Corporate Fascism

I wouldn't call it fascism exactly, but a political system nominally controlled by an irresponsible, dumbed down electorate who are manipulated by dishonest, cynical, controlled mass media that dispense the propaganda of a corrupt political establishment can hardly be described as democracy either: Edward Zehr

"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini

Wars throughout history have been waged for conquest and plunder.... the working class who fight all the battles, the working class who make the supreme sacrifices, the working class who freely shed their blood and furnish their corpses, have never yet had a voice in either declaring war or making peace. It is the ruling class that invariably does both. They alone declare war and they alone make peace....They are continually talking about their patriotic duty. It is not their but your patriotic duty that they are concerned about. There is a decided difference. Their patriotic duty never takes them to the firing line or chucks them into the trenches. Eugene V. Debs

Benito Mussolini once exclaimed fascism as the marriage of corporations and the State. A magazine ran a cover story on Mussolini in 1934, extolling his fascism  "for its ability to break worker unions, disempower workers and transfer huge sums of money to those who controlled the money rather than those who earned it”. Lisa wryly pondered the full correctness of Mussolini’s remarks as they applied to her current day.                    

"The Fascist conception of life, he wrote, "stresses the importance " of the State and accepts the individual only in so far as his interests coincide with the interests of the State. Fascism reasserts the rights of the State as being and expressing the true real essence of the individual. Mussolini thought it was unnatural for a government to protect individual rights because the essence of fascism, he believed, is that government should be the master, not the servant, of the people. One of the first areas to go were freedom of speech, the right to dissent and the right to gather or protest.

Sadly, Lisa began to see that current governments were using George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four novel as an Instruction Manual.     

Lisa took a long slow drink of her coffee. She reflected deeply on wisdoms spoken by seers of the past and the one she was pondering now went something like ‘those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it’.

She saw how time and time again the citizens were always governed by a few. She saw the façade of how democracies eerily walked along the same paths as communist states. The glaring difference was the illusion that people had some sort of input into the decision process by way of elections yet she saw how powerless people felt in many democratic countries. The added illusion of two party systems was a nonsense also. All parties huffed and puffed at each other and vowed solemnly to alter things. But Lisa had long ago learnt that to perceive truth, the sound had to be turned off, and the actions belied the real truth.     And as the years passed by, laws of limitation to free expression were introduced one by one, often stated to protect people from unseen enemies. This was always done by both or all political parties currently on the throne.

Why? Lisa followed the trail of money to the political parties. All monies and donations always came from the same sources. All monies had a price that one day would have to be repaid. The fact that the major bulk of funding did not come from the citizens was reflected in the laws that passed that did not benefit the citizens. The laws only benefited the major donors.

The two party system was a double edged sword. Not only did it serve to create the illusion of democracy, it had a powerful effect of dividing people. The separation aspect stunned Lisa for she knew in her heart that if people ever stopped their political squabbling and woke up to the game being played, they would unite by a common consciousness and put an immediate halt to the madness. The united energies would effect changes that benefited their health systems, aged care, infrastructure and oddly enough stop wars and empirical adventures around the globe. People would be more focused on their communities and in turn other world communities. And the rapacious greed that concentrated obscene wealth to the few at the expense of the millions would be stopped in an instant.

Lisa knew that a united population was the biggest fear of politicians and the rich. It was indeed the separation weapon that was used daily.

And as such name-calling as Islamo-fascism (a tool of separation) is beginning to creep into world media of late; fascism is a word that is completely foreign to most of us. We need to know what it is, and how we can know it when we see it.

And Lisa began to speak to as many people as she could.       

It is a powerful and continuing nationalism that makes constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other propaganda such as every photo-op by government has flags draped in the background. Lisa remembered the history of murders and plundering committed under flags. The brain washing symbolism of flags, totems and beliefs caused normal men and women to believe that they were somehow more special than anyone else. They marched, they sang – and then they killed. All under the images and control of Authority figures.              

