Saturday, March 27, 2010

Blog #27 - Fascism Can't Happen Here, Can It?

Could something like Japan, Germany and Italy's descent into fascism happen in America today?
If you remember the circumstances when these three countries fell under fascism's spell, the following was happening in these 3 countries:


1. A major economic depression (1929-1933) put amazing stress upon these three countries' economic systems, causing massive unemployment, inflation, and extreme stress upon their banking systems;


2. Weak democracies were unable to meet the demands upon its organization, whether through the rising violence in the streets, the internal threats from revolutions on both the left (Communists and Socialists) and the right (fascists), or the overwhelming poverty of the Depression or other economic crises (like Germany's hyperinflation crisis of 1922-23);


3. Strong nationalist feelings helped make the people in their country ready for a leader (Hitler, Mussolini, Hirohito) who would exploit the country for his own personal sake;


4. In each country, a strong military presence - either with generals taking over the gov't. in Japan or the rebuilding of Germany's industry through an increase in military forces or the desire to spread out for resources and recapture old glory like Italy - allowed each country to channel their aggression and spread their imperialist demands;


5. In each country, the conservative business interests sided with the fascists in the hopes of postponing or preventing a socialist or communist revolution like what had occurred in Russia.  That was the greatest fear and these industrialists would rather ally themselves w/ a devil who is on their side (who they also thought they could control) then risk free elections.  What you end up seeing are corporations receiving favoritism or outright support over the working class of a nation. 


6. Free elections became tampered with or voters were intimidated at the polls before they stopped altogether or just gave up the pretense of being free and open (hmmm.... should I vote for this Nazi or that Nazi?).  So, whether the elections are national, state or local, they have been tampered with through stuffed ballots or detroyed or lost votes or large numbers of opposition voters being kept from voting;


7. Create an internal threat that could scare the country and allow the government greater powers to pursue this threat.  When the Reichstag (Germany's legislature) was burned down, the Communists were blamed and Hitler gained more power to pursue enemies of the state.  Two years later, Jews legally lost their rights.  It ends up that these internal enemies can become scapegoats for the problems that the nation encounters. 


Your questions:
1. Could these things occur in America? Why or why not?
2. Where do you see similar already occuring in America right now? Explain w/ examples. 


200 words minimum (not per question but total). Due Tuesday, March 30
(I gave you an extra day to do this b/c I didn't post this until Saturday afternoon). 



Author Sinclair Lewis wrote about this exact scenario in his novel in It Can't Happen Here in 1935.
 
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0301001h.html
Here's a link to the novel online.

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

Austin Rovinski
2nd hour
3/27/10

1. I think that these things could happen in America, but not in the near future. Fascism took decades of depression and instability for people to resort to it, whereas the United States still has a low unemployment rate and a good economy relative to the conditions Germany was under. Plus, technological and communicational advances would severely inhibit the government to be able to commit large-scale criminal acts without anyone realizing it. The presidential candidate wouldn’t be able to stuff ballot boxes without anyone realizing it.
2. The places I see this occurring in right now are in government control of previously public options; for example, government bailouts of companies, the White house requesting that Rick Wagner step down, and now government healthcare (although 14 states are filing lawsuits of unconstitutionality). Although these are steps that are moving towards fascism, this doesn’t guarantee that the end result will be fascism. The aforementioned steps are very public and have been highly contested, showing that people aren’t willing to give up rights without a fight, such as what occurred in Nazi Germany and in the development of the other fascist regimes.

Ellie Toth said...

Ellie Toth
2nd hour

1. I think facism could occur in a couple of years in America. We have created a great capitilism in our country but recently, our economy has been struggling badly. I think that if our economy continues to struggle, the American people will want and change and might think that Facism could help. When President Obama was running for election, he brought a sense of change that Americans loved about him and he got elected into office. When things are not going right, we look for change and I think if the economy continues to fail, Americans will look for change in government style. Facism is a change that could occur.

2. The place where facism is similarly occuring today is in the new Health Care bill that recently got passed. When President Obama and congress passed this, they were putting the needs of the country before the needs of individuals and how it would affect certain people. In a recent poll from the Washinton Post, only forty-six percent of Americans favored this bill. Whereas fifty-four percent opposed it and admitted to trying to contact their representatives in Congress about it. This debate will continue. Hopefully the bill will turn out to help more Americans than hurt them.

Anonymous said...

