Fascism and Propaganda | Robert Heston

The U.S.

Articles like the ones I post links to here at my website and in my social media accounts may soon go away. Not only that, they could become illegal. Anything the government does not like people saying about them could become illegal. “The Land of the Free” is on the way out. Our Corporate State has been circling our rights and freedoms like they are circling Russia and China. They, our rulers, have been chipping away at those rights and freedoms ever harder recently. Remember Freedom of Speech? It is about to become a memory. Obama signed the Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act. Now, anything and anyone that speaks out against the government or speaks about any truth the government does not want people to hear, the government can legally shut them up. They can shut down their website, cut off their social media account, stop their printing, or whatever they do to communicate to the public. They will just call it foreign propaganda from enemy countries and take it out.

Recently we have been developing some new enemies and a new Cold War. Beginning with our actions in the Ukraine, we have targeted Russia. We supported a military coup that took out a democratic government and we spent a lot of tax dollars leading up to it. We spent much more on the ensuing war. The top prize would have been Crimea where the Russians have a naval base and access to the Mediterranean. The US and NATO went on to support a war of the Western Ukraine, greatly supported by Neo Nazi militias, against the Russian speaking Eastern Ukraine. The US tried to blame Russia for the whole thing. I believe Russia did supply some support to the East, but the Russian military never entered the Ukraine. The West was beaten back after much slaughter. The US supplied missiles with white phosphorous war heads for the Nazi’s to use against towns and villages full of innocent people. Of course, there were military fighting back. The US hoped to gain ground against Russia’s border along with Crimea. Crimea separated from Ukraine and stayed with Russia. I will hazard a guess that the Western forces did not try attacking Crimea, one: because of the Russian military presence and two: because it would create a real war with Russia.

Hillary Clinton compared Putin to Adolf Hitler while accusing him of making a move through the Ukraine to invade Europe. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Later, during her campaign for President, Russia was accused of hacking DNC emails and influencing the outcome of the election. The “evidence” shown to back it up was preposterous and contained no real evidence of such. One aspect is that the IP addresses identified could have been used by anyone. At best, the situation is questionable. According to Chris Hedges there are four reasons for the US accusations of email hacking as described in this relatively brief article from 01/08/2017: The Real Purpose of the U.S. Government’s Report on Alleged Hacking by Russia and they are very good and worth the reading.

The US and NATO has since been installing military bases equipped with missiles aimed at Russia through Eastern Europe. NATO has made itself a very real threat to Russia. Western propaganda –that’s right, the US has propaganda—has continued to demonize and threaten Russia. We have, in effect, begun the creation of a new Cold War based on all manner of lies. The US implemented sanctions against Russia. One effect of that was Russia’s development of agriculture from which they have become the largest wheat producer in the world. Another strategy used by the West has been to lower the price of oil. The Russian economy depends heavily on oil and Russia is the largest oil exporter in the world. Putin has consistently taken the high ground in the face of US threats, accusations, insults, and actions. I appreciate the possible source of my disintegration having some restraint. Unless Washington has back engineered extraterrestrial technology to the point of being able to take out all nuclear missiles while taking over the world, some restraint might be in order on our end. Ignoring Russia Warnings, US Walking Towards New Abyss in Syria – 10/11/2016

Combine with this the US military’s “Pivot to Asia.” Another foe developing, China. The US has been working its way through the middle East, Southeast Asia, around Australia, and from Japan to surround China. What’s the purpose? Some speculate a world war. I doubt it though, if things are not done carefully, war could potentially break out. The warmongers in Washington have gone so far as to threaten it on occasion. But, no, I feel sure that war is not the goal. The afore linked article from 12/15/2016 can describe it much better: The U.S. Military’s Role in Asia in the Age of Trump and this one provides a lengthy description of our agenda: Delusionary Washington: The Desperate Plight of a Declining Superpower.