In reality, fascism dismisses Human Rights even though it pretends otherwise because the people of fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of the perceived need for security against endless parades of pretend fictional enemies. The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, war crimes, assassinations and long incarcerations of prisoners. And once a person has compromised their morals and inner standards once, then the floodgates are thrown open and the actions become self justifying                     

The installed perception via propaganda identifies enemies as a unifying cause thus leading the citizens to be rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived threat or enemy being of racial, ethnic or religious differences. And the citizen’s only factual source of data is from newspapers and television. They do not KNOW yet they travel off to far away countries only on the basis of what they have been TOLD. And when the true horror hits them as to what they have done or are doing, suicide or mental breakdowns ensue. But this is of no consequence to their masters as there is always a steady stream of gullible brain washed youth to replace them. And if the awoken ones ever dare speak, the full forces of ridicule are unleashed against them. They are called unpatriotic, yet in its purest form, they actually become true patriots. Patriots of their fellow human beings regardless of race, creed or color.

The military is always supreme and very well funded at the cost of social and health needs in these regimes, even when there are widespread domestic problems. Soldiers and military service are glamorized and are often above the law. But as surely as night follows day, the sick and disabled soldiers also get caught in the net of the ‘profit based’ health systems. The confusion and bewilderment hits soldiers hard when they return home to sub standard military hospitals with sub standard health care.

‘Aren’t I a war hero?’ they moan. ‘Didn’t I serve my country?’ And the harsh reality of being an expendable pawn hits home. That is the moment they begin to see the illusion of the game played against them.

The leaders are almost exclusively male-dominated with traditional gender roles more rigid and participation by women is offhandedly tolerated. Minority needs are ignored or fully opposed as a matter of national policy. The media is either fully controlled either directly or indirectly to ensure full compliance to the State agenda along with numerous types of censorship especially in war times. And to keep the illusion and madness continuing, there are always wars. Any country that has a huge military/industrial power base must be in constant war. How else would billions of tax dollars be siphoned off under pretences of research or armament? Lisa noted the past confusion and horror that faced leaders of such countries that didn’t have a war to fight. She sarcastically noted that to have an insurance against Peace, these countries ensured they now had multiple wars because only one area of aggression was far too risky. Multiple wars also meant faster, higher multiple profits.

The mantra of National Security is used at every opportunity and uses fear as used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses. This also is used to deny access to matters of injustice citing the need to maintain security. The Institutions of higher learning and artistic pursuits are treated with distain and hostility to limit freedom of expression, speech and learning. Quite often these areas are under funded or receive no funding what so ever. The quests for personal expression and spiritual growth are derided and scorned. The gathering of creative souls to discuss and share is curtailed or distracted by non ending stressful events.

These fascist regimes don’t have a separation of church and state per se but use the churches as a tool to sway public opinion and pass laws under the guise of being divinely blessed. This limits any protests immediately. The separation between state and corporations is indistinguishable due to appointments to each camp being made from both sides. Very few people have the inner courage to arise and refute a ‘god’ based war or directive. Leaders have connected to this weakness of resolve and are seen frequently entering churches and praying. The people are somehow rendered powerless to speak. Yet Lisa also watched the actions of these same men. She noted their actions. She noted their pompousness and arrogance. All with the sound turned off. She noted the sly smirks. And she saw the illusion of the game along with its insidious power.

The independence of labor power is curtailed and ensured dissent is non existent. A free and open labor market place threatens the very power base of those in charge. And any worker base with enough funds for wholesome leisure, time to think and to meet fellow neighbors cannot be allowed to flourish. Lisa noted that most uprisings against the state in the past were due to the severe hunger and lack being experienced by the masses. The current world leaders were now clever whereby the workers were given (at times) just enough. The leaders know that if the masses have enough to keep them happy then they will willingly conform and accept their lot. They will do this because everyone else seems happy.

And Lisa began to see that people were being emotionally, spiritually and energetically preyed upon. Everyone she spoke to could see how it was happening, but they either felt powerless to stop it or felt that it was how things had to be.

