Given the surprise evinced by just about everyone over the recent victory of a political party founded by actual neo-Nazis in Sweden of all places, it seems a good idea to look at another of the other far right parties that are close to taking national political power.
TC, I have admired your encyclopedic sense of history...the key details you share...with awe. Your assessments of "how we got here" are spot on. And I especially appreciate your wordsmithing.
I clipped these three piece from your letter today. I think it encapsulates my understanding and political perspective.
"...capitalism has been historically the economic engine that spread progress most widely among people..."
""...unregulated capitalism would create its own destruction..."
"...governments whose policies exacerbated the problem of inequality..."
And there you have it. "I speak not as a Marxist." But as one who can see the value of a regulated free enterprise based economy built on a foundation of social equality and opportunity. It's not as complicated as people want to make it. It's just a decision. Is the US of A to be a "me" place or a "we" place?
TC, as usual you are ahead of the pack. There is little in the press about European democracies falling backward. I read one piece recently, 'Right-Wing Parties Are Selling Out Across Europe, Too' in Today's World View, a newsletter in WAPO. To quote, 'Meloni’s rise matters not only because Italy has been since the early 20th century a bellwether for far-right movements in Europe. More critically, Manfred Weber, president of the European People’s Party (EPP) — a family of mainstream, center-right parties across the continent — has publicly endorsed Berlusconi’s coalition with Merloni.'
'The EPP kept a fastidious distance from Germany’s xenophobic Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), for instance....'Weber’s embrace of a far-right-dominated alliance seems especially sinister. It weakens the European Union’s own criticism of illiberal regimes in Hungary and Poland, and it enables further legitimization of neo-fascist movements such as Vox in Spain, which has already entered the Spanish political mainstream through its partnership with the center-right People’s Party.'
THE RETURN OF MUSSOLINI? What's going on is a SHOUT not a whisper.
TC summarized our fall backward and far-right in the clearest terms:
'It is the result of 50 years of increasing social inequality as neo-liberalism took control of national social and economic policy, led by U.S. policies that began with the Nixon administration and saw their spread through the policies promoted by the International Monetary Fund during the period of inflation in the 1970s and 80s, then supported by the accession to power of center-right governments whose policies exacerbated the problem of inequality.'
There it is, that's our story, in brief. Could anyone be more succinct and direct about it than TC? One of my deepest concerns is whether the captured MAGA and the more extreme groups have boiled over -- ready and eager to fight.
Thanks TC. I pushed hearts on some who have already worded it better.
I might add something about Sweden to my earlier comment. The reason Swedish journalists are so tacit and seem to let SD appear in the media as they prefer to be seen, is that otherwise they are being flooded with hate and threats on email or twitter. Quite in line with what we hear from far right all over.
Italian fascists got away with turning their weapons against their former allies. 'Going with the winner' is an essential instinct of fascists. Those wanting Sweden to join WW II wanted to take the side of Germany, but did we go for America after the war! I refer this to my understanding of fascism as survival at the cost of others, like going with the winners, which is legitimate for women that can give birth, or support new life. Seeing a woman as leader of the Italian brothers is really scary, because she is doing it with a sense of legitimacy, that she does not know the reason for.
I did just read an article in the New York Times about her the other day. That was frightening enough. But to hear she’s an admirer of Steve Bannon makes my skin crawl. These are scary times and information is gold. Thank you TC for keeping us informed. If only more people would wake up and get involved.
Thanks for the great writing. Perhaps some of you might be interested in exploring Bill McKibben's Third Act. I live in Canada and have joined the Council for Canadians. There are deep ties between the funding of and from the fossil fuel industries and those working to undermine democracy. Vast numbers of people suffer and suffered horribly under authoritarian communist regimes. Sadly the alt right has done a great job of attacking open democracy while claiming to be fighting communism.
We are mostly definitely all in a fine mess. We need to work together to save democracy and our living planet.
