Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Calling all Hippies

I wrote an article for Worldwide Hippies last week, Fascism Dances with the Stars and Stripes.

http://www.worldwidehippies.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/nnn1.jpg 

I like the picture.   The article was hard to write because I'm completely uncomfortable using the term Fascism.  I can read a definition as well as anyone, but applying the concept to America is tricky - especially when you're trying to limit yourself to 1,000 words.  But Joe and Woody are convinced that the term applies to America these days, and they both know what they're talking about - for the most part.
There's no denying that corporations are running the show in this country.  I'm not so sure that's fascism though, even though Mussolini himself was supposed to have said:
Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.
A little bit of research showed that (1) nobody could find the direct source of this quote so there is some doubt as to whether he ever really said it, and (2) even if he did, Mussolini was talking about large groups of individuals working collectively, or about organizations like guilds - not about GE or Texaco or Bank of America.  Once you're unsure of your facts, it's hard to make a strong point - unless you're a blowhard like Rush or Glenn or Sarah.  I'm still trying to decide who in America today represents the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse.

Frankly, I'm not sure there is a term that labels our current form of government - where the representatives are bought and paid for by special interests (and here I consider Crazy Assed Dominionist Christians to be Big Business just as much as GE).  When Corporations and Wall Street pay no tax and huge numbers of people believe government is broke on account of teachers and bus drivers who have collective bargaining rights - that's just Fucked Up. 

Ergo:  I can say with certainty that our government is Fucked Up, but I can't say with certainty that it's Fascism.  I'll believe Woody, though, so I went out on a limb in the article.  I'm not sure it matters much, however, since it's doubtful many people saw it, and besides my by-line over there is Tricia, not PENolan.  Apparently that's a Wordpress issue that results from my original registration on Worldwide Hippies.

Woody is writing for Worldwide Hippies now, too, and Joe published some poems by my friend Guy.  Guy is the friend from High School who said, with affection and respect, that I am a Man Eater.   Apparently, Joe is setting aside space on Sundays for poetry since the title of the post is Thoughts and Poems Sunday.  I think Woody has something like his own Hippie Column.  It's called Wake and Bake 101 with Dr. Woody.  The latest entry is The United States of Amnesia.  Joe keeps asking and asking for more original content for the site - and even with Dr. Konopelli on board, there's room for everyone.  Look at how many Hippies fit into Woodstock.  (WWH Submission Guidelines)

I think these developments are excellent and am trying to figure out a way to pull more lefty bloggers under the Worldwide Hippies umbrella since I've made it my mission to start seriously recruiting for the Rebel Alliance.  Given how Fucked Up America is these days, I suspect we need to be more closely connected in case it becomes necessary to storm the Bastille.

http://parisgroceryseattle.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/bastille.jpg

And then there's the issue of the PAC.  I haven't begun exploring the idea of a Worldwide Hippies PAC, but I figure we should be able to do as well as Christine O'Donnel.   Maybe not as well as Moosealini, but I can't stand that yammering cunt anyway.

12 Comments:

Blogger mac said...

I hear the "unions are killing us" argument often around here. I try to politely remind them that we can thank unions for our concept of a 40 hour week, workers compensation, earning vacations, a livable wage, and pretty every benefit we get from our employers.
Even if one has never been in a union, or dislikes unions, they still enjoy the benefits the unions fought to earn.

As to churches being PACs, if they're going to be politically active, they should pay taxes like the rest of us suckers.

March 29, 2011 at 11:47 AM  
Blogger VV said...

Funny you mention the Bastille, I was just thinking, didn't all this happen just before the French Revolution?

March 29, 2011 at 1:14 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

mac, I'm not 100% pro-union and can see how unions might cause problems - but right now I'm thinking that we're seeing another example of what the notorious robber baron Jay Gould said about being able to pay half the working class to kill the other half. We're being turned against each other for the benefit of the rich.

V.V. - you know it, girl! How's Junior doing this semester?

March 29, 2011 at 1:22 PM  
Blogger Mr. Charleston said...

Maybe our current form of government should be something like NASGOV. You know, where all of the politicians wear their sponsors on their uniforms.

March 29, 2011 at 1:37 PM  
Blogger PENolan said...

Love it, Mr. C

March 29, 2011 at 1:41 PM  
Blogger yellowdoggranny said...

people toss around words with such abandon and they don't even know the meaning of the words.I've seen signs with Obama is a fascists and a communist on the same sign..sigh*

March 29, 2011 at 1:42 PM  
Blogger Susan Tiner said...

I love Mr. Charleston's NASGOV idea :-).

And I liked your article! I just had a quibble with the military piece getting lumped in. Did you see my follow up comment over there?

March 29, 2011 at 8:04 PM  
Blogger Flying Junior said...

As YELLOWDOG GRANNY intimated, either side that tries to label the other as fascist is pert near barking up the wrong tree. Absent a totalitarian, military dictatorship or an authoritarian police state fascism cannot exist. I see no need to further modify the definition of fascism any more than it morphed in the decade following WWII. I think we could probably call republicans, libertarians and conservatives "butthairs" and pretty much get away with it. My friend Sue at "Hellooo Mr. President" tried to make a case for labeling conservatives fascists, but this is mostly tongue-in-cheek.

Hailing from California as I do, the home of Reagan, the fascist gun in the west, I always get a kick out of these discussions. I posted the 1954 article from the Encyclopedia Britannica for those who are interested in what fascism really is or was.

March 29, 2011 at 9:43 PM  
Blogger PENolan said...

Flying Junior - I suspect that the whole fascist idea centers in the Corporatist idea which meant something entirely different in those days than it does now. "Fascist Gun in the West" -- now THAT'S funny.
Thanks for the link.

Susan, I did indeed see the comment and got distracted by civilian chicken hawks like Dick Cheney.

For now, though, I'm going to bed. My head is reeling from just thinking about the culture shock I'll experience if and when I ever move back to Texas.

March 29, 2011 at 10:08 PM  
Blogger Murr Brewster said...

It may not be Fascist, but it does start with an F, as you note. I have an awful feeling we'll be calling it Thunderdome, possibly in my waning lifetime. Right before the cockroaches take over. (The real ones.)

March 30, 2011 at 4:40 AM  
Blogger VV said...

Jr. is preparing to flunk out yet again. He just doesn't have the discipline not to stay up all night playing those damn video games with friends. I think he's addicted a little bit. He needs to detox and go where there are no electronics, and maybe toughen up and get in better shape as well. His sister says he's put on a lot of weight this semester. I haven't seen him because he's been avoiding me and discussing his grades. Want to send me info on the program Velvet is in?

March 31, 2011 at 4:38 PM  
Blogger PENolan said...

Murr, and they are going to be BIG roaches with all the radiation seeping into the environment these days.

March 31, 2011 at 5:18 PM  

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