The endless servings of police shows on television and the constant crime screeching on news broadcasts gave Lisa yet more clues as to how people were being manipulated and herded. An almost morbid obsession with crime and punishment results in a police state mentality whereby police corruption and abuse goes unattended and over looked- a tacit acceptance is the norm. Cronyism and corruption is rife within these fascist states and crimes are kept hidden from public view due to the old boy club mentalities. And Lisa witnessed daily examples on how police forces beat up and shot citizens they had sworn to protect for the sole purpose of protecting corporate interests from the public. Any actions or movements to restore equality or highlight criminal activity were harshly dealt with. And people could still not see that the very same forces that were paid from their taxes were used to control them. Private security forces would have to be paid from the corporate purse and Lisa saw the stark irony in it all. But what if the corporate and state actually did the right thing in the first place?                        

Elections are usually fraudulent with voting irregularities common and unchallenged. Smear and disinformation campaigns are used to discredit any potential challengers whilst trying to maintain an illusion of fair and open elections. Paperless electronic voting systems dissuaded many from voting and the lead ups to the elections leave many bored and disinterested. This too has not gone unnoticed by the puppet masters.

The theft of social security funds occurs and education systems are reworked to ensure children are taught exactly the ideals of the state. The government state continually undermines public and state owned media by means of insufficient funding thus removing opposition to corporate owned media outlets. This in turn ensures the sate agenda is fully complied with and supported. And once the pension funds are drained into hidden projects and wars, the blame is always directed against the drain caused by the elderly. Media silence can and is bought not to report or discuss the true events because as Lisa noted, the media are corporations themselves.

The operation of a draft system for compulsory military service not only ensures sufficient cannon fodder for needless wars of aggression but also protects the elite from having to send their own children into battle.  It also gives an outlet for the constant patriotic propaganda messages whereby the prestige and honor to serve masks the fact that the sole purpose of any military is to kill. And kill they do. Whether from high altitudes or from hundreds of miles away, the result is always the same. And these same forces that pledge to defend somehow were always overseas attacking yet very few people connected the dots.  

Free speech and internet access is continually under threat to ensure minimal differing views and knowledge undermines the states control. Harsh penalties apply to those who protest with arrests, detentions and harassment increasing. And the spin doctors move deeply into the internet by way of Psyop operations to spread disinformation and untruths at every conceivable opportunity.

Endless outsourcing of jobs not only seeks to maximize higher profit returns for the state/corp. businesses but also removing the power base and life quality of the workers to ensure obedience and poverty. Desperation is a powerful mind tool. The pension plans are no longer needed with outsourcing and prior noble pursuits of employee loyalty discarded overnight due to the removal of employer loyalty to its workforce. The ability to plan and put funds aside for holidays and retirement have gone almost overnight with hardly a whimper. The unions consolidated and turned into corporations themselves and in turn the entire focus of their existence changed too.             

The eradication of the middle class is essential to the fascist state which can also be described as the feudal state in which the rich live at the expense of the huddled masses who seek out a meager living in squalid conditions at the pleasure of the rich feudal masters. The divide that was a three tired structure is reduced to the very rich, and the rest. And all of the grey areas in between which all combined to share and create in communal gatherings and common wealth suddenly had a divide of separation thrust into it.

Everywhere Lisa looked, governments of all persuasions everywhere were adopting the principles of corporate gain at the expense of the citizens. And the results were all the same everywhere. The mantras of job/wealth creation are still used non stop whilst the living standards and equalities slide non stop downwards whilst corporate gains increased unbelievably. Lisa began to take particular notice of political candidates with corporate affiliations. These she knew, had no intention of honoring election pledges or serving the electorate meaningfully.

And the privatization of publicly paid utilities and services marched forward unrestrained.

Disempowerment, hopelessness, poverty for the masses, lack of ownership of self or determination and limited futures all relentlessly corralled everyone into emotional apathy and mind control by The State and by the corporations.