"Communism and fascism or nazism, although poles apart in their intellectual content, are similar in this, that both have emotional appeal to the type of personality that takes pleasure in being submerged in a mass movement and submitting to superior