WHO ARE THE FOLKS MOST EAGER TO EMBRACE NEO-FASCISM?

By Tom Kando
   

    Preface:
    It happens more and more often: I read  the news, and once again I come across a shocking  example of  the ever more insane extremism of some people. Recent examples include (1) Ted Nugent calling the President a subhuman mongrel . (2) Cliven Bundy, the  tax cheat who got in a fight with the federal government and who also explained  why “Negroes”  were better off being  slaves. (3) The recently adopted Georgia gun law, which might as well be called a “guns-everywhere” law.

    Some context about these examples:
    Ted Nugent? No need to add much. He is a famous mediocrity, popular with the political right, obviously an extreme racist.

    Cliven Bundy? A Nevada cowboy who  refuses to pay his taxes. Because of his stance, Fox News and right-wing armed   militias have gathered around him and made him a  folk hero.  Enjoying his new celebrity status, Bundy has gone on to pontificate about  sociological issues. He said, for example, that  “Negroes,” who never learned to pick cotton,  were better off being slaves, thus revealing the root cause of his problems with the authorities: An IQ that cannot possibly exceed 75.

    The new Georgia gun law? Basically, Georgians are now allowed to carry (concealed) weapons in schools, churches, bars, restaurants, airports, just about everywhere.  And the frenzy to liberalize gun laws has spread across the  country like wildfire. Stand-your-ground laws, beginning in Florida in 2005, have  been adopted by nearly half the states.

    Elements of Neo-Fascism:
    1. Under the code words “States’ Rights,” more and more people have challenged and questioned the legitimacy of the central government. Bundy is one example of this centrifugal tendency. Anarcho-separatists are sprouting in Texas, Wisconsin and elsewhere.

    2. To many people, the 2nd amendment is sacrosanct. Americans’ love affair with guns is unwavering. Some would call it mass lunacy. It is not clear to what extent the NRA is responsible for this. But it is clear that the NRA will not relent until the country has regressed  to Old West and OK Coral conditions.

    The combination of elements #1 and #2, above, is very combustible. Who is to say that the United States will not  experience armed insurrection in the future?  It happened in 1861 and it could happen again.

    3.”Nativism,” like “States’ Rights,” is a euphemism. It is a euphemism for racism and for white power. The traditionally dominant power group is losing demographic ground. By the year 2048, whites will no longer be a majority in America. Only a plurality. This sticks in their craw.

    4. Maintenance of privilege and of  the status quo: One doesn’t have to be a Marxist to see that the current  conflict in this country is a class conflict. When have the “haves” ever relinquished  their privileges to the "have-nots" voluntarily?

    5. Hostility to all other “others,” including gays, foreigners, intellectuals  and weirdos.

    Who are the Neo-Fascists?
    News such as the three examples in my preface is shocking. However, it is understandable if you look at the folks responsible for it. Here are seven VARIABLES which correlate strongly with reactionary attitudes: (1) race; (2) economic privilege; (3) region; (4) rural status; (5) gender; (6) age; and (7) senility.

    1. Race: As already mentioned, whites feel the most threatened by their dwindling numbers and their dwindling power, and they are therefore  the most frequent participants in reactionary politics.

    2. Social Class: Obviously, those who are financially  secure, and who have no inclination to  let go of their advantage.

    3. Region:  The South has always been America’s most “feudal” part - desperate to hold on to slavery, and failing that, Jim Crow and segregation forever. Additionally, vast segments of the Rocky Mountain States, the Southwest and the Midwest share some of the South’s retrograde views. Texas, which is both a Southern and a Western State, combines the worst features of both.

    4. Rural status: Variables #3 (Region) and #4 (Rural status) intertwine: The regions identified in the previous paragraph also happen to be less urban. Rural populations are more reactionary.

    5. Gender: Every poll shows that men are more rabid and extreme in their conservatism than  women. Men are more hateful, violent and stubbornly bigoted.

    6. Age: The older you are, the more likely you are to be a racist, a bigot, a homophobe, sexist, and a xenophobe.

    7. Incipient senility: Dementia and Alzheimer’s set in gradually. Even those of us who are spared the most severe manifestations of these  afflictions are not exempt from a deteriorating brain  structure.  We find  it gradually  easier  to remember and stick with familiar habits and attitudes. It becomes increasingly difficult to grasp new ideas. Long-term memory stays  good for much longer than short-term memory. We stick with the distant past. Hence, we become reactionary.

    Conclusion:
    The reaction against progress and social change  by those who benefitted the most from the status quo is accelerating, as those beneficiaries are losing  ground.

    Hostility to the central government is understandable:  Ever since Abraham Lincoln, the federal government has represented  progress in American  history. “States’ Rights” have  been  code words  for reactionary politics, including the perpetuation of slavery and of Jim Crow, and  opposition to civil rights and to other progressive steps.

    The realignment is nearly complete: Think of  a white, well-off, Southern, small town older man whose brain has begun to calcify. This is your new Republican, your “Red State” voter, your  Fox News addict, your campaign contributor. 

    Unfortunately, this demographic group will  remain large, powerful and cunning for a long time to come.
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