I believe fascism can happen in America today. For example, we are already going through economic depression, with people being unemployed, bankruptcy, and mortgages going into foreclosure. Michigan’s unemployment rate hit 7.4% in 2008. It has now shot up to 14.1%, going up and down within the months. Although, the United States is not a weak democracy and has a very good system for preventing the rise of a leader, like Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito. The elections will definitely not be tampered with or destroyed because we take voting very seriously here. However, it is very possible that an internal threat could scare the country and allow the government greater powers to pursue this threat. There is really no way you can prevent that from happening. Some people think fascism has already occurred in America. Some think America is nowhere near fascism. The Republican National Committee has replaced Hitler’s face with John Kerry and other prominent Democratics. Vice President Wallace stated, “The dangerous American fascist is the man who wants to do in the United States in an American way what Hitler did in Germany in a Prussian way. The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power.” In conclusion, America could very well go into fascism, but hopefully it will not.

Norell

Anonymous said...

In present day America, the economy has gone done by a lot. The economy is not going up because there has been a big increase in inflation. Prices of products are going up as the weeks pass by. For example, right when the prices of gas;fuel for cars had started to go down they shot right back up causing people to drive less. Less Americans go out and dine with family because it's so expensive and don't have the money to spend. Everyone is having money problems. A lot of Americans are being laid off of their jobs because their companies aren't making enough money to pay their employees; causing the rate of unemployment to increase. Since 2008, America has changed their banking systems; they wanted people or businesses of

high wealth to keep their cash in the largest banks rather than spread out. Banks raised their

insurance limit to about $250,000.This involves a lot of politics. Liberals and Conservatives will need to take a stand if the time comes that America will face fascim. I think one thing that could bring us to fascism is a war on terror. I think that it is possible that fascism could occur also because if the nation has a big problem or crisis they would most likely run to the president and in doing that it would give him a right to make a plan for the U.S. Even if the time came that we America faced fascism; it would end in the people defeating the lead whoever it maybe. Though it can always go both ways.
Sandra T

Anonymous said...

mark gastineau, 2nd hour, 3-28-2010
Fascism is when a county is run by a central autocratic government; which is headed by a dictator. This type of leadership pops up in a country’s state of economic depression. I don’t believe that this type of government is likely to take hold in the United States. Although our state of this county’s economy is so poor, one of the country’s major political party (GOP) blame this on their opinion that our president currently have too much power. While the other major political party (DEM) tries, time and time again, to work whit the GOP for a bipartisan government to no prevail. So unless there is a total overhaul of the government I don’t think that we could be living under a fascist rule any time in the near future. Even though the current government is currently opposing a strong central government leader, it was not too long ago that the quickly passed bills, out of fear that could lead to fascism, or partial fascism. One example of this is in October 26, 2001, after 9/11 when congress passed the USA Patriot Act. This act was passed to be used to prevent terrorist attacks; but it could also be used to support a big brother system. This bill has since been revised because of the great controversy it caused. I don’t believe this act was passed to support a big brother system, but swiftly passed bills passed out of fear off attack, in the future could have some serious repercussions.

Anonymous said...

Elizabeth Bondarenko
2nd hour
1. I think that fascism could occur in America. Of course, it’s difficult to believe in it, but no one protect from it. Fascism could occur anywhere, it’s impossible to protect from it. Because, in fact, it’s not difficult to start the fascism. There just must be one person or group of people, who can be leader, and who decided to change situation in the country with idea of dictatorship. There always will be people, who support him. But the main things of the beginning of fascism are reasons, why people want to change situation and why they believe in the fascism idea. One of the parts of fascism that power must rest with a leader. This idea is very comfortable for a man, who decides to change the system.
2. There are some similar already occurring in America right now. For example economy situation. Right now there is an economy crisis all over the world. Some people believe that U.S. was the first place, where it began. And for a lot of people this crisis changed their life a lot and not in the best way. Another thing is nationalist feelings. There are a lot of immigrants in America now days. Who knows, maybe not all American people like this situation. Especially in places, where it’s difficult to find the job even for citizens, sometimes immigrant get these jobs instead of them. Militarism in some ways also still alive. Most of the countries (I even believe that all) in fact always ready for the war, spend a lot of money on arms and weapon.
To sum up, right now it’s difficult to say that fascism can suddenly begin any day. But there is always an opportunity and enough reasons for it.

Drew S. said...

I think Fascism could very potentially return, but I think it would have very slight modifications, so it technically it wouldn’t be classified as Fascism, but it would be. Just like how tea partiers have a tendency to say that they are not republican. On the bit about the weak economies, I think we certainly have a weak economy. I do not at the moment see this causing revolt/uprising, but I am currently trying to be optimistic that the economy rebounds. If it continues to languish, and a majority of the country decides that President Obama and this current administration are not trying hard enough to turn the economy around, then I see an uprising.