I started learning about the Brothers of Italy during late spring when I found it mentioned in a few comments in the LFAA forum. There is little I can find of any connections within the United States and Canada. More often there is much to be found about the Order of Sons and Daughters of Italy in America, which, on paper, is the antithesis of Brothers of Italy. I have talked with a few people connected to the Order and they tell me Brothers is regarded as fascist, destructive, and far right but also that it might be future of politics in Italy. This was during the summer. I was told also that there is not a commonly known “wing” of the Brothers in America but when mentioned, it is in tandem with white Christian nationalists. Same ideals. Ewww.
Reading this newsletter after watching the first episode of Ken Burns "The US & the Holocaust" is not reassuring. Additionally, Madeleine Albright's book "Fascism" begins with Mussolini. It is sad that we, as a world of people, are incapable of learning from our collective past.
terrific piece, Tom. and very, very needed because this is not getting t he kind of play it demands in the print media and is virtually absent in any kind of meaningful way from the electronic stuff. what's interesting TODAY (for me, at any rate) is this sort of "awareness synergy" that's going on. I've been watching the new Ken Burns documentary on PBS (all of it is available on the streaming app) about the US during the Holocaust, and there's a shitload of quoting the anti-immigration shits of 1940 (LOTS of Lindbergh, of course). the most obvious thing is that much of it could've been in today's paper. actually, much of it IS, what with these asshole stunts being pulled by two "ambitious" motherfuckers whose suck-ups have been telling them they can be PRESIDENT if they show enough spunk (anyone who wants to read "spunk" in the British sense is encouraged to do so). then there's the actual news coverage, which is enraging. and just for me, there's my moronic upstairs neighbor who just got his US passport so that when he's home in Padua, he won't need to visit here every six months to renew his green card. he had to be "briefed" for his citizenship exam on things like the fact that we have a bicameral legislature and what SCOTUS is supposed to do. can you guess who did the briefing?
his dad, who's remarkably and genuinely charming in that particularly Italian way, is a tremendous enthusiast for the hard-Right parties there and his hobby is collecting coffee table books on Il Duce. his son was mouthing off today (he came downstairs to borrow some staples and my beard trimmer) about Biden's senility, the promise of DeSantis and his loathing of Ukraine. I exploded and had to do my "if you open your stupid mouth about politics of any kind in my apartment, you're out or I will kick your fucking teeth in" thing, which is actually a sick joke, since he's in much better shape and I was wearing slippers. then again, he has bad gums. thing is, I've said the same thing several dozen times before. and the other thing is that he's a very sweet, helpful guy. people are complicated...I learned that in Social Work School.
so your letter today was right on time in ways you obviously couldn't have imagined.
art is like that.
and sorry if my mouth's especially dirty today. I know you like it as much as I do, but we're not the only ones here...
The role of the social media in the spread of disinformation; the muddying of what is 'real' and conspiracy theories; attacks on the Free-Press and, I would say the destabilization of our country and a major anti-democracy force must be addressed. on that basis
Without a sense of the significance of this report, I am passing along the top story in the National Security section of this morning's Washington Post:
'Pentagon opens sweeping review of clandestine psychological operations'
'Complaints about the U.S. military’s influence operations using Facebook and Twitter have raised concern in the White House and federal agencies.'
'Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, last week instructed the military commands that engage in psychological operations online to provide a full accounting of their activities by next month after the White House and some federal agencies expressed mounting concerns over the Defense Department’s attempted manipulation of audiences overseas, according to several defense and administration officials familiar with the matter.'
'The takedowns in recent years by Twitter and Facebook of more than 150 bogus personas and media sites created in the United States was disclosed last month by internet researchers Graphika and the Stanford Internet Observatory. While the researchers did not attribute the sham accounts to the U.S. military, two officials familiar with the matter said that U.S. Central Command is among those whose activities are facing scrutiny. Like others interviewed for this report, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.'
TC, I have admired your encyclopedic sense of history...the key details you share...with awe. Your assessments of "how we got here" are spot on. And I especially appreciate your wordsmithing.
