Cross-posted from my regular blog
Quite frankly, Naomi Wolf's book scared the hell out of me. Not because she's an alarmist, but because I recognized every example she used. As an amateur student of history, I do believe you can see the future in the past. And I've felt a lingering sense of unease and familiarity with several developments in American politics over the last eight-nine years. That familiarity has grown into horror, the unease into outright fear.
Because I think Wolf is right. Her main assertion is not that we're going to end up under a fascist dictatorship with blood in the streets. Her assertion is that there are steps fascist leaders take to turn a free society into a progressively less-free state. And today, with habeas corpus suspended and the Bush Administration saying it doesn't have to answer to any other branch of government (Dick Cheney, in particular, refusing any sort of oversight at all) democracy is in a fragile condition. We've been spoiled by the robust system the Founding Fathers put together, so spoiled American citizens have gotten lazy and allowed "politics" to be taken over by lobbyists, pundits, and the independently wealthy. Admittedly, the independently wealthy have always had an edge, but in America, we could count on socially progressive movements eventually getting their way with popular support. Lack of involved citizenry means we abandon this country to lobbyists and pundits, as well as independently-wealthy scions who would not ordinarily be a problem if their opposition hadn't abdicated the field.
Wolf also felt this lingering unease and familiarity, so she did what any redblooded girl with half a brain and a writing career would do--she did her research. She read up on fascist regimes, how they operate, and how they take power.
And what she found stunned her not because fascism is repugnant and stunning (it is) but because it is so familiar and timely.
In Wolf's words:
All dictators: invoke an external and [internal] threat; develop a paramilitary force; create a secret prison system; surveil ordinary citizens; arbitrarily detain and release them; harass citizens' groups; target writers, entertainers and other key individuals for dissenting; intimidate the press; recast dissension as "treason" and criticism as "espionage"; and eventually subvert the rule of law.
Unfortunately, while it is very difficult to sustain an open society, history shows that it is fairly simple to shut one down. (p. 29)
Let's tick this off:
* Invoke an external and internal threat? Check! We've got the War on Terror (a war with no clear ending or beginning, cast in vague terms as a struggle to save "civilization" itself) and police in riot gear at the airports every day. Not to mention constant harping on the WoT in the complacent media and by the Administration. When people are frightened, especially by a nebulous, never-ending, ill-defined fear, they're easier to control. And more likely to sacrifice one or two liberties to keep themselves "safe."
* Develop a paramilitary force? Check! We've got
the National Guard taken from state control and
Blackwater operating in the US--the first time in centuries we've had a mercenary army on our home soil.
* Create secret prison system? Checkity check check! Guantanamo! Rendition! Need more be said?
* Surveil ordinary citizens? Check! And to add insult to injury, do it while it's illegal and then push for immunity from the consequences of breaking the law, and
smear anyone who disagrees.
* Arbitrarily detain and release them? Check!
What about being pulled aside to be searched "more thoroughly" at the airport? Because you're on a Sooper-Sekrit List? Especially if your political beliefs don't match the Administration's? Does that sound American?
* Harass citizens' groups? Checkity! That started up years ago and is
undergoing a bit of a renaissance. It's like the 60s all over again--except this time we're not protesting, we're just watching it happen.
* Target writers, entertainers and other key individuals for dissenting? Two words:
DIXIE CHICKS.
* Intimidate the press? Check! It's been a dangerous few years to be a reporter, especially in
places where the Bush Administration doesn't want anyone reporting who can't toe the party line.
* Recast dissension as "treason" and criticism as "espionage"? If you don't think this isn't going on, do this one simple experiment: watch the Bill O'Reilly show. Or any Fox News, really. Or right-wing talk radio. Christ, just look at the titles to Ann Coulter's books. And before you say, "These are just partisans practicing their freedom of speech!" take a look at how well-funded they are, and how well they serve the interests of Big Business, the rich, and the religious right. Take a look at how they drove the public into a state of hysterical fear during the run-up to the morass in Iraq and how much of their rhetoric benefits the current Administration's desire to stay above the law. Then look again at
how well they're funded. Yeah.