Our current democracy is quite weak. I personally would see an uprising more likely because of people not happy with the direction of our country. We are already seeing radical groups like tea partiers and birthers getting massive amounts of attention not only in media, but in massive crowds in rallies. Now they are still a minority at the moment, but you never know what could happen. I think internal threats or home grown terrorism, as they are sometimes called, going to be more prevalent and common. Currently, I only see psychopaths wielding guns and/or blowing themselves up being a current threat. But if a radical group took hold, then potentially maybe they would potentially start executing internal threats. A supposed internal threat, where a group of people are targeted, like the Japanese people live in America in the 1940’s, could reoccur if fascism or radical group of the like took power.

I think that many voters are annoyed with the current two party system, the Republicans and Democrats. I think many Americans would be very open and excited to see a third party join the Republicans and Democrats in elections. I think voters in the country are also very worried about the future of Democracy and getting their votes counted in an election ever since the 2000 Presidential Election when many votes were not even counted or voters accidently voted for the wrong candidate due to an overly complex ballot. I don’t think the new electronic voting machines are making it any better either. These can be tampered with and give a candidate an edge and an unfair advantage in the voting process.

In the end, I think Fascism could potentially take root in America due to the circumstances in the economy, government and the politics of the world today. Though the some conditions I think are already causing the formation of radical groups, I’m not sure yet were at the right moment based off of the current conditions as stated above, going to have Fascist group/regime take over. Though I think is definitely on its way to potentially happening.

Drew S.

Unknown said...

1. I don’t think something like Japan, Germany or Italy's descent into fascism could happen in America today. The economy is bad in America right now, but not as bad as their economy’s, where they would do anything to get out the decades of economic hardship they were in at the time. I do not believe there is a possibility for the American’s to start a revolution, and there are no economic crises like Germany's hyperinflation crisis of 1922-23. I also think that something such as fascism could not occur in the American society today, where a person with those intentions could be elected as president or make his way in to power in our country. It might be possible to tamper with ballots but the American people today would not be intimidated at the polls to vote for a particular candidate.

2. I do see similar things happening in America right now such as healthcare and the big businesses bailout. The government is now controlling things that use to be decided by people, which is a step in the direction of fascism but still far away from it. In our tough economic time there will be a little more government control but nothing in the ballpark of being fascism, communist or socialist.

Ryan Brode
3rd hour

Anonymous said...

Alex V.
2nd Hour

I feel that these things could occur in America but not very soon. They could occur if some things started to go very wrong. People want things to change when too many things are going wrong. Fascism could be that change that we want but it is a very small chance that this would be the thing that we choose to change to. Many of the things mentioned in the question would be too difficult for anyone to do under the radar. Also, some of these things seem too unlikely to happen in America today. The places where this is occurring today in America, is in the health care bill and also in some other places in the government. Fascism could occur if a horrible event happens in the future and we go to one person to fix it, which would be the president. Then the president could become a dictator of America and fascism could occur in America. Also it could occur if we end up having a corrupt General in our army that could end up taking over the government. Lastly, there is a chance that America could become fascist in the future, but it is a very slim chance.

Anonymous said...

Allison Levine, 3rd hour


I think that it could be possible for America to fall to fascism like Germany, Japan, and Italy did. I believe this because it is very likely that someone will come along that we find more suitable to run our country when we are in desperate need of a strong, ruling power. America might be very busy, distracted and overwhelmed with other things; such as the economic crisis and the war on terror, to worry about someone trying to take over. I see similarities because at the present time, our country is in a recession and close to an economic depression; which as a result is putting stress on our country’s citizens, banks, and companies. This situation existed with the three other countries also. In addition, we have large businesses that might turn to the fascist ways so that a socialist or communist follower won’t try to take power in the United States. The business owners want to continue to have control over their businesses and not lose them to a communist government. Fascism seems more appealing than communism. Our society also has many people with strong nationalist feelings for our country. If enough nationalists were to gather together and find a leader who could influence and change the opinions of others, they could possibly find an individual who would show other nations how great and superior we are. They might even influence other countries and try to take them over as well.

Anonymous said...

