Give support to organizations that resist trends

A recent contribution to the Coloradoan's opinion page ("Policy forcing us into fascist state," Feb. 3) displays a weak grasp of the nature of fascism. The author presents the now-stalled effort to reform the medical-insurance industry as the main piece of evidence for his claim that Barack Obama and his allies in Congress are leading the United States down the road to fascism.

Setting selective quotations from Wikipedia and the rantings of Glenn Beck aside, the "classic fascism" of Italy, Germany and Japan exhibited the following characteristics: suppression of labor unions and opposition political parties, support for big business, curtailment of civil liberties and promotion of nationalism and militarism.

While the U.S. government cannot accurately be described as fascist, powerful social forces have been pushing our government in that direction for the past six decades or so. Bertram Gross described this long-term trend brilliantly in his 1980 book, "Friendly Fascism."

Since then, that trend has continued. Briefly put, as the capitalist dynamic simultaneously generates lower GDP growth rates and greater economic inequality, economic elites feel increasing pressure to reduce the ability of non-elites to exercise political power and potentially disrupt the status quo.

How has the tendency toward fascism been manifested? After a surge in unionization rates during the Great Depression, corporate and congressional leaders moved to limit the power of unions through passage of the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. Since then, unionization rates have fallen steadily to the point that now, only about 12 percent of U.S. workers are unionized.

Neither political party seems particularly interested in reversing this trend. Even with Democratic majorities in both Houses of Congress, passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for people to join unions, seems unlikely.

We have witnessed a remarkable erosion in civil liberties since 2001, with passage of the USA PATRIOT Act, the Military Commissions Act and the FISA Amendments Act. These laws, with critical support from both Republicans and Democrats, have made it easier for the government to suppress free speech, spy on people, engage in torture, imprison and even kill people without due process.

There is currently little support for overturning any of this legislation in Congress.

Finally, nationalism and militarism together have played an important role in propping up the U.S. economy and maintaining social cohesion ever since World War II. The Pentagon is on track to receive record appropriations this year, which will likely exceed military spending by all other countries combined.

This spending, again supported by Republicans and Democrats alike, is perhaps the main barrier to increasing support for programs that improve social well-being and protect the environment.

Often, those on both the political left and right place inordinate focus on the current president and see long-term trends facilitated by the leaders of both major parties less clearly. I would suggest that supporting the many local, state and national organizations that actively resist the trends described above is the best way to prevent the arrival of either friendly or not-so-friendly fascism in this country.