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- inactive, on 10/29/2007, -32/+155Note #6 on the list:
Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, published research on fascism in which he examined the fascist regimes of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each fascist State:
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarceration of prisoners, etc.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists; terrorists, etc.
4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military are glamorized.
5. Rampant sexism - The government of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
7. Obsession with National security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are intertwined - Government in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.
9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation are often the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
10. Labor Power is suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated, or are severely restricted.
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassinations of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
Benito Mussolini - who knew something about fascism - had a more straightforward definition: “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.”
Abraham Lincoln stated, “I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me, and causes me to tremble for the safety of our country. Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people, until wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the republic is destroyed.” - corevette, on 10/10/2007, -5/+72you want to know why our country is so uneducated? blame the media, not our gov't
because although our government does ***** things up
the media doesn't report half of the important ***** that goes on our country
IN OTHER NEWS: Paris Hilton may loose custody of her baby - fancypantscz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+56I don't trust any single entity to tell me what is happening in the world. I trust some sources of information more than others but ultimately I decide what to believe. The Internet is very conducive to gathering information from a variety of sources in order to develop a personal world view. Sure, many blogs are alarmist and full of spin but there is also a lot of real information out there if you are willing to do a little digging or diggging. My major problem with mainstream media is not how they cover the 'news' it is what kinds of information they deem to be 'unnewsworthy'. Democracy in America is being hurt by the way mainstream media covers the news; packaging practically every issue as conservative vs liberal. Democracy in America is being systematically dismantled by the mainstream media as a group of massive conglomerates choosing not to cover certain issues at all, namely news detrimental to corporate interests.
The two perfect examples of this are 1. how we were mislead into the Iraq war and 2. how our perspective presidential candidates are selected for us by the network managers. Questions for candidates are systematically chosen to confine the 'debate' to only certain topics of 'national interest'. Why we let corporate executives decide what is in the nations best interest is beyond me.
The you tube debate was an interesting idea but rendered utter ***** because the network execs. selected the videos to be shown. I think digg should sponsor a debate where we submit the questions and let the digg community decide which questions to ask based upon the number of diggs. That would be realizing some of the great potential the Internet has for reinvigorating our democracy.
Most Americans do not concern themselves with politics because they are disgusted and marginalized. The is a result of generations of televisions. Imagine what a better place the world would be if Americans were actually responsible civic minded people. I think the Internet holds the keys to saving American democracy. It will not happen on its own because the powers that be prefer no change. We have to make it happen. It is in effect a revolution that is already well underway. - backoff34, on 10/10/2007, -18/+55Of course its biased, its that damned liberal media slandering our great country.
(yes, I was joking for those of you who cannot detect sarcasm) - astrofire, on 10/10/2007, -1/+33I'm glad that the public at large is becoming more interested in the motivations behind news networks, instead of just taking the news stories at face value.
However, the comment at the end of the summary is a major part of the problem. It does nothing but trivialize the conclusions of this study by turning the results into an adversarial "us vs them" mentality. The problem is not simply with Fox News as is implied, but ALL news media, and implying otherwise is juvenile. The point is that all news from any source should be taken with a large grain of salt. - obliviousfool, on 10/10/2007, -4/+35Look man, take the Lincoln quote off your cut-and-paste thing. He never said it, and I'm tired of reading some reply about how Lincoln never said it every time you post this! Otherwise, rock on!
- greenback1, on 10/10/2007, -3/+33Americans are discovering that ownership of Big Corp Media is made up of an international group of businessmen with no true allegiance to any country - modern day pirates in $10,000 suits. Among the pirates who own and pretty much dictate information content to the American public are guys like the King of Saudi Arabia or cult leader Sun Yung Moon and plenty other tyrants who hold massive amounts of shares in all the major news companies. We the People are upset by that and are determined to take back our country and our media.
- dmh11686, on 10/10/2007, -7/+34Whats with the Fox News bashing in the title.
Here's the actual poll with out the Rawstory spam.
http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=348 - astrofire, on 10/10/2007, -4/+27Those who don't are bound to make grammar mistakes.
- bortis, on 10/10/2007, -2/+24Down with the Loberals!