The war is economic. Russia, China, Iran, and their other allies do not want to play dollar anymore. The dollar standard! The single largest reason the dollar has value in this world. Everyone trades in dollars. Or, they did. Our new Cold War “enemies” do not like the dollar anymore. The creation of BRICS is most evident of that. It is also the root cause for our attacks against some of the Middle Eastern countries we have decimated. Gadhafi was a wicked SOB, but the favored citizens of Libya lived well with many benefits, but Gadhafi did not want to play dollar. Saddam Hussein was another wicked SOB who did not want to play dollar anymore. Syria is another and we have been playing some very dirty pool around there the last several years. There are others. Some South American countries prefer our “enemies.” The “B” in BRICS is Brazil. The US has been hard at work down there though. Doing what we have been doing for a very long time, government coups and other influence appears to be bringing much of that area back around to us.

The pieces move around on the chessboard and that defines the underlying structure but everyone is doing business with everyone else. A world war would be very bad for business! Rise above the level of borders, military bases, and government influence and what do you find? You find wealth and power that knows no borders. Therein lies power that can be rooted in many countries while holding no allegiance, at least to the people, of any single country. Once Bill Clinton signed off on NAFTA, free trade opened a world of possibilities for the most rich while stealing away the wealth and opportunity for the American and European people. Third world countries are developing and we, as a people, are increasingly in competition with them. Our economy is hollowed out and our sovereignty is going away. Our corporations and politicians are traitors to the American people and we grow ever more powerless. Knowledge is power and the process has begun to take that away from us.

You, the American public, are losing your right to be informed. You will no longer have the right to learn the truth about what is happening in the world and what your government is up to. Real investigative journalists may become a thing of the past. They almost already are in our mass media. It’s not much of a leap to speculate that people trying to get the truth out will have their computers hacked and seized, any related equipment seized, get arrested and charged as terrorists, and get thrown into jail and prison. You will lose your power to have any real freedom because you will no longer have any way of knowing what is going on. Maybe you just ignore the news and would never bother to go find and read independent journalism like some of us. Soon it may not be there anymore and we will be cut off.

You are just little worker bees serving your rich rulers. You will be on a need to know basis and you will not need to know very much. All you’ll need to know is how to behave right and serve your rulers. It will be easy. Your TV, newspapers, magazines, movies, and things you can still find on the internet will tell you what to think and believe. Like what is already happening to a relatively large degree, everything you are exposed to for information will follow government guidelines to eventually wash away rebellious thoughts, beliefs, behaviors, and actions from the public. As far as everyone will know, our government will be doing a great job and we can proudly support whatever they want and otherwise work hard to keep our rulers wealthy and in complete control.

Anyone who tries to cause trouble and get in the way of that will be criminals. If we hear anyone saying bad things or criticizing our rulers, we can just tell the police and they will get rid of them for us. Our version of the Russian KGB, or the Hongweibing under Mao Zedong in China, or the Gestapo in Nazi Germany, or the OVRA under the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini will be our own secret police, the NSA and/or parts of the FBI and maybe they will come up with a whole new set of officers for the Global Engagement Center. The Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act, introduced by Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, establishes the Global Engagement Center under the State Department. Obama signed off on it and the Washington Post already published a list of news outlets that it accuses of being propagandists for the Russians… some of which who use award winning investigative journalists who are not controlled by corporate money or the government by writing and producing for independent news outlets.

The public has been manipulated with fear. Fear of enemies. Enemies of our own creation. Fascism needs enemies and will create them. Enemies that can serve as a unifying factor for those under fascism’s rule. For Nazi Germany it was the Jews. For us it will be the terrorists, the Muslims, the refugees, and, perhaps the illegal aliens. Chris Hedges writes, “The machinery of the security and surveillance state, the use of special terrorism laws and the stripping of civil liberties become ubiquitous. The lofty rhetoric of liberty and the reality of the chains readied for the public creates magic realism. Reality and the language describing reality are soon antipodal. The pseudo-democracy is populated with pseudo-legislators, pseudo-courts, pseudo-journalists, pseudo-intellectuals and pseudo-citizens. Nothing is as it is presented.” And, there are real reasons for real fear, “The coming arrests mean that a wide range of Americans will experience the violations that poor people of color have long endured. Self-interest alone should have generated sweeping protest, should have made the nation as a whole more conscious. We should have understood: Once rights become privileges that the state can revoke, they will eventually be taken away from everyone. Now those who had been spared will get a taste of what complicity in oppression means.” These quotes are from: When Fear Comes – 01/08/2017.

