three points: 1. Though I don't think the US should be called "fascist" or "Nazi," there is a major point of similarity these days, at least on the ideological level. The Bushocrats see themselves and their nation as "victims," partly due to 9/11 and partly due to an imitation of the Israelis -- despite being on top. This sense of victimhood includes an element of the "they stabbed in the back" attitude that many German fascists had in the 1920s.
2. I think that there will be a word or phrase in the US version of English which will take on meanings similar to "fascist." It will be some word or phrase that Bush uses (such as "the ownership society") as soon as it becomes clear to a majority that it's total reactionary nonsense. (Was it Sinclair Lewis who said that if fascism comes to the US it will be called "Americanism.") 3. As part of his long but useful essay, Ralph writes: >Hence, material conditions dictated as one of a limited range of feasible courses militarization and the attempt to capture colonial markets and resources. With Hjalmar Schacht's guidance the Nazi regime was able to restore growth and sharply reduce unemployment through a program of public works and rearmament facilitated by running budget deficits in defiance of financial orthodoxy - similar to the New Deal of FDR, which was less far-reaching due to the limits of presidential power ...< Paul & I discussed this before. I don't think the New Deal was Keynesian (in the sense of truly pumping up aggregate spending) until WW II. The Germans were able to break the balance-the-budget orthodoxy more. -- Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://myweb.lmu.edu/jdevine
