few additional thoughts:
To other Canadians who are on journeys to defeat cancer and to live their lives, I say this: please don’t be discouraged that my own journey hasn’t gone as well as I had hoped. You must not lose your own hope. Treatments and therapies have never been better in the face of this disease. You have every reason to be optimistic, determined, and focused on the future. My only other advice is to cherish every moment with those you love at every stage of your journey, as I have done this summer.

To the members of my party: we’ve done remarkable things together in the past eight years. It has been a privilege to lead the New Democratic Party and I am most grateful for your confidence, your support, and the endless hours of volunteer commitment you have devoted to our cause. There will be those who will try to persuade you to give up our cause. But that cause is much bigger than any one leader. Answer them by recommitting with energy and determination to our work. Remember our proud history of social justice, universal health care, public pensions and making sure no one is left behind. Let’s continue to move forward. Let’s demonstrate in everything we do in the four years before us that we are ready to serve our beloved Canada as its next government.

To the members of our parliamentary caucus: I have been privileged to work with each and every one of you. Our caucus meetings were always the highlight of my week. It has been my role to ask a great deal from you. And now I am going to do so again. Canadians will be closely watching you in the months to come. Colleagues, I know you will make the tens of thousands of members of our party proud of you by demonstrating the same seamless teamwork and solidarity that has earned us the confidence of millions of Canadians in the recent election.

To my fellow Quebecers: On May 2nd, you made an historic decision. You decided that the way to replace Canada’s Conservative federal government with something better was by working together in partnership with progressive-minded Canadians across the country. You made the right decision then; it is still the right decision today; and it will be the right decision right through to the next election, when we will succeed, together. You have elected a superb team of New Democrats to Parliament. They are going to be doing remarkable things in the years to come to make this country better for us all.

To young Canadians: All my life I have worked to make things better. Hope and optimism have defined my political career, and I continue to be hopeful and optimistic about Canada. Young people have been a great source of inspiration for me. I have met and talked with so many of you about your dreams, your frustrations, and your ideas for change. More and more, you are engaging in politics because you want to change things for the better. Many of you have placed your trust in our party. As my time in political life draws to a close I want to share with you my belief in your power to change this country and this world. There are great challenges before you, from the overwhelming nature of climate change to the unfairness of an economy that excludes so many from our collective wealth, and the changes necessary to build a more inclusive and generous Canada. I believe in you. Your energy, your vision, your passion for justice are exactly what this country needs today. You need to be at the heart of our economy, our political life, and our plans for the present and the future.
And finally, to all Canadians: Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world’s environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change. In the months and years to come, New Democrats will put a compelling new alternative to you. My colleagues in our party are an impressive, committed team. Give them a careful hearing; consider the alternatives; and consider that we can be a better, fairer, more equal country by working together. Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

All my very best,
Jack Layton

You don't need a Ph.D to save the world

You just have to believe that doing the right thing at the right time, even though you may have to sacrifice something, is all that is required.  However we know that it takes more than one person and one generation, and that justice rises and declines continually. We watch the stone roll back down the hill and must roll it up again, forever.

Brigitte DePape spoke clearly and succinctly and the only weapon she carried was her conscience and a placard. Still she was classified as a security risk by a member of government.

Here is her message posted by Janice Williamson on The Pomegranate:

Harper’s agenda is disastrous for this country and for my generation. …We have to stop him from wasting billions on fighter jets, military bases, and corporate tax cuts while cutting social programs and destroying the climate. Most people in this country know what we need are green jobs, better medicare, and a healthy environment for future generations.

Contrary to Harper’s rhetoric, Conservative values are not in fact Canadian values. How could they be when 3 out of 4 eligible voters didn’t even give their support to the Conservatives? But we will only be able to stop Harper’s agenda if people of all ages and from all walks of life engage in creative actions and civil disobedience. …This country needs a Canadian version of an Arab Spring, a flowering of popular movements that demonstrate that real power to change things lies not with Harper but in the hands of the people, when we act together in our streets, neighbourhoods and workplaces.