- Schmidtopolis, on 10/10/2007, -2/+21Actually, with this being the internet, you've had the OPTION to read it 20 times. Look there-------------------->
It's called a scroll bar, and it moves vertically, thus allowing you to skip passed what you don't want to read. I know it's a tough concept, having the option to choose to read something or not, but enjoy that freedom. - zulfy26, on 10/10/2007, -3/+21FOX NEWS. FAIR AND BALANCED.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+18The MSM is a joke.
- mrASSMAN, on 10/10/2007, -1/+17I'm tired of being lobbed in the head with assortments of blunt objects.
Down with the Loberals! - jessecurry, on 10/10/2007, -3/+17exactly, it removed any credibility that the poster had built when he threw in that last jab at one specific news outlet.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14I think this is one point people don't get - and it's not just the media. The old men running major corporations have zero allegiance to a country. They can get up and move somewhere with other opportunities. Murdoch, an Aussie, only came to the US because of the potential for wealth. He would/will move to wherever the most potential for building wealth exists, and he'll do it without any regard for the bettering of humanity.
- sol2006, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14Not too long ago Rebublicans and Democrats simply meant a differing of ideas. Now it's drawn a giant jagged division line in America, and now the two sides are actually producing hate against one another. So sad...
Sorry it's a lil off topic, but I notice it on many threads on Digg. Just thought I'd mention it. - KataLieb, on 10/10/2007, -1/+14Bah, I didnt even notice that sentence was missing that one word. My brain spellcheck just inserted the word there in its correct place and id been just happy with that...Before you pointed out this lil slip.
- the6thReplicant, on 10/10/2007, -2/+15You get the government you vote for.
You get the media that you're willing to watch. - SwordofKahless, on 10/10/2007, -5/+17Undugg after seeing the reference to singling out Foxnews rather than the media as a whole.
- masamunecyrus, on 10/10/2007, -4/+15More importantly, note #1, #2, #3, #4, #6, #7, #8, #9, #12, #13, and possibly #14.
- IamBobX, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12Should I bury this as "Obvious?"
- Fashion_Nugget, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11Well the fact of the matter is that news is a business. The stories that are run are the ones that will be the most controversial or otherwise most talked about. That is unless a story will reflect badly on a large corporation who is also a large buyer of advertisement. And don't forget the American media's order of importance of people killed: 1. other reporters 2. Celebrity 3. Americans 4. All other people. Generally I call most "Journalists" newscasters because there is not much Journalism going on these days. Sad. True.
- atheinostic, on 10/10/2007, -2/+13Having a political viewpoint isn't bad if you're upfront about it. Fox News ought to just come out and say that they are conservative, and then no one would care.
- felman87, on 10/10/2007, -2/+12"Among those who get their news from newspapers and television, criticism of the news organizations was up to 20 percentage points lower than among Internet news audiences, who tend to be younger and better educated than the public as a whole, according to Pew."
Hell yeah! we PWNZD their asses! - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -8/+18Eggs on your face scew ball libs. The majority cannot stand the MSM...that aint Foxnews Morons.... Its CNN, ABC, NBC and so on.
- DocHoliday22, on 10/10/2007, -3/+13American news channels are completely weird to me. In the UK they have to REMAIN NEUTRAL when presenting the news and even in heated debates they don't pick sides. If we had a Bill O'reliy in the UK he would be pretty much dead because of the publics intolerance for people like that. The closest thing we have to Bill is Anne Robinson.
- skrowl, on 10/10/2007, -4/+13Fox News is no more biased than CNN or MSNBC.
- moracity, on 10/10/2007, -11/+20Huh? I find young people on the internet to be the most ill- and under-informed people on the planet. A perfect example is somehow linking Fox News as the target of this study. Fox News is one friggin channel that has some entertainment shows that tilt conservative (Haniity, O'Reilly). Besides a handful of AM talk radio hosts...again entertainment...every news/media outlet in America is insanely left wing. This study is about mainstream media and it's ilk: CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC.