The propaganda has already been happening for a long time. It has been coming from our mass media. Not Even Cowards—Zombies – 08/04/2013 and How Mental Conditioning Has Created a Silent, Passive American Society – 07/11/2013 – The mass media news agencies are leaving all sorts of critical issues out of the news. When they do bring something up, they will twist that truth around, leave parts of it out, and put the Corporate State slant on it so you will know how and what to think. That’s called propaganda. Is my favorite, independent news sites Russian Propagandists? I think not. Their many articles hold the ring of truth based in facts and written by many highly qualified, investigative journalists. And, they will inform you of the many issues you will never know about from the mass media.

What can I suggest as a solution? Activism. We have taken our country for granted and it is being stolen away from us. Our wealth, sovereignty, rights, and freedom are all going away. It is happening incrementally and the mass media hides it from us. We are responsible for this country and that responsibility requires participation. By not using it, we are losing it. The people of this country can still be the real power. At the moment we can still become an informed public. I provided links here with the Village Spirit Main Page. An Informed Public Is the Greatest Weapon of Democracy – Los Angeles Times The mass media will no longer tell you what you need to know. The time to act is now. I provided a good starting point with the Village Spirit Activism Page. And, you never know, we could be in for a big surprise. Maybe the government will create the National Anti-Propaganda Center and they will be very careful to make sure the only thing they deal with is real, foreign propaganda while preserving free speech and freedom of information for all Americans. That would be a surprise. Maybe they will call in Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 too? Just turn on the TV news, according to CONTROL, KAOS is at it again!

The US government, dominated by members of the GOP, has become the definition of fascism

Additionally, here are some articles about fascism in America:

Neoliberal Fascism and the Echoes of History – 2018

Reading Against Fascism – 2018

Challenging Trump’s Language of Fascism – 2018

Chris Hedges: A Q&A on Trump, Fascism and Democracy (Video) – 2017

Fascism’s Return and Trump’s War on Youth – 2017

Fascism Made Charlottesville Violence Inevitable – 2017

Chris Hedges on How to Create Effective Resistance to Fascism (Video) – 2017

Antonio Gramsci and the Battle Against Fascism – 2017

Does the WWII Internment of Japanese-Americans Provide a Model for an American Fascism Under Trump? – 2016

Donald Trump: The Dress Rehearsal for Fascism – 2016

The Revenge of the Lower Classes and the Rise of American Fascism – 2016

Fascism: Can It Happen Here? – 2016

Trump’s Storm Troopers and the Possibility of American Fascism – 2016

Chris Hedges and Robert Scheer Discuss American Fascism – 2013

A Recipe for Fascism – 2010

Is America ‘Yearning for Fascism’? – 2010

When Fascism Came to America – 2009

Sowing the Seeds of Fascism in America – Unknown Date, Very Long Article

“Unite the Right 2” Showed the Growth of Anti-Fascism and the Police Response – 2018

Noam Chomsky on Fascism, Showmanship and Democrats’ Hypocrisy in the Trump Era – 2018

The War on Children Under Neoliberal Fascism – 2018

A Democracy in Exile Fights Against Fascism – 2018

Yes, There Can Be Successful Counter-Movements to Fascism – 2018

Henry A. Giroux | The Ghost of Fascism in the Age of Trump – 2018

As the “Alt-Right” Strays From Its Roots, Will It Turn to Open Fascism? – 2018

What Is Fascism? An Excerpt From “Fascism Today: What It Is and How to End It” – 2017

The American Roots and 21st Century Global Rise of Fascism – 2017

Fascism and the Denial of Truth: What Henry Wallace Can Teach Us About Trump – 2017

Americanism Personified: Why Fascism Has Always Been an Inevitable Outcome of the American Project – 2017

Fascism Is Possible Not in Spite of Liberal Capitalism, but Because of It – 2017

Noam Chomsky on Fascism: Could It Happen Here? (Video) – 2017

Fascism, SB 1070 and the Arizonafication of the US – 2016

Another Week Closer to Fascism – 2016

The Death of the Republic | Chris Hedges – 2017

Fascists Compete To Own America – 2018

7 Signs of Tyranny | Robert Reich – 2017

 

 

 

 

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