By a weird coincidence I walked into this book of Chris Hedges about the rise of the fundamentalist, ultra right wing religious “Christian” politicians in the USA. Hedges describes how this formerly isolated and marginal group is currently becoming very powerful. Reading this will give you shivers down your spine. It becomes clear how in the USA the fascists are slowly but surely gaining momentum and how they are taking a front seat in American politics. They prey on innocent, vulnerable and (mentally) challenged people to build an “Army of Jesus” that will save the world in a cataclysmic orgy of violence, in which all non believers will perish Armageddon style, while the soldiers of god will remain in a demolished world that will be theirs for eternity.
In the introduction of the book, ancient buddy Umberto Eco, in my opinion one of the greatest socio-political thinkers of our time, stipulates the main features of what he calls “Ur-Fascism”. This gives you a good run-down of what we have to look out for and fight, even in ourselves. Traditionalism is an important one. Longing for the good old days indicates resistance to new things, progression and modernity. Irrationality and the exchange of reason for fairy tales and mysticism is another important indicator. (Hippies beware!) Of course, we have known this all along, but seeing it ordered in the way Eco does, has the advantage of supreme clarity. (Eco IS an Italian, but this is a coincidence.)
In the light of the external politics maintained by the USA today, one should be weary of this growing group of naïve and underdeveloped people, who maybe will be sitting with their finger on a nuclear trigger, whilst they are the biggest military spender on this planet. Democracy seems non existent in the USA, it functions as a veil for covert totalitarianism of the Military Industrial Complex that is actually governing the country. WHAT a prospect. At least Hilter did not have nuclear bombs…