Would it be better if people did not protest at all? What if we all stayed in our comfortable homes, transfixed to our big screen TVs, ignoring the reality around us? Should we really just accept the status quo that makes the poor, poorer and allows the environmental destruction that is ruining our planet? Where are all the people who protested in the 60’s and 70’s that inspired many of today’s activists? Have they given up on fighting for their ideals? I fear that too many people from my parents’ generation have abandoned their ideals because they think eliminating poverty or weaning ourselves off our oil addiction just isn’t ‘realistic’.

Not only is protesting important, it is our fundamental right. Many of my friends were denied this right when the police unlawfully detained them in appalling conditions for protesting peacefully, more specifically, for holding hands in a semi-circle. In order to preserve our right and ensure this does not happen again, a public inquiry into police conduct and detainee conditions is absolutely essential.

Is Pro-Life Life-Revering?

In the Guardian today we are informed that an anti-abortion group has been drafted in as a sexual health adviser to the UK government.  This surprised me because I believed that the social sciences in Europe had not yet been dismissed in government - you know those stats that say there is less unplanned pregnancy when kids get good sex education. But I do sense a trend here, that Western democratic nations are closing the doors to science and nature, choosing power strategies that seem eerily familiar to the Victorian age.

In Victorian England women were reviled for having sex outside of marriage or raising a child alone, and imprisoned or hung for having an abortion, but the other half of that equation - the man - was seen as simply sowing his wild oats. A foetus then was a wild oat.

Is this what conservatism is?  A denial of the knowledge that disturbs us in favour of simplistic illusions that morality is a family value where father knows best, mother is the domestic servant, and children obey their parents?

If the anti-abortion narrative becomes the health policy of a nation, can we assume that the unborn will be protected after birth? Will women's groups and social workers receive support in their efforts to support women and their children?  

I know that many who join the anti-abortion movement believe that they are saving the unborn, but do they see how these movements, well-funded by wealthy interests, manage to focus on the deaths of the foetus rather than how we can design a world where mothers have access to what they need to raise a healthy child? That the rows of crosses supposedly revealing the numbers of  "murdered babies" are never compared to the numbers of children and their mothers killed in war and domestic disputes?  Within these groups you might believe that children are most at risk from their mothers.  

The anti-abortion movement is also against sex education, planned parenthood, the use of contraceptives and have not been too vocal in supporting women's shelters or women's health either. If it doesn't support women or children, then who or what does it support?

Now I agree that having an abortion is not a good thing, nor is sexual promiscuity. But we need to address these raging hormones with a little more insight than the instruction to abstain. We need to teach the young how to value themselves, their own bodies and to understand the consequences of their choices.

Women in the popular media are held up as sex goddesses or sluts, and our appetites, held up as the most sacred element of our lives, must be fulfilled.  So if we create government policies that make it illegal  or very expensive for a woman to have an abortion, or have sex, will the media be pressured into cleaning up their practice of using sex to sell products?  To put it simply - if women are to be controlled will  the corporate imaging of women also be controlled by government?  Not likely.

When women and children have choice, life is revered and society is healthier; power is more creative, less oppressive. In societies where women's bodies are the possessions of men, power is about punishment and control. 

Infinite Power

Everybody knows, as Leonard Cohen’s song goes, that everything is about power. Yet if you use the word in polite society you’ll see eyes glaze over as though your friends fear what might be coming next—a plunge into conspiracy theory or an inventory of global atrocities, and suddenly the topic is changed before anyone notices. The word itself reeks of polemic and conjures images of storm troopers. Yet it is the power of informed, committed citizens, even in small groups, as Margaret Mead reminded us long ago, that changes the world.

Working on the premise that two of the most enduring power tools—communication and cooperation, is available to those linked in to systems of support—this piece looks at how these tools work for and against the greater good.

What is power? Many years ago, at a holiday resort among worldly professionals, this question was given spontaneously to individuals. Answers came back readily—power is knowledge; power is what turns a decent person into a monster; power is energy; power is love. It’s these interpretations I use to examine the question.

Power is Knowledge
Chris Hedges in the February issue of Adbusters warns "We stand on the cusp of one of the bleakest periods in human history when the bright lights of a civilization blink out and we will descend for decades, if not centuries, into barbarity." We have been convinced, Hedges claims, that we do not have the capacity to understand and fight back against the "revealed truths presented before us".