Dustin Oakwood
3rd Hour
March 28, 2010
I think Fascism could occur in America’s future. Due to our current state of capitalism with our greedy corporations and corrupt media; along with our depressing economy it is very well possible that we could become a fascist nation. Like Italy, I believe some Americans feel that they have lost pride when our country fell. We are not the superpower we used to be and I’m sure some people want to get that back through power. Also, like Germany, we already have one of the world’s strongest militaries that could easily overtake the government. Although I do not believe that we currently have too many corrupt officials in the military, if we do they haven’t acted on their beliefs. One could easily use the War on Terror and the oil crisis as evidence that America needs a more suitable leader. Although I doubt that will happen soon. Currently people are saying that Obama is trying to take over America through the Healthcare business. This could be seen as attempt to gain more power over the people, although I’m sure that would be seen as a dictatorship rather than a fascist government. I’m sure only close-minded, shallow, conservative, self-centered bigots would be too blind to see a corrupt, selfish leader trying to take over their country for their personal reasons. America is too patriotic to let that happen. And lastly here is youtube video that I found rather hilarious based on “The Tea-Party” Healthcare Reform Protest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pilG7PCV448

Anonymous said...

Jared Monchnik
2nd hour

1. I believe Japan, Germany and Italy's descent into fascism could happen in America today. With the way things are looking in America it seems we will most likely fall into fascism, unless something is done. About our overall economy, our healthcare, our unemployment issue, terrorism, and other such infringements to our country. All of those things aren’t to the extent of Japan, Germany, and Italy, but at the rate America is sinking I think we may eventually resort to fascism to benefit ourselves.
2. Like I said previously these are all the issues happening today in America. And according to the dictionary fascism is “A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.” Although America is not to that point in time we are starting, like “stringent socioeconomic controls” the government has money for bail out to banks and such, but when it comes to the car industry, the biggest industry in the world, it seems all the government is doing is sinking and destroying it. By this being done it then creates economy and unemployment issues.

Brandon Verona said...

Brandon Verona
3rd Hour

1) i think that Fascism could not occur in the United States of America right now, but i do think that in the future we could slip into Fascism. we have many of the things that happened to the Japan, Germany, and Italy currently. We are in a major economic depression, we have a very strong leader,and we have a strong military presence. Our depression could get people to listen to the president and sway them to do what he wanted (if he wanted fascism. also our president is a very persuasive man and give and writes great speeches. He could persuade a country to go to war. Also our country has a very strong military presence. Generals have a good chance of becoming president because they are respected and if a military general became president i think we would be extremely close to fascism.
2)Right now i can see similarities between countries with fascist governments and the processes they went through. we are going through a huge depression and we have a strong leader. we have a strong military presence and we have had generals become presidents. If a general became president they would be quicker to go to war or try to go to war then any other president that did anything but military before presidency.

Anonymous said...

Jan Thon
3rd hour

Fascism Can't Happen Here, Can It?

When I first read this question I thought, yea it can happened again. Especially if you compare the current circumstances in the united states with the circumstances 90-80 years ago. Last year we had a major financial crisis, and we are still affected today. A lot of people lost their jobs, many small and even a few big businesses had to close and the government had a tough start in the New Year too. All this happened it Germany too, the great depression and the young and inexperienced Weimar Republic didn’t know what to do and a lot of Germans didn’t trust the new system, the Germans wanted to have a Kaiser, a leader, they wanted a person like Adolf Hitler. But today nobody wants a dictator. Our system is based on divided powers within the government.
The military took a huge deal in the dictator governments. Today we try to decrease the military, just last week Russia and the USA agreed on decreasing their nuclear weapons. Besides, today a lot of people are strictly against war and not just the people, the government too, another difference to the 1930’s, Hitler wanted war, but a lot of people were against it.
Finally an internal thread, couldn’t start something like fascism in America. The U.S. already survived 9/11 without a fascistic government change, although the Bush government didn’t act really good, but that’s my opinion.
So all in all I don’t think that it’s possible that fascism can happen in the US, since the citizen are much more informed about what’s happening around the world and because they know what consequences it has to act like the Nazis did.

Sarah Stempien said...

Sarah Stempien
2nd Hour

1.I think that Fascism could possibly occur in America. Our unemployment rates have gone up; prices of certain products such as gas and fuel have increased. Fascism would probably be the only other solution if America cannot find another way to save the failing economies.
2.Some similarities would be our economic situation. Many jobs have been lost and prices have risen. All of these complications have created such a huge problem and I think that if the government doesn’t act fast then Fascism will be their last resort and it will start to occur.

Anonymous said...

