The March To Fascism And How To Stop It

People know I've been beating the drum, warning of the Fascist trends in our government which have been building for years and are reaching a crisis.

Jack Gildern did a much better post on this subject than I have called Fascism: Foolish Fallacy Or Frightening Fact. I urge you to read it-please.

He starts with a simple definition of Fascism.

Here is the literal definition of Fascism:
fas⋅cism [fash-iz-uhm]
–noun
1. 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.
2. The philosophy, principles, or methods of fascism.

Of course, we haven't reached this level yet. Exactly when one says something that walks like a duck and quacks like a duck can be described as a duck is always a judgement call. The problem is--- This is not a duck we are talking about here-- It's Fascism!-- or perhaps some other brand of totalitarianism. We test and test for cancer in a way we don't for colds because- it's a deadly and often fatal disease and when we find it we try to kill it and cut it out. (no that was not just a call to kill the president. Our troubles go much deeper than one man. He was actually elected)

I made two comments that prescribe what I think might be the quickest and most effective way to stop this train and get people to think. You need to read the post and comments for context.

Comment One

"One of the best posts on here ever. I think one of the biggest factors at work here is what Hitler called the big lie. Admiting just how bad, Obama is means confronting our own guilt for having elected him and going deeper into just how the government got this out of control means looking at almost a century of guilt.

We as American's as whole- not all, have betrayed our founders and the basic ideals and foundations our country was founded on in exchange for a few favored programs or vague promises.

People need to stop and admit they live a nearly bankrupt and nearly Fascist country and then decide what role they have played in it and what they are going to do about it.

As, I mentioned before-- I think the Tenth Amendment route might be the fastest clearest way to stop this train. There are states and places in the country where enough broad support for individual rights and the Constitution exists. We need to work from there, to both educate and broaden this base and use it to confront the Monstrous powers in Washington.

After all, the Constitution and the founding documents of the country are on our side. If enough people scream that they really matter, and that the law matters and rights and truth matter, something might be done."

Comment Two

Well, I'm going to have to admit to living in "blue states" all my life in either NY or PA.

But my perception from my reading, interactions and occasional travels is that there really are very large chunks of the country that could almost be called "occupied territory" at this point. I mean when was the last time Wyoming, Utah or Alaska voted blue. I think we need to start from there and work to educate the people about just how deeply damaging the federal occupation of their states has been. Instead of working from positions of weakness, we can start from strength where there is already a lot of political and media support and build on that.

The starting point should be for the "occupied states" to one by one re-affirm their commitment to the original Constitution and it's tenth amendment- which in reality is an implied threat to take the clear course out of the union that the Constitution allows.

Hopefully, a chain of firm resolutions by a large number of states that seem very serious will in itself put a radical brake on things. Remember that just by taking these actions, one is calling attention to all the Constitutional and legal violations, which may help more people in other states to wake up and think deeply about what's going on. This will be hard for the media to ignore.

Remember---the Constitution and all the legal traditions of our country are on our side. Every founding document shows a clear intent to protect individuals from out of control federal power and to protect minorities from a possible tyranical majority.

We can't do this blindly so each resolution needs to state clearly the exact Federal moves that would trigger further action. For example, I think every state should declare federal limitations on free speech and the press to be an instant trigger for further action. Moves against the Second Amendment are in close to the same territory.

More Thoughts About Secession

Here are more of my thoughts about the secession/10th Amendment issue.

First,I included my entire original post in quotes.

"Secession from any country is a drastic measure that can't be taken lightly, most especially from one with such a long and successful history. Doing so during what should be the happy early moments of our first black presidency doesn't make it easier. Reading about the Pre-Revolutionary period makes one aware how far fetched the break which we now see as positive and inevitable seemed at the time.

Take my word for it, I don't take it lightly but I think bringing up and realistically using this threat may provide the only near term path towards fixing our nation.

Living, at this moment in Western PA, and having lived my entire life deep in one "blue state" or another, I find it almost impossible to see broad support for a return to the Constitution or fiscal sanity.

