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08-06-2016, 02:40 AM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
In the modern West there are two main models of revolution, one on the political left, the other from the right.
We are most familiar with the radical model, coming out of the American and French revolutions of the late 18th century. Here, the revolution comes in the street, with a group of people challenging the existing authority and making a claim to legitimacy on the basis of popular sovereignty.
The revolution of the right occurs in a different manner. Here, it is 20th century fascism that is the model. A political group takes power legally, as in the Italy of Mussolini or the Germany of Hitler. It then transforms the regime it governs in such a manner that the constitution is changed fundamentally and, usually, abandoned. Human rights are often suspended or ignored, the press and media are controlled, the courts are peopled with judges sympathetic to the authoritarian regime, and elections are either ended or controlled.
Today, in Europe and elsewhere, it is the right that is acting. Putin’s Russia, a kleptocracy openly willing to murder and jail its opponents, is one example. Erdogan’s Turkey is, over the last several years, transforming itself from a democracy into a dictatorship, the clearest sign being laws that make it illegal to criticize the president. In Hungary, there is open contempt from the ruling party, Fidesz, and its leader, Victor Orbán, for the democratic rules of the European Community. He proudly calls his government an ‘illiberal democracy.’ Poland’s right leaning government is ending the separation of powers that protects rights and freedoms.
In other countries, the right is far more powerful than it was 10 years ago. Austria a few weeks ago came very close to electing a fascist as its president. The Netherlands has a powerful right-wing party vying for power. In Greece and elsewhere, nationalist groups opposed to immigration and universal human rights get a serious percentage of votes.
And now the revolution of the right is making an appearance in the United States.
The phenomenon of the popularity of Donald Trump and his managing to take the leadership of the Republican Party must be understood in the context of all the right-wing developments in the West.
Trump’s victory in obtaining the nomination is based on his appeal to marginalized white voters who are angry about current trends. His rhetoric is openly racist and sexist. He calls on his followers to support a new nationalist movement and he is open to violence as a means of dealing with his opponents. He would be at home in many of the right-wing movements mentioned above.
Moreover, as the New York Times recently pointed out, Trump has little understanding or concern for the constitutional niceties that underpin democracy in the United States.
He has attacked the press and vowed to limit their inquiries. He anticipates using the executive power of the president without worrying about the separation of powers or the protections offered by the system of checks and balances. He has vowed to continue to politicize the judiciary even further, thereby putting into question the retention of an independent judiciary, the greatest safeguard of rights and democracy. His language is openly fascistic.
As Republican leaders, such as Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan and even John McCain, fall into line behind the nominee, they offer the traditional failed rationale. We need not worry, they say, because he will be limited by the strength of our constitution. A President Trump, they claim, will be controlled by a powerful congress and the capitalist system.
These are the kind of words used by Italians in the 1920s and Germans in the 1930s to justify permitting fascist parties to take power. We will use them, claimed the wealthy, the aristocrats and the industrialists. It didn’t happen. Fascist leaders have no sense of restraint or belief that they somehow owe allegiance to those who tolerate their getting into power.
A Trump victory will follow history. There will be efforts to efface many democratic rights, to use bias to isolate and badly treat whole groups of people, including some citizens, and to create a society in which fear and violence are part of daily life. It will not be normal.
This is an important moment, as significant as that of the power Joseph McCarthy obtained in the 1950s. People should be judged by how they respond to this revolution of the right. Assisting Trump should be regarded as a shameful act that will follow people the rest of their days.
Arthur Haberman is professor emeritus of history and humanities at York University. He is the co-author of The West and the World: Contacts, Conflicts, Connections.
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?230924-By-this-measure-PAP-is-a-facist-party&goto=newpost).
In the modern West there are two main models of revolution, one on the political left, the other from the right.
We are most familiar with the radical model, coming out of the American and French revolutions of the late 18th century. Here, the revolution comes in the street, with a group of people challenging the existing authority and making a claim to legitimacy on the basis of popular sovereignty.
The revolution of the right occurs in a different manner. Here, it is 20th century fascism that is the model. A political group takes power legally, as in the Italy of Mussolini or the Germany of Hitler. It then transforms the regime it governs in such a manner that the constitution is changed fundamentally and, usually, abandoned. Human rights are often suspended or ignored, the press and media are controlled, the courts are peopled with judges sympathetic to the authoritarian regime, and elections are either ended or controlled.
Today, in Europe and elsewhere, it is the right that is acting. Putin’s Russia, a kleptocracy openly willing to murder and jail its opponents, is one example. Erdogan’s Turkey is, over the last several years, transforming itself from a democracy into a dictatorship, the clearest sign being laws that make it illegal to criticize the president. In Hungary, there is open contempt from the ruling party, Fidesz, and its leader, Victor Orbán, for the democratic rules of the European Community. He proudly calls his government an ‘illiberal democracy.’ Poland’s right leaning government is ending the separation of powers that protects rights and freedoms.
In other countries, the right is far more powerful than it was 10 years ago. Austria a few weeks ago came very close to electing a fascist as its president. The Netherlands has a powerful right-wing party vying for power. In Greece and elsewhere, nationalist groups opposed to immigration and universal human rights get a serious percentage of votes.
And now the revolution of the right is making an appearance in the United States.
The phenomenon of the popularity of Donald Trump and his managing to take the leadership of the Republican Party must be understood in the context of all the right-wing developments in the West.
Trump’s victory in obtaining the nomination is based on his appeal to marginalized white voters who are angry about current trends. His rhetoric is openly racist and sexist. He calls on his followers to support a new nationalist movement and he is open to violence as a means of dealing with his opponents. He would be at home in many of the right-wing movements mentioned above.
Moreover, as the New York Times recently pointed out, Trump has little understanding or concern for the constitutional niceties that underpin democracy in the United States.
He has attacked the press and vowed to limit their inquiries. He anticipates using the executive power of the president without worrying about the separation of powers or the protections offered by the system of checks and balances. He has vowed to continue to politicize the judiciary even further, thereby putting into question the retention of an independent judiciary, the greatest safeguard of rights and democracy. His language is openly fascistic.
As Republican leaders, such as Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan and even John McCain, fall into line behind the nominee, they offer the traditional failed rationale. We need not worry, they say, because he will be limited by the strength of our constitution. A President Trump, they claim, will be controlled by a powerful congress and the capitalist system.
These are the kind of words used by Italians in the 1920s and Germans in the 1930s to justify permitting fascist parties to take power. We will use them, claimed the wealthy, the aristocrats and the industrialists. It didn’t happen. Fascist leaders have no sense of restraint or belief that they somehow owe allegiance to those who tolerate their getting into power.
A Trump victory will follow history. There will be efforts to efface many democratic rights, to use bias to isolate and badly treat whole groups of people, including some citizens, and to create a society in which fear and violence are part of daily life. It will not be normal.
This is an important moment, as significant as that of the power Joseph McCarthy obtained in the 1950s. People should be judged by how they respond to this revolution of the right. Assisting Trump should be regarded as a shameful act that will follow people the rest of their days.
Arthur Haberman is professor emeritus of history and humanities at York University. He is the co-author of The West and the World: Contacts, Conflicts, Connections.
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?230924-By-this-measure-PAP-is-a-facist-party&goto=newpost).