Would it be possible to outlaw Fascism in the U.S.A.?

[Up2Late]

This is my idea to STOP the RW Attack machine and the takeover of OUR U.S. Government by the RW extremists.

I'd like serious opinions like, if you think it could be passed and, if you think it would be helpful or hurtful to America, as it stands RIGHT NOW. Would it be better to Start at the State level, to set some precedence for this type of law? Where would be the best place to start? Do any other countries have laws banning Fascism? :shrug:

As most of you know, in the 1940's or 1950's, the U.S. Congress made it Illegal to join, or be a member of, a Communist organization. It lead to the McCarthy hearings and the "Black listing" of a bunch of people in the entertainment industry. I'm sure most here would say, this was a bad thing. But what if.

Here's the Idea:

What if we were able to push though a law against Fascism, fascist organizations, and any group or organization or Corporation, that promotes of advocates Fascist ideas and actions?

Here my reasoning:

1) I'm sure most would agree that our current U.S. Government is moving in a dangerous direction, which strongly resembles, if not actually is, Fascist. You can call it "Free Market Capitalism, but I believe even Benito Mussolini said that this type of Capitalism was just another name for Fascism.

2)The Extreme Right is beginning to take over the Republican party, which makes the average Democrat, look like a Left-wing extremist.

3) I don't think any current Republican law makers could confidently stand up and speak out AGAINST a New Law to make Fascism Illegal, without looking like a lunatic or an Anti-American neo-Fascist, who does NOT have the "greater good" as their motive. This would also put a more democratic agenda back on the offensive again.

4) This New Law could and should be written, to make it easier to prosecute people like Ken Lay of Enron, and eliminate situations like what happened to Polaroid Retirees, who ended up with $47.00 each, but the CEO and board walked away with more than $20 Million Dollars, in the final Bankruptcy settlement.

I maybe forgetting a few things, and YES, This Law would need to be written carefully, and probably would need a well orchestrated plan to combat the Extreme RW and Neo-fascist Washington Lobbying groups, but I think it could be pushed though, and it would make the Extreme RW look bad in the process.

Serious thoughts and concerns and additional ideas welcome.

NOTE: Opinions from outside the U.S.A. are welcome also.

Please Note: I first posted this in the GD: Politics. I did think of it myself. If this is similar to something you have read elsewhere, it is purely a coincidence.

[HawkerHurricane]

1. No.

Either our Constitution is tough enough to hold back Fascists and other totalitarians, or not. No political party should be outlawed.

[ashmanonar]

2. just think tho...

would we be outlawing any party? it's using partisan politics against the repubs. why would they come out and say they were fascist? it's a lose-lose situation for them.

however, i don't think this would work all that well...

say fascist to the average american: they say "who, what?"

say communist to the average american: they say "OMG commie librul pinkos!"

i just don't see people accepting that any section of our government is fascist.

[HawkerHurricane]

3. First we ban a political term like fascism...

then the Republicans start calling every Democrat a fascist, and every progressive/liberal/Democratic Party idea or program fascistic...

JUST LIKE when we banned Communism in the 1950's.

[Up2Late]

5. That's exactly the point!

Frank Luntz and the Republican Hate Machine is already starting to call some Democrats Fascism to further confuse the definition in the minds of the Republican Sheep. I can't remember where I saw it, I think it was on some of the Extreme RW "news" sights that pop up during a Google search on the subject, but I have seen that.

Like the poster above said, most folks when you ask them what a Fascist is, they go "Huh?" But if you say Communist, it's almost a Knee-jerk reaction, "Oh, Communists, those people are bad, they hate America."

How do you think it got like that? It got that way, because the extreme-right Republicans pushed this country into two Wars (Korea and Vietnam) under the premise of fighting and Stopping Communism, which most folks, who have honestly examined the history of those wars, have come to the conclusion that Communism was just a Red Herring.

And what was the last War that almost every American still agrees was worth fighting? WW2, when it was the German Fascists and the Imperialists of Japan, that had to be stopped, for the greater good of the world.

And in case you forgot, when the U.S. Constitution was written almost 218 years, one of the main goals was to make an Imperialist form of Government illegal in this country. I personally, see 1000 things wrong with Fascism for every 1 that would be worth defending.

