Nazi Germany and the U.S.A.

by Chaz Bufe

References to fascism abound in American political discourse. Unfortunately, most of those using the term wouldn’t recognize fascism if it bit ’em on the ass, and use it as a catch-all pejorative for anything or anyone they dislike. But the term does have a specific meaning.

Very briefly, as exemplified in Nazi Germany and Mussolini’s Italy, it’s an extreme right political-economic system (which Mussolini dubbed “the corporate state”), the key features of which are strident nationalism, militarism and military worship, a one-party state, a dictatorial leader with a personality cult, a capitalist economic system integrated with state institutions (to the mutual benefit of capitalists and fascist politicians), suppression of independent unions, suppression of civil liberties and all forms of political opposition, and an aggressive, expansionist foreign policy.

But getting to the headline topic, just how similar is the present-day U.S. to Nazi Germany? Let’s look at specifics:

Nationalism

• Nazi Germany: Deutschland Uber Alles
• US.: “American exceptionalism”–“God Bless America”

Corporate Capitalist Domination

• Nazi Germany: Check. The German industrialists (notably the Krup armaments company) were key Hitler backers.
• U.S.: Check. Obama’s primary 2008 backers were Wall Street firms and the pharmaceutical companies; Bush/Cheney’s were the energy companies’ boys, etc.

Militarism

• Nazi Germany: The Nazis  constructed the world’s most powerful military in six years (1933-1939)
• U.S.: U.S. military spending currently accounts for 43% of the world’s military spending, which is more than the next than the military spending of the next ten countries combined.

Military Worship

• Nazi Germany: Do I really need to cite examples?
• U.S.: “Support our troops!” “Our heroes.” Tune in to almost any baseball broadcast for abundant examples; this worship even extends to those on what passes for the left in the United States: Michael Moore, Stephen Colbert, Rachel Maddow.

Military Aggression

• Nazi Germany: “Lebensraum”–you know the rest.
• U.S.: To cite only examples from the last half century where there were significant numbers of “boots on the ground,” Vietnam (1959-1973), the Dominican Republic (1965), Cambodia (1970), Grenada (1983), Panama (1988-1990), Kuwait/Iraq (1991), Afghanistan (2001-present), Iraq (2003-2011).

Incarceration Rates

• Nazi Germany: The Nazis built concentration camps holding (and exterminating) millions.
• U.S.: In comparison, the U.S. merely has by far the highest incarceration rate in the industrialized world, with only Russia’s rate being anywhere near.

Justice System

• Nazi Germany: The Nazis had a three-tiered “justice” system: one for the rich and powerful (who could get away with virtually anything); a second for the average citizen; a third for despised minorities and political foes.
• U.S.: Obama’s “Justice” Department hasn’t even investigated the largest financial fraud in world history that led to the 2008 crash; prosecutors routinely pile on charges against average citizens to blackmail them into plea bargaining and pleading guilty to charges of which they’re not guilty; and the Obama Administration viciously goes after whistleblowers and reporters, who have exposed its wrongdoing–Bradley Manning, Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, Thomas Drake, James Risen, et al.–with a meat axe.

Suppression of Unions

• Nazi Germany: In Nazi Germany, the government tightly controlled the unions.
• U.S.: In the U.S., the government merely suppresses strikes when “in the national interest” and allows corporations to crush union organizing drives by firing anyone who dares to attempt to organize.

Free Speech

• Nazi Germany: Total suppression of free speech; direct government control of the media.
• U.S.: Corporate control of the media. Suppression of free speech when it shows the faintest sign of threatening the government or the corporations that control the government. Obama’s war on whistleblowers and reporters is only the latest example.

Other Civil Liberties

• Nazi Germany: Total suppression.
• U.S.: Suppression when individuals exercising those liberties show the faintest sign of threatening the government or the corporations that control the government. The coordinated suppression (by the FBI, local governments, and corporate security agencies) of the Occupy Movement nationwide is the latest large-scale example.

Government Spying

• Nazi Germany: The government had a massive eavesdropping operation. No citizen was safe from government scrutiny.
• U.S.: Obama’s NSA makes the Nazis look like amateurs.

Free Elections

• Nazi Germany: Total suppression
• U.S.: The opportunity to vote for the millionaire representatives (over halfof congress at last count) of the two wings of the property party: one wing being authoritarian, corporate-servant, crazy theofascists (yes, they meet the definition), the other wing being merely authoritarian corporate servants who routinely betray those who elect them.

Yes, there are very significant differences between Nazi Germany and the U.S. But there are also significant similarities.