Scary Stuff: Bush has named Paul Wolfowitz World Bank.
For some reason, Wolfowitz's promotion clarifies a point that Passolini tried to make in Salo: that Fascists, deep down, are merely anarchists. The unbending moralism and punctuality of Fascisitic regimes is a form of subversion similar to anarchy--or is merely a cover for subversive, anarchistic activities meant to completely demolish the status quo.
My sense of what is going on in the Bush administration--from fake newsm to Jeff Gannon, to the sanctioning of kidnapping and torture(even while the House codemns it) in the name of National Security--smacks of a kind of Fascism that we weren't supposed to see after all those Bad Guys were defeated in WWII.
But, when a Nation's sense of well-being and illusions of perfect security are shattered, as happened with the attacks of 9/11, people will accept just about any decision that is made that offers a return to the halcyon days before trauma. Rather than moving forward, we want to turn back, pull the proverebial pillow over our heads like children, and demand that Big Brother or the Fatherland make us happy and whole again.
The price we will pay, though, for acting like children is very high. "Discipline"--a word that Wolfowitz has often used--and "order" (a favorite word of both Nazis and Fascists) are illusions, just like our vaunted sense of security, and depend on cruelties that the general status quo believes itself to be above. Those cruelties are administered only to a demonized "them" and not the general, law-abiding citizenry--but, over the long term, that lie never holds up. And the subterfuges, like fake news, are tolerated because they're little psychological games meant to help all of us feel good about what the Government is doing in its efforts for us to feel secure again--kind of like all those nice stories our parents told us to hide the horrid truths about our families' flagging financial situations, or domestic abuses, or incestuous behaviors.
My sense is that the American Fear Factor will continue to remain quite high, and will allow for home-grown, subtle, neo-Fascisitc activities to continue--and our childish blinkering might even allow them to hit home. Do we have the capacity to be more awake to these horrors than the Italians and Germans of pre WWII? I hope we do.
For some reason, Wolfowitz's promotion clarifies a point that Passolini tried to make in Salo: that Fascists, deep down, are merely anarchists. The unbending moralism and punctuality of Fascisitic regimes is a form of subversion similar to anarchy--or is merely a cover for subversive, anarchistic activities meant to completely demolish the status quo.
My sense of what is going on in the Bush administration--from fake newsm to Jeff Gannon, to the sanctioning of kidnapping and torture(even while the House codemns it) in the name of National Security--smacks of a kind of Fascism that we weren't supposed to see after all those Bad Guys were defeated in WWII.
But, when a Nation's sense of well-being and illusions of perfect security are shattered, as happened with the attacks of 9/11, people will accept just about any decision that is made that offers a return to the halcyon days before trauma. Rather than moving forward, we want to turn back, pull the proverebial pillow over our heads like children, and demand that Big Brother or the Fatherland make us happy and whole again.
The price we will pay, though, for acting like children is very high. "Discipline"--a word that Wolfowitz has often used--and "order" (a favorite word of both Nazis and Fascists) are illusions, just like our vaunted sense of security, and depend on cruelties that the general status quo believes itself to be above. Those cruelties are administered only to a demonized "them" and not the general, law-abiding citizenry--but, over the long term, that lie never holds up. And the subterfuges, like fake news, are tolerated because they're little psychological games meant to help all of us feel good about what the Government is doing in its efforts for us to feel secure again--kind of like all those nice stories our parents told us to hide the horrid truths about our families' flagging financial situations, or domestic abuses, or incestuous behaviors.
My sense is that the American Fear Factor will continue to remain quite high, and will allow for home-grown, subtle, neo-Fascisitc activities to continue--and our childish blinkering might even allow them to hit home. Do we have the capacity to be more awake to these horrors than the Italians and Germans of pre WWII? I hope we do.
posted by Tish Grier at 8:23 AM
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