A survey of the last 100 years of history will reveal striking similarities in the rise to power of Mussolini, Hitler, Wilson, and FDR. Mussolini, a “man of the people,” drove for results and “shut down” opposition to his movement; he also had the media pushing his ideology every step of the way. Hitler moved swiftly to fulfill his means in the name of progress, using every opportunity to further his socialist propaganda. Woodrow Wilson created nationalist ambition during World War I, uniting everybody against a common enemy, and discouraged public dissent about his policies. FDR used the Great Depression as an opportunity to enact policies with nary an argument because the crises were “too important for democracy to get in the way.” Each of these leaders, in typical fascist style, moved swiftly and surely with his own agenda to the dismay of civil democracy by employing perceived (or real) crises to unite the nation. It shouldn’t need to be pointed out that each of their visions have reaped unprecedented costs for societies, some violent, all leaving detrimental impacts that exist even to this day.
Barack Obama has and will be using the threat of crises to further his candidacy and to rally people behind his presidency. He will talk about a “climate crisis,” an “economic crisis,” and a “health care crisis,” asking us to allow him to bring in more government control over the economy, energy, and health care. The alleged solution for each will be to give the power to the few who believe themselves to be the annointed saviors of society so they can solve the “crises” we are facing. And since it feels good to have a president who cares, we’ll be happy to support such his policies. This “cult of Obama” is one of the many aspects of his candidacy that could be described as definitively fascist. Those who oppose his vision will be deemed “anti-environment,” shills for “big oil,” or some other synonym for “hate-monger.”
Unfortunately, marxist philosophy undergirds much (but not all) of Obama’s vision for society. In the name of “fairness,” he has promised to raise capital gains taxes––in spite of admitting that doing so would hurt the economy. Citing the concept of “smarter government” (an oxymoron, to be sure), he will increasingly add responsibility to the federal government under the guise of “the common good.” In good company with the leaders mentioned earlier, he will seek policies that control even more aspects of our lives––from the cars that we drive to the food that we eat, from the type of light bulbs that illuminate our living rooms to the ways that we educate our children. Respect for the personal choices of others and the individual’s ability to make good decisions about his or her own life will erode even further.
And we will accept it because it feels good to be taken care of.
Barack Obama promised to deliver “Change We Can Believe In.” Do I believe he is able to deliver what he promises? Absolutely! It’s exactly what makes me heartsick over the force and fervor by which he will fundamentally change the way America works. Gone are the days of “We the People.” Gone are the days where the free market drives the progress and advances of our society. Gone are the days where we will be able to choose how to live our lives.
The vision he casts is an illusory dream that promotes a centralized power––through social control and engineering––as the solution to our problems. Yet he will be cast as the “savior” of our country. Of course his movement will be thoroughly fascist, but it will be gentler, nicer. And though the “iron fist” of the European fascist movements has been replaced by the hug of liberalism, as Jonah Goldberg says, “an unwanted embrace from which you cannot escape is just a nicer form of tyranny.”
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