Sorry to disappoint you, but that goes to show you how flawed left-wing ideology is. It controls everything, yet Bush was elected TWICE!! I mean, Air America couldn't even stay on the air because no one was listening. I listened to it a few times and felt like I was listening to something from the dark ages. People were screaming and just making stuff up with all these crazy conspiracies. It was too disturbing to even be entertaining. - KataLieb, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9Ah, like BBC who just got caught rigging TV quiz shows that were supposed to be fair?
- SwordofKahless, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Seems you totally miss the point of the article and prefer biased reporting.
- philipl411, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9So almost every country out there is a fascist state. Who knew.
- SystmBetatester, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10i dont see how the poster can single out fox news, i havent watched the news in months, much less TV since i find downloading shows my right since i have had to watch 15 min of commercials since i was a wee child.
- ndurkes, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9"You get the government you vote for." - A great America lie...
"You get the media that you're willing to watch." - I will buy that, but where are the "good" choices? Few and far between in my opinion. - mstoneburner, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7That's pretty funny how you assert that the BBC can't be biased because it's based in Europe. Really, that's rich.
- brundlefly76, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Actually I regularly go over to Astaro's house and teach mandatory classes in mass communications and political science to his family, and the reading list I give them is pretty brutal and repetitive. I guess their not as into it as I thought they were :(
My bad. - monsieurx, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7Amazing how little international news you get also in the US. CNN and yahoo just stink in that dept unless some US national or interest is at stake...
- Smurph0404, on 10/10/2007, -5/+11I love how the submitter sees 'main stream media' and reads 'fox news'. 80+% of 'main stream media' consists of outlets other than fox news that push their agenda just as hard. I am a conservative and I have no illusions that fox is fair and balanced, but I find it just as obvious that sources like CNN, MSNBC, and many network news broadcasts push a consist ant anti-bush, liberal agenda.
- sgtbutterscotch, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Wasn't she that weakest link lady?
- bubba9999, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8What channel is KOS on again? Is it only on satellite?
- bloomanchoo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7democracy now > http://www.democracynow.org/
- KataLieb, on 10/10/2007, -10/+16The connection of corporations to fascism is no coincidence. Corporations are by definition Fascist entities. The majority owner holds absolute power in the corporation, and can command anyone else in the corporation to do whatever it is the corporate dictator wants to do. Corporations have a hierarchical power structure and no democracy or freedom at all...Except the freedom to quit if you dont like how things are done around here.
- curios, on 10/10/2007, -4/+10In the UK the news media is disproportionately negative, to the point of misery. It's a completely biased, flawed world view they present.
- Kewlduderules, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Digg allows one to discuss a story from different perspectives. Read the comments people will usually have different insights, knowledge, or links that can corroborate or debunk a story. That is why digg and other blogger sites are the best medium for news. With trash tv news, you only get the corporate perspective with very limited public participation and that is usually censored to fit the network's interest.
- the6thReplicant, on 10/10/2007, -4/+9hey don't be so hard on us
there are a lot of people on digg who believe that (even though logic states otherwise) - Teh5809, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6The BBC has been a government propaganda tool at least since WWII and probably before. I remember reading 1930s radio transcripts in history lessons where the BBC would announce giant sky nets capturing hundreds of German planes in mid air. Looking back at the reporting from just before the Iraq invasion, things haven't really improved that much, just that now they tend to selectively hype the news they want you to hear, and totally ignore the news they don't want you to hear as opposed to just lying.
- chocolatetacos, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6Many of your points are good (so I dugg you up for reasoned disagreement). However, we are closer to the "fascist points" posted above now than we were 10 years ago. You've probably heard all of that evidence many times so I'm not going to rant through the list.
- mstoneburner, on 10/10/2007, -5/+10Well people who hate Fox only do so because the station isn't biased in their favor. They just can't bring themselves to admit that their own news channel of choice, be it CNN, MSNBC, or the BBC, is just as biased, perhaps more so.
- bubba9999, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7At least they give you topless women in the newspaper every day. We don't even get that.
- wendelgee2, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6I think his point might be that corporations are authoritarian, because they are run by a handful of people, while the workers don't get to "vote" on anything the company does. I think you could argue back and forth about whether that is right-wing totalitarianism, or left-wing totalitarianism.
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