Michael Rondello
2nd Hour

I think that in today’s society in the United States of America, fascism could occur. I believe this for these reasons: the poor economy, the election corruption, military strength, and an internal threat. The economy is in a recession and for Germany, Italy, and Japan, that meant that it was easier to take over the government. In the last presidential election, there were many controversies on the news, specifically being ACORN and that type of thing. The military in the United States is the strongest in the world right now, which was another sign of fascism for Italy, Japan, and Germany. I think an internal threat that is serious enough could cause everything to set off, ultimately resulting in a dictatorship. If there is a threat, and then the military must take serious action, as a result, a dictator could push his way into power. If this was to happen “coincidently” at the same time as a presidential election, and there was corruption during it, a dictator could take over. Another thing is propaganda, such as “the threat would be eliminated only if I were to have this amount of power”. Things like this could bring fascism to the United States. Lastly, although this is completely irrelevant, I wish Michigan State much luck in the upcoming Final Four.

Anonymous said...

Allie Rubin
3rd hour

The United States will not descend in to fascism like Japan, Italy, and Germany. Many of my classmates seem to have a pessimistic attitude towards our country. Although the economy of the country is currently quite terrible, it has improved slightly and I think it will continue to do so. I believe the economy of the United States will eventually return to it's former highs, or at least to it's former normals. America suffered a great depression in the past, but this did not cause us to stray away from democracy. Hard times have occurred in the United States, but we have yet to turn towards fascism. Year after year, elections have allowed citizens to feel like they have a say in what goes on in their country, and they would not be willing to give this up to some fascist leader. America was founded on democratic values: this has not changed during the country's history, and I don't think it ever will.

There are some similarities between United States currently and the situations the other countries experienced. For example, we are also going through a major economic downfall right now. This downfall has caused people to lack faith in the economy and country; however, people have not lost so much faith that they are going to turn to fascism. I do not feel as though many other situations apply to life in America today, though. Elections are fair, military does not have an exceedingly large presence, and nationalist feelings are not strong enough to cause major problems.

Although America is going through a hard time right now and it will suffer more problems in the future, it will not descend into fascism. This country was created to be a democracy, and citizens will not allow it to become the opposite.

Anonymous said...

Michele Snyder~3rd hour

1. I believe fascism could occur in America in the future but not today. This is because fascism took multiple years of depression and a lack of stability till people were affected by it and our technology and communication has highly increased.
Even though America has a low employment rate today our economy is in much better condition then Germanys was then. Germany’s economy was affected by The Great Depression in the 1930s. Germany’s economy was built on foreign capital and most of their loans were from America. Banks in Germany closed, many people lost jobs and political parties fell apart. At first Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party experienced slow growth but when Germany’s political parties fell apart Hitler’s Nazi party grew bigger and became more powerful and Hitler’s opportunity arrived.
Today America’s government would be restrained from committing big criminal acts without being caught because of today’s advance technology and communication. For example a presidential candidate wouldn’t be able to stuff a ballot box without being caught.
2. Right now I see examples of this in the government’s control of public options. Such as the government bailouts, and the White House requesting the Rick Wagner step down and the Health Care bill that has recently been passed. The Health Care bill that has recently been passed is putting the needs of the individual people in the country after the needs of the country, not showing any care for how it could affect the people on our country. Even those these events may seem like they could lead to fascism it doesn’t mean it will.

Hannah Grossman said...

I definitely think that its possible for fascism to happen in America but I don't think anytime soon. Although are economy is so bad that it could happen sooner then we think. There are many similarities between what happened to Japan, Germany, and Italy and what is going on now with the United States. I also think that this will happen because America will find that what were doing now isn't working and that we need a change. I don't think anything would come close to what Hitler, Mussolini or Hirohito did, but I think that it could happen.

I see this occurring right now in America with the Health care bill being passed when not many people wanted it to be. There not really doing whats fair because more people did not want it. People were either for it or against it, there was really no middle ground. Some people thought that the bill was being forced upon them. I think that fascism could be taking over slowly but hopefully it doesn't happen any time soon.

Hannah Grossman

Anonymous said...