* Eventually subvert the rule of law? Oh, checkity check McCheckerton! Bush has said numerous times, with his actions and his words, that he doesn't have to obey Congress. He issues signing statements more than any other President in history and demands they become law. Cheney rejects any sort of oversight for his office AT ALL. Gonzalez "can't remember" if the law was broken, Scooter Libby gets a "get out of jail free" card...need I go on?
These steps are ones any oligarchy or dictator has to take in order to shut down an open society. Hitler and Mussolini, let's not forget, took over their respective countries by exploiting mass fear and loopholes in parliamentary procedure. Wolf points out chilling historical precedents for each of these steps and details each step in current events. Current events, mind you.
As Wolf points out, she is not saying that America is suddenly going to become a jackbooted Reich or a Stalinesque Soviet. But dictatorship and fascism don't come in with a bang--they sneak in with a whimper, at least for the first few years. An open society becomes just a little more closed, then just a little more, with the population getting used to mounting repression little by little, and then we wake up one day in a country where anyone can be sent to the gulag Guantanamo on one man named Bush's say-so, labeled an "enemy combatant" and subject to torture. Where the knock on the door in the middle of the night is something to be feared and the press isn't exactly unfree, but they would prefer to keep their jobs so they think twice before pursuing a truth unpleasant to those in power.
In short, the very state of dictatorial affairs the Founding Fathers feared and risked their lives to subvert and free themselves from--not perfectly, it must be admitted, because they were largely privileged white males and thought black people were three-fifths human, but far more perfectly than we could have ever expected, given how well their system has stood up for two-hundred-odd years. Still, Thomas Jefferson would smackdown with a vengeance any beeyotch who suggested habeas corpus and the prohibition of search and seizure without warrants were just niceties instead of bulwarks against tyranny.
And again as Wolf points out, the only way to salve this ill is to get involved. Americans have grown lazy and complacent, thinking that "others"--activists, mostly--will safeguard our liberty while we sleep. We take so much for granted because of the beauty and efficacy of the system the Founders put into place, and the constant work of citizens since to keep that system going. It's only been with the rise of the punditry, IMO, that we've allowed ourselves to be shut from the corridors of power.
I've started by donating to the ACLU and their campaign to reinstate habeas corpus. I write to my Congressman and my Senators on a fairly frequent basis, and I've signed up for the American Freedom Campaign. I plan on calling my Congressman's office more frequently (hey, what else is that free long distance for?) and probably my Senators too.
Because, as Wolf so eloquently points out, it is up to us. You and me. We, as the Founding Fathers remind us so often in their letters and books, not to mention our Constitution, are the bulwark. We're the people in the grocery stores and on the streets, in the homes that can be invaded. We are the bodies that can be tortured and renditioned. We need only look at Pakistan, at Egypt, at Germany and Italy in 1939 and China today, to see how fragile our democracy is and how low those who want power at any cost will stoop. It was never intended that activists and pundits (necessary though they are) should tell us what to think or how to vote. It's our job to educate ourselves, to be vocal, to let wannabe dictators know that Americans won't put up with that crap. Pundits can huff and puff and activists campaign all they want, and there is a place for it in a vibrant democracy. Our job is not to let pundits and activists, or fear, or talk radio, or the iron fist dissuade us from speaking up about how our country is run.
Or dissuade us from holding our leaders to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the goddamn rule of law. They'll get away with what they can--that's a principle of the corruption of power, after all--but it's our job to make sure they can't get away with much. We are the defenders of the Constitution. You, me, the people you see at the gas station and grocery store, your coworkers, family, and friends.
We're the People, dammit. Of the United States of America. That used to mean something. I hope it still does.
And Lord, I hope this book sells a billion copies and people read it, discuss it, get angry about it, and do something.
Over and out.