As the long political divide between "red" and "blue" states becomes deeper, two paths seem to be emerging. The first is the continuation as a nation loyal to it's geographical borders, but not it's political and philosophical ones, in which at best- only small relative degrees of freedom remain; a nation too crippled and bankrupt to remain whole for long. The second being a move towards two nations in which- at least one has a near term possibility of returning to the Constitution.

The trick in my opinion is to focus less on convincing the most extreme "blue states" they are on the wrong path than in more thoroughly educating and creating deep broad support for the original values in the states already trending red. Remember that as separation seems more likely--this trend will be aided by an influx of new liberty loving refugees from the socialist republics.

A consistent trend of states asserting their sovereignty and directly affirming loyalty to the original meaning of the Constitution- may help knock enough sense into people to forestall a final breakup.

All thoughts are appreciated. Please understand, that our Federal government's total liabilities in relation to it's GDP are already far beyond what has sunk most nations. We are at a point of extreme crisis."

This lead to a two very good comments which you can read here as well as my response.I think Nancy Hart's statement cuts to the heart of the matter.

"Secession does sound rather extreme; however, are we not in an extreme place in our country's history? And are not states' rights under attack from the Federal government's ever-increasing efforts to tread on these rights and all the citizens living in those states (you know, the USA!).? I think we should review the 10th amendment and back the efforts of a coalition on behalf of this amendment."

Here was my response.

It really comes down to your opinion on the position our country is in. I think the facts show that it's pretty extreme. Federal liabilities already acknowledged are already something like 4x all private debt levels and interest alone on this debt will in a few decades take up close to half the federal budget or much worse if rates rise. The dollar is near all time lows and gold near all time highs.

Make no mistake about it-- The 10th Amendment's only real teeth is each states implied right to secede. If handled with firmness and resolution it might provide a powerful check against what is happening.

I think:

"First, all the firmly "red states" must pass strong resolutions affirming their tenth amendment rights. Since these comprise a potential block of southern and western states and form the largely contiguous borders of a new country- if it comes to that.

Second; These states must agree on what final lines the Feds cannot cross without triggering possible secession. In my opinion these should include- major new federal encroachments on the 2nd Amendment; the 1st Amendment and also moves to guarantee or back the debts of insolvent states. Remember that backing the debt of states like California, New York and New Jersey would create just the kind of "taxation without representation", that triggered the Revolution from colonists tired of being bled to pay for Britain's wars and debts. It would mean that the citizens of states that had acted more responsibly would have no chance to pull out of this situation and would almost surely enable new rounds of out of control state spending and pension entitlements. The result would be a delayed-- but much larger crisis; almost certain hyperinflation and probably a chaotic future crackup of the country anyway."

I want to elaborate on this. The Republican party and the last holdout defenders of real freedom and free markets as well as the Republic as whole are likely at a true turning point. Imagine for example being caught deep in the wrong lane of traffic on a rapidly moving expressway and seeing the last exit off for 1000 miles or more and having to take the risk of changing lanes and making a desperate cut for it. A closer metaphor would be to imagine that the road is actually out up ahead and this is the last exit before a cliff.

It's been far from perfect but in the past, the federal system of government which large amounts of state and local freedom has let at least parts of the country to escape some of the worst effects of misguided federal policies and retain at least strong relative levels of growth and opportunity. For example, many "right to work" states have escaped the job killing impact of forced unionization.

This freedom as well as the formerly vibrant networks of churches, charities and independent organizations(yes, once most of these groups did more than beg for and channel federal funds and grants and were actually independent) that made up "civil society" allowed a range of experimentation in new ideas.These more independent cities and states also could become the incubators for fresh and less tainted leaders who might then infuse new blood into national politics.If the national tree of liberty was sick, at least some fresh new plants and seeds might be nurtured somewhere.

What Obama's policies are likely to and are designed to do is to extinguish these sprigs-- and actually drag every remaining state down to the level of the worst. We have seen this process in the banking and car industry. The result of backing and bailing out states like California will be to make suckers (like you ain't already) out of any state or city with even a shred of fiscal responsibility and sanity while rewarding the worst possible behavior. We've done enough of this already, but "You ain't seen nothing yet".