Eli Suris
3rd hour
Fascism wouldn’t occur in the United States on a scale large enough to change the entire country for any period of time. Even though we are in an economic recession, much like the Axis nations, we have a strong democratic government that will not consider fascist ideals or methods in its decisions. The strength of our government and the amount of support it has from the vast majority of citizens prevents it from weakening due to threats of revolution and other consequences. Furthermore, the vast majority of American citizens don’t have a strong desire for a new leader/government to the point where they would support a coup d’état. The American people do not vent their aggression through the expansion of the military or through other violent or aggressive means. Most participate in rallies, assemblies, and public protests to get their desires and needs for change to the government’s attention. Also, national, local, and state government elections are conducted fairly and are run by a clearly set multi-party system which is monitored by government agencies to keep the voting and the elections fair and legal. Therefore, people do get to choose and know that their vote will get across and go to their candidate. Even though there have been small outbursts of violent protest towards the government recently (i.e. the man who burned down his home and then flew a plane into an IRS building a month or so back), there is little to no threat of widespread violent, anti-democratic deeds that have been committed solely by American citizens. For many reasons, the United States won’t ever have a large Fascist uprising and Fascism will not become a superpower within this country.

Anonymous said...

Alex Pisano
3rd hour

I believe that a fascist regime could rise in America, but not in the immediate future. There would be a huge amount of groundwork that would take decades to put into place. Americans nowadays are too used to having a large amount of freedom and control over their lives. In order for a fascist regime to gain power in America, first they would have to find a way of getting support for a stronger central government. Nothing short of a large crisis would be able to unite the people behind the central government, and this would only happen if the economy would be about to collapse or something on a similar magnitude. The American resistance to the Obama administrations new policies, such as universal healthcare and the government bailouts of companies strongly suggests that the people are still not going to support a strong central government. Also the current technological advances would allow the people who wouldn’t support it to be ready and informed, an example of this is the ACTA proposal (read about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement), which could put an eventual stop to internet piracy, of any such event.

Similarities to America today are shown by the Obama administration’s policies of like the bailouts and universal health care. As the government controls more and more options previously controlled by the people, it moves closer and closer towards a fascist government, however, this does not mean Obama or his supporters are fascists, Obama is doing what he is doing because he feels that it is necessary, a leader isn’t omniscient or extremely knowledgeable, they are only the ones who make the decisions, and must sometimes make judgment calls, for better or worse. This doesn’t mean that a conspiracy is occurring; ready to install a fascist regime in America or that it will happen, just that the decisions of the government make it closer to fascism.

Anonymous said...

Alex Wong, per 2

Fascism could happen in America and it ma be the one thing we all should fear. Now that ‘obamacare’ is in effect we must watch for the signs and warnings that could turn America the greatest country in the world, and yes it still is, into a fascist government only ruled place. I say place because it would no longer be a nation but instead a place where our freedoms promised to us in the constitution, and bill of rights. We cannot allow Obama or any other person to ever seize control of our freedoms. To keep a democracy we must be careful to examine all candidates and to vote for values we hold not ones simply for lack of a better word brainwashed into us. We must make sure that anyone that we elect to be our commander and chief is a law abiding intellectual individual that hold good values, values that are close to our own or don’t vote for him. Voting is not forced you do not have to do it, and doing something or not doing something is what makes America great. We must keep America the way it is and we must even improve on that, in order to keep our constitutional freedoms safe and keep us free.

Anonymous said...

Lea Martin
3rd Hour

1) I think that fascism could happen in America. Maybe not right now but in a few years it could be possible. Because the economy in America is not that great right now so people will try to find an answer to it and when there is one person or one group of people who seem to have the answer and they can be leaders fascism is possible. But I don’t think that it would be as intense as it was in Germany, Italy and Japan. Because there would always be people who don’t agree with the person who would be the leader and the people would try to change something about it. Even though the Americans might not be able to see at first sight that their slipping into fascism there are always other countries who will point it out or even the other political group.
2) I see similarities to fascism in the new healthcare bill that was recently passed. Because the bill is more for the country than it is for the people. A lot of people in the United States of America did not like this bill and still it got passed. This is not an example that America is slipping into fascism right now but it is a small start to it.

Jim Weitzel said...

Jim Weitzel
I highly doubt that a total fascist America could really happen. At worst case scenario the USA could be pushed to have a change in government, but it would not be a complete and total fascist government. Our democracy is not weak; it has been established for many centuries and hasn’t undergone a huge overhaul; whereas in the other countries it was a brand new democracy, and it was right after a huge war (WWI). People may get frustrated with the government, but I think that as the pressure builds up votes and bills would be pushed through a little quicker, with less time wasted with pointless deliberations. Our banks are or were under stress in the last few months, but the government was able to avert this, by lowering the interest rates on loans and giving a bailout to some of the major banking companies. Since we averted this disaster stresses have gone down, and some say the economy is on its way back to normal. To my eyes it appears that the US military does not a have a strong presence in the US, all spare resources are being sent to Iraq and the Middle East to help with the war. The US will not become a fascist government, for now at least.