I clipped these three piece from your letter today. I think it encapsulates my understanding and political perspective.
"...capitalism has been historically the economic engine that spread progress most widely among people..."
""...unregulated capitalism would create its own destruction..."
"...governments whose policies exacerbated the problem of inequality..."
And there you have it. "I speak not as a Marxist." But as one who can see the value of a regulated free enterprise based economy built on a foundation of social equality and opportunity. It's not as complicated as people want to make it. It's just a decision. Is the US of A to be a "me" place or a "we" place?
TC, as usual you are ahead of the pack. There is little in the press about European democracies falling backward. I read one piece recently, 'Right-Wing Parties Are Selling Out Across Europe, Too' in Today's World View, a newsletter in WAPO. To quote, 'Meloni’s rise matters not only because Italy has been since the early 20th century a bellwether for far-right movements in Europe. More critically, Manfred Weber, president of the European People’s Party (EPP) — a family of mainstream, center-right parties across the continent — has publicly endorsed Berlusconi’s coalition with Merloni.'
'The EPP kept a fastidious distance from Germany’s xenophobic Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), for instance....'Weber’s embrace of a far-right-dominated alliance seems especially sinister. It weakens the European Union’s own criticism of illiberal regimes in Hungary and Poland, and it enables further legitimization of neo-fascist movements such as Vox in Spain, which has already entered the Spanish political mainstream through its partnership with the center-right People’s Party.'
THE RETURN OF MUSSOLINI? What's going on is a SHOUT not a whisper.
TC summarized our fall backward and far-right in the clearest terms:
'It is the result of 50 years of increasing social inequality as neo-liberalism took control of national social and economic policy, led by U.S. policies that began with the Nixon administration and saw their spread through the policies promoted by the International Monetary Fund during the period of inflation in the 1970s and 80s, then supported by the accession to power of center-right governments whose policies exacerbated the problem of inequality.'
There it is, that's our story, in brief. Could anyone be more succinct and direct about it than TC? One of my deepest concerns is whether the captured MAGA and the more extreme groups have boiled over -- ready and eager to fight.
Thanks for a very informative essay, Tom. People had better start paying attention, before the Darkness envelops us all.
Thanks TC. I pushed hearts on some who have already worded it better.
I might add something about Sweden to my earlier comment. The reason Swedish journalists are so tacit and seem to let SD appear in the media as they prefer to be seen, is that otherwise they are being flooded with hate and threats on email or twitter. Quite in line with what we hear from far right all over.
Italian fascists got away with turning their weapons against their former allies. 'Going with the winner' is an essential instinct of fascists. Those wanting Sweden to join WW II wanted to take the side of Germany, but did we go for America after the war! I refer this to my understanding of fascism as survival at the cost of others, like going with the winners, which is legitimate for women that can give birth, or support new life. Seeing a woman as leader of the Italian brothers is really scary, because she is doing it with a sense of legitimacy, that she does not know the reason for.
I did just read an article in the New York Times about her the other day. That was frightening enough. But to hear she’s an admirer of Steve Bannon makes my skin crawl. These are scary times and information is gold. Thank you TC for keeping us informed. If only more people would wake up and get involved.
Thanks for the great writing. Perhaps some of you might be interested in exploring Bill McKibben's Third Act. I live in Canada and have joined the Council for Canadians. There are deep ties between the funding of and from the fossil fuel industries and those working to undermine democracy. Vast numbers of people suffer and suffered horribly under authoritarian communist regimes. Sadly the alt right has done a great job of attacking open democracy while claiming to be fighting communism.
We are mostly definitely all in a fine mess. We need to work together to save democracy and our living planet.
https://thirdact.org/get-involved/
I started learning about the Brothers of Italy during late spring when I found it mentioned in a few comments in the LFAA forum. There is little I can find of any connections within the United States and Canada. More often there is much to be found about the Order of Sons and Daughters of Italy in America, which, on paper, is the antithesis of Brothers of Italy. I have talked with a few people connected to the Order and they tell me Brothers is regarded as fascist, destructive, and far right but also that it might be future of politics in Italy. This was during the summer. I was told also that there is not a commonly known “wing” of the Brothers in America but when mentioned, it is in tandem with white Christian nationalists. Same ideals. Ewww.
