Is Tony Abbott assembling the apparatus of a fascist state?
I see some worrying trends, such as:
I see some worrying trends, such as:
- Tell very big lies, such as "I am a conservationist" and "Loggers are conservationists"
- Backflip on several critical election commitments.
- Tell further lies such as "I have not told lies, I have not broken election commitments"
- Pretend there is a "budget emergency" when there isn't - and use this to justify bad policies such as GP CoPayments and dramatically increasing the cost of tertiary education and student HECs debts
- Criticise the ABC for having a "left-wing bias"
- Insert Janet Albrechtson - a trenchant critic of the ABC - onto the ABC and SBS Boards
- Demonise asylum seekers who attempt to enter Australia by boat, equate them with terrorists, deny them their human rights under the UN Convention for Refugees and incarcerate them in "offshore processing centres" for indefinite periods. Keep saying that all this is a "border protection issue"
- Support corporate fossil fuel interests and encourage ongoing carbon pollution despite clear scientific evidence and consensus that carbon emissions are causing global warming
- Attack and undermine renewable energy projects - with more lies such as "the RET is responsible for electricity prices rises"
While these developments are still a long way from a fascist state, there does seems to be a direction towards this.
Against this trend is the curious Federal push by Abbott to "eliminate red and green tape" and "hand back powers to the (Australian) States"
According to Wikipedia, the characteristics of a fascist state are:
- Radical authoritarian nationalism
- Combining more typically right-wing positions with elements of left-wing politics
- Opposition to liberalism, Marxism, and traditional conservatism.
- Unify the nation through an authoritarian state that promoted the mass mobilization of the national community
- Leadership that initiates a revolutionary political movement aiming to reorganize the nation along principles according to fascist ideology.
- The veneration of the state
- Devotion to a strong leader
- An emphasis on ultra-nationalism and militarism.
- Fascism views political violence, war, and imperialism as a means to achieve national rejuvenation,and it asserts that stronger nations have the right to expand their territory by displacing weaker nations.
- Replaced socialism's focus on class conflict with a focus on conflict between nations and races.
- A mixed economy, with the principal goal of achieving autarky to secure national self-sufficiency and independence through protectionist and interventionist economic policies.
- Ideological dishonesty
- Emphasizes direct action, including supporting the legitimacy of political violence, as a core part of its politics
Fascism maybe an old term, usually used pejoratively by political opponents, that maybe no longer relevant in today's world. Hopefully this is the case.
More on this to follow.
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