Anonymous said...

1. I do believe that fascism could occur in America, but not this point in time, but somewhere in the near future. America doesn’t have a strong substantial government at this time, and with all the issues facing the country, I don’t think America has the time to find a stronger leader to run the country. America has almost gone into its second depression in the last couple years, and its hit inflation as well. Costs for things have gone sky high, example; prices for car fuel are going up by the day, eventually the price will get so high no one will be able to afford it, with how bad the economy is today. Many people have been laid off from their jobs, and businesses are closing big and small. I don’t think these situations are even close to how bad they were for Japan, Italy and Germany, but America is not far behind.
2. A similarity of fascism from then to now, is that America is in an economic recession, almost depression as was Japan, Italy and Germany before fascism occurred. The three countries had a problem with unemployment and so does America presently. America’s government today is taking over the banking system; in Japan, Italy, and Germany there was extreme stress also among the banking systems.

Heather Robinson
2nd hr.

Anonymous said...

Jim Stevens 3rd hour
1. I do not think that fascism would occur in the US today or even soon because the economy is no where near as bad as it was in Germany when the fascists took over then. At the time German money was basically useless and it was causing major problems leading to the democracy collapsing in Germany. Also their is no desire in the American leaders and people to expand and conquer the world like Mussolini and his desire to restore the old Roman Empire. Also a reason that fascists took over was because of the weak democracy that couldn't meet demands and thus collapsing. Their was also a case in our history when we suffered from a great depression and yet our country held together and the government did not fall apart. The democracy is to strong to fall in the US.

2. I see that the government is starting to have control over things that they didn't before such as some businesses and health care.

Elyse said...

1. I could never see Fascism occurring in America, mainly because how strong our democratic foundation is as a country. We pride ourselves for being democratic, and push other countries to do the same too. America lets the people be in control, and makes sure political leaders stay in check and not get carried away with too much power with laws and systems like Checks and Balances. Americans have their own rights, such as to vote, freedom of religion, and the freedom of speech. We have strong opinions against Fascism, strong enough that it has led us to war many times, so I think Fascism in the US is out of the question.

2. Some of the circumstances that have led to Fascism in the past are present in the United States today, but does not necessarily mean that America will turn a Fascist country. Similarities include things such as: A major economic depression creating stress and other problems, comparable to the recent economic slump we have been in for the past couple years, along with the recent Health Care Bill, and our strong military presence. These examples are very general and occur in other countries too, who also have no plan to turn Fascist either.

Elyse Duams - 3rd hour

Anonymous said...

Stefanie Kueck
3rd hour 3-29-10

We may have some of the same similarities as the big countries that were taking over and becoming powerful war countries. Some of those similarities consist of our economy taking a toll for the worst, which is also having an impact on the inflation problem and also the unemployment rate that keeps increasing. But the difference between America and the other countries is that America is not trying to take way there citizens right, the government still wants us to have a Democratic government. America is not trying to take over any countries land. Yes we may have wars going on in other countries but we are fighting to put a democratic government into those territories. So although we may in fact me going through a time were we have economic troubles and unemployment rates are at a peek, I still believe that there is a big difference between the intensions of the government that was/is in control of the countries. I believe that the American government is stable enough to make sure that no one will be able to come in and take over. Fascism I Believe is taking part in the government with the new Healthcare Bill. President Obama is making sure that the country as a whole will have better health care then just certain individuals.

Anonymous said...

Katlin Beal
3rd hour
3/29/10

Though unlike these countries we do have a strong democracy, fascism could occur in the united states today. We have some of the same major issues faced by these countries such as: economic crisis, inflation, job loss, and so on. In my opinion I believe Obama’s take over of the motor companies and the health care system are the first signs that we could possibly end up in a fascist dictatorship. Though we do have a congress that is suppose to balance the president’s power, right now it is led by mostly democrats which could cause the overturn of our government. If our government continues to try to take control of the industry, it is possible that we could eventually become fascist. Our country right now is much stronger than those that became fascists, but I think it still has flaws that could lead to a change in our government in the near or far off future. I’m not saying that this will defiantly happen, but I am saying that this could happen if the congress can’t balance out the power in our government. I think that the United States probably wouldn’t let this happen because of what we have learned about in the past from Japan and Germany, but it could happen.

Anonymous said...