The speed of global news allows us to virtually witness the economic, environmental and political crises as they unfold. But does this capacity empower us or leave us feeling powerless like spectators strapped and plugged into this thing called life?

When does knowledge give us power? What knowledge? The knowledge to live well among others, to be able to hold a job with a livable wage, the knowledge about how power works today?
If John Pilger, who won the 2009 Sydney Peace Prize (awards do imbue credibility and therefore some social power) warns—those who offer an alternative picture of our western, capitalist society that attempts to lead us back to the question "who benefits?" are quickly labled as conspiracy theorists—then shouldn’t we look for those alternative pictures?

Anyone reading this site has probably decided we should be interrogating power. However it’s easy to become disheartened and depressed when a pastor of a small congregation of fifty in Gainesville, Florida, gets world coverage for planning to burn the Quran on September 11^th while countless others who work tirelessly on interfaith dialogue rarely get a peep from their local newspaper?
　　
Power is what turns a decent person into a monster
A report from Germany that came through the Guardian claimed would-be Quran burner, Rev. Terry Jones, was dismissed in 2008 from a Christian community in Cologne for allegedly forcing members to give him a percentage of their earnings, working for little or no money, breaking up families and friendships and assigning himself a fake doctorate. An official sect monitor felt Jones had manipulative potential and needed to achieve notoriety.

Is power something which turns a decent person into a monster, or is the monster within seeking power in order to get out?

According to an instructor in the mental health services field—the most dangerous people are not the truly mad, but those with borderline personality disorders. They appear intelligent, charming, even charismatic, but wreak havoc on the people around them because they cannot empathize, they have no conscience.
Is charisma a natural power or is it manufactured through centuries where great warriors and manipulators are held in awe? Do we value the ambitious employee who bullies and demeans co-workers in order to rise to the top? Can we list the real achievements of Hitler, Stalin or Mugabe?

So, why did the media spend days covering this pastor’s threat? Looking at other issues on the news at that time, may give us some clues.

Brian Stelter in a reflective article in The New York Times, pointed out that this story coincided with the Moslem Centre seeking a building permit two blocks away from ground zero. Rage from those who were against or for it was stirred up along with the painful memories of September 11^th, 2001.

Is a Moslem Centre in New York really a threat or an insult to those who died in 9/11, or is it suggested for the viewing public? How did the appearance of the Imam compare with that of Terry Jones?
Who benefits by this media event that representatives at Fox, CNN, ABC and others regretted running? Well the images are imprinted on the global brain and won’t be erased no matter how the story is unpacked afterwards.

Isn’t this how power works? Working through unconscious impulses hungry for locating the enemy? This may work with the unquestioning consumer, but imagine what would happen if table talk in every home in Canada was about how demons (and heroes) are created rather than identifying the monster.

Power is energy
For thousands of years we have created systems of support—family, community, language, ritual, and education, in order to survive. We are born into these systems, we depend on them and they depend on us. Certainly there is violence within them. But millions nurture the best rather than dismiss them, as Margaret Thatcher did when she claimed there was no such thing as society. Self-interest, technology and consumerism makes that easy to believe—until something tragic happens.

A loved one dies, we become ill, we lose our job. Then we look for services (which we pay for with our taxes and feel entitled to) to bury, to heal, to comfort and educate us. This is the tragedy of the commons. As long as we take the human capacity for cooperation and shared goals out of the popular narrative we lose our inherent power to solve problems.

Power is love
Generally, power lives in the mundane and doesn’t make news headlines. Parents, teachers, doctors, scholars and neighbours learn how to care, teach, heal, interrogate and help. This is love in its many functioning forms. The Dalai Lama's editorial in the Vancouver Sun (September 26, 2009) proposes that love and compassion bring individual happiness, and individual happiness will save the world from anger and hatred.

Power extracted from the life force to exploit and oppress, never lasts forever. It is ultimately defeated by the oppressed, and infinite power lies in the application of love and energy given by those left to re-build what has been destroyed. They are us and we have been doing it for centuries and can do it in the future as long as we don’t give our power away to interests that want us all to believe we don’t have any.

Everybody knows this—we just need to be reminded.

[shorter version first published in the Flying Shingle November 2010]