And besides, what I'm mainly talking about is Public Education and awareness of what it is, if it actually passed as a Law, that would be gravy. Mostly it would be the struggle, changing the debate, and getting the Democratic Party back on the offensive, that is the key.
:hippie:

[Up2Late]

6. I agree with the first part of your post, but on the second part...

"...say fascist to the average american: they say "who, what?.."

Well, that exactly the point and the purpose of this idea. Because the wishy=washy middle and the Republican sheep are so confused, this would provide the opportunity and the forum to define what Fascism is and how it's destroying the America we loved growing up and why it's so dangerous. Because so many are so confused, they are at extreme risk of being manipulated and exploited by these anti-American criminals, who have taken over our government.

I don't want to be too repetitive because this is a direct quote from my post below, but it applies here too, were I wrote:

"...but if you say Communist, it's almost a Knee-jerk reaction, "Oh, Communists, those people are bad, they hate America."

How do you think it got like that? It got that way, because the extreme-right Republicans pushed this country into two Wars (Korea and Vietnam) under the premise of fighting and Stopping Communism, which most folks, who have honestly examined the history of those wars, have come to the conclusion that Communism was just a Red Herring.

This irrational fear of Socialism and Communism, took 20 years fear mongering and 2 Wars to plant these ideas in the minds of American, it'll take a few years of effort to undo the damage.

It's going to take a few years to fix all the things this bunch of criminals have done and are doing to our America.

[Codeblue]

4. Even if we could or should

the Repubs would change it so much in Committee that it wouldn't even be an effective law anymore.

[Mondon]

7. No

1. Already banned by the Constitution--just needs to be enforced.

2. Ban "fascism" and those in power -- repukes -- will call label you fascist and ban YOU.

3. Contrary to first amendment.

[LiberalForum_org]

8. A Slippery Slope We Must Avoid

The answer is NO, and here is why. The U.S. Constitution protects us from being governed by such a regime. However, the Constitution would not allow us to outlaw fascism no more than liberalism or socialism. The First Amendment ensures this. Plus, there would be a problem defining the proscribed conduct. This would be a slippery slope that we would NOT want to visit at all. Remember how our government went on a witch hunt searching for so called "communists" not too long ago? I am a member of a popular liberal forum. They accuse us “Libbies” of being fascists all of the time --but they are wrong . If it were up to them, we would all be run out of this country (and many of US would want them outlawed too). Again, this is a very dangerous proposition.

[JohnLocke]

9. No, and it shouldn't be (nt).

[PATRICK]

10. We "encouraged"

occupied nations to change their constitutions to this effect. A few things have slipped through that can be corrected without a major overhaul such as this big one: that a corporation has the rights of an individual citizen.

The Bill of Rights certainly needs some protection itself from torturous illogic and misinterpretation. Updating has always taken place there with additions more that subtractions. The Right to bear Arms needs refinement
perhaps into the ability of the citizen to protect himself from tyranny, but this foresees not a check or balance but a complete failure of power. It is contradictory, violently futile, anarchic, archaic in vision and real modern consequences. According to the scale of armaments even some decades after the home flintlock couldn't hold up against the military rifle, we might as well feel secure all carrying switchblades which would do absolutely nothing to guarantee national liberties. Other mechanisms to enhance a citizen check against government gone bad would be better.

Then there are the anti-fascist provisions, the public education and prohibitions, but a fat lot of good that does looking at the rise of right wings again in those countries. You can deprive them of some open manifestations, the brutalizing emotional pitches and violence, but it is hard to legislate out of existence. The root is money, and especially money of a few gone bad, with long traditions. We have twenty per cent in the US utterly brain wiped and a big core so adapted to RW insanity that they would see any return to sanity as a purge.

Unsparing Truth Trials like South Africa. Any prohibitions against those moral midgets might spring from those rather than a victor's curriculum and decades of fruitless prosecutions. Engagement in civic life. Emphasis on Rights which is Carter's lingering legacy as the world's masses sense the RIGHT direction things should take. I'd rather have education on critical thought, deception, what words mean, active disarmament, energy conservation, global responsibility, etc.

[Sawyer]

11. You should read the Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago

The recurring theme throughout the whole work is "If they only resisted. If only even a small percentage of them did not go quietly with the arresting party but would resist, shoot it out... If every time the KGB killers would go and try to arrest someone they knew they could be killed themselves, the whole juggernaut that killed millions could have been slowed or even stopped.".

The answer - partly brainwashing, partly complete disarmament of the populace. That resistance did not need tank or rockets. Handguns would have been sufficient.