Griffin Harms
3rd Hour
1.) I believe that something similar to the fascism in Japan, Germany, and Italy could occur in the United States, but not in the near future. Even though the United State's current economic condition is not ideal, or a time of prosperity, the economic status is not depression and there is not massive unemployment, inflation, or failing banking systems. Also because of the principles this nation was built upon, the people of the country always have the main power in our nation.
2.) Even though our country doesn't look like it is heading for Fascism in the near future, we are seeing signs that could lead to Fascism. With leaders that express socialistic views like Obama, the nation could slowly move towards Fascism. This new healthcare plan that was passed is an example of this. Also, because America has a strong military presence in the world, the people of America may want to expand and capture new land for resources.

Anonymous said...

I don't believe fascism could occur in America's near future because our current conditions are not as severe as though present in Germany, Italy, and Japan when they attempted to resolve their country’s problems with fascism. Even though our current economy is not ideal we haven't experienced any major back failures, or inflation. Finally, with the way our government in America has been set up I don't think fascism is a threat unless our country takes a turn for the worse, and plunges into a second depression and it seems like the only logical solution.

Though I do not believe fascism is a current possiblity in America, the health care bill, our suffering economy, along with us being a strong military power are similiar situations to countries that turned fascist though us having these issues doesn't mean we necessarily will become a fascist country.

Blaine Bishop

Anonymous said...

1. I think that these things could happen in the United States, but it is very unlikely. I think that is could happen, mainly because of similarities between the hardships the fascist countries went through before turning governments. Like Germany, Italy and Japan, we are now in an economic depression, and people are ready for a leader that could really take control for our country’s own benefit. Although these things are like the other country’s that had became fascist, ours are not in an extreme case or even fit all of the things that had happened before there other country’s had became fascist.
2. There are many similarities between the events that eventually turned some country’s fascist and events that we are going through right now. The three main events are, an economic recession, a strong military presence and nationalist feelings because people want a leader that can lead for our own benefits. Germany, Japan and Italy were all in an economic depression, strong military presence and wanting a leader for the countries own benefit. Even though there are so many strong similarities, there is many more events that happened in the fascist countries that we are a long way from. Those are the similar events that have happened between our country and fascist nations.

Willie Beattie
2nd Hour
3-29-10

Anonymous said...

Brad Benghiat 2nd Hour
I do think that these things COULD happen in America, but I do not think they will. There are things happening in America now that are similar to the things occurring in the countries that went under fascism. As we all know, the United States is currently in a great economic depression, which could relate to the economic depression in 1929-1933. We are also currently in a war. The war is/could create strong nationalist feelings similar to the people of Japan, Germany, and Italy that made them ready for a strong leader. The war also creates a large military presence, just like there was in the past when those countries fell under Fascism. Even though we currently share these similarities with the people and countries that went under Fascism, many of these things are things that COULD happen, and will not- in my opinion- actually happen. This is because we now have a different, stronger government and both United States citizens and the US government would not allow something like Fascism to occur in America. The argument can be made that there are steps being made toward fascism today. This could be seen mostly in the rise of a great number of huge corporations (and government’s connection with these corporations), increasing government control in areas where people once had more control, and particularly in the new health care bill.

Anonymous said...

. I would hope that America learned from Japan, Germany, and Italy’s mistakes, because fascism did not end well for them. It is worrisome that the economic depression could lead to something irrational. It is possible that the US could descend into fascism, but we have yet to become that desperate. I do not think we are about settle for a dictator, considering America’s opinion on dictatorships. I do not believe that so much power can lie in the hands of one single person, even if they were a very educated intellectual, no one can handle a hold country themselves.
2. America is facing similar troubles that Japan, Germany, and Italy were facing. Like the recession of course. Also some people say that Obama has dictator like qualities, which I don’t know about enough to back up. The heath care bill was an example because so many people were against it, but it was passed. This did not illustration democracy well.

Randi G.

Anonymous said...

No, I don’t believe that these such things can occur in America because for one: our voting would never be lost, stuffed, tampered with etc. without someone knowing about it and being caught. It would outrage the public causing riots and a loss in trust in our government which our government couldn’t afford.
Two: We can’t have a sudden rise to power because our government is already formed and stable. It’s not like Russia’s or Germany’s government where they had an unstable government. We have a formed democracy and not a government that one person can just rise to power because there are too many people inside the government and too many different branches of government. If it happened, then it would have to be done by a very big group of people with an exact plan action.
An economic depression is already occurring the United States right now which can relate to the stress on our government and society. We have a strong military also, but most are off fighting an unnecessary war in Iraq. A possible internal threat could occur, but they would have to be, like I said, very well planned and very well trained for a coup to occur and for fascism to rise in the United States.

Lauren Sikorski