🗽
Reading this newsletter after watching the first episode of Ken Burns "The US & the Holocaust" is not reassuring. Additionally, Madeleine Albright's book "Fascism" begins with Mussolini. It is sad that we, as a world of people, are incapable of learning from our collective past.
terrific piece, Tom. and very, very needed because this is not getting t he kind of play it demands in the print media and is virtually absent in any kind of meaningful way from the electronic stuff. what's interesting TODAY (for me, at any rate) is this sort of "awareness synergy" that's going on. I've been watching the new Ken Burns documentary on PBS (all of it is available on the streaming app) about the US during the Holocaust, and there's a shitload of quoting the anti-immigration shits of 1940 (LOTS of Lindbergh, of course). the most obvious thing is that much of it could've been in today's paper. actually, much of it IS, what with these asshole stunts being pulled by two "ambitious" motherfuckers whose suck-ups have been telling them they can be PRESIDENT if they show enough spunk (anyone who wants to read "spunk" in the British sense is encouraged to do so). then there's the actual news coverage, which is enraging. and just for me, there's my moronic upstairs neighbor who just got his US passport so that when he's home in Padua, he won't need to visit here every six months to renew his green card. he had to be "briefed" for his citizenship exam on things like the fact that we have a bicameral legislature and what SCOTUS is supposed to do. can you guess who did the briefing?
his dad, who's remarkably and genuinely charming in that particularly Italian way, is a tremendous enthusiast for the hard-Right parties there and his hobby is collecting coffee table books on Il Duce. his son was mouthing off today (he came downstairs to borrow some staples and my beard trimmer) about Biden's senility, the promise of DeSantis and his loathing of Ukraine. I exploded and had to do my "if you open your stupid mouth about politics of any kind in my apartment, you're out or I will kick your fucking teeth in" thing, which is actually a sick joke, since he's in much better shape and I was wearing slippers. then again, he has bad gums. thing is, I've said the same thing several dozen times before. and the other thing is that he's a very sweet, helpful guy. people are complicated...I learned that in Social Work School.
so your letter today was right on time in ways you obviously couldn't have imagined.
art is like that.
and sorry if my mouth's especially dirty today. I know you like it as much as I do, but we're not the only ones here...
Whew! Sorry I misunderstood you. I’m just on edge, dealing with a bunch of personal stuff. All is, or will be, well.
The role of the social media in the spread of disinformation; the muddying of what is 'real' and conspiracy theories; attacks on the Free-Press and, I would say the destabilization of our country and a major anti-democracy force must be addressed. on that basis
Without a sense of the significance of this report, I am passing along the top story in the National Security section of this morning's Washington Post:
'Pentagon opens sweeping review of clandestine psychological operations'
'Complaints about the U.S. military’s influence operations using Facebook and Twitter have raised concern in the White House and federal agencies.'
'Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, last week instructed the military commands that engage in psychological operations online to provide a full accounting of their activities by next month after the White House and some federal agencies expressed mounting concerns over the Defense Department’s attempted manipulation of audiences overseas, according to several defense and administration officials familiar with the matter.'
'The takedowns in recent years by Twitter and Facebook of more than 150 bogus personas and media sites created in the United States was disclosed last month by internet researchers Graphika and the Stanford Internet Observatory. While the researchers did not attribute the sham accounts to the U.S. military, two officials familiar with the matter said that U.S. Central Command is among those whose activities are facing scrutiny. Like others interviewed for this report, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.'
https://wapo.st/3UjAPZI
Some of you may also be interested to read and support Open Democracy. This is published in English and Russian.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/moscow-local-elections-russia-ukraine-war/
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/liz-truss-adviser-worked-at-lobbying-firm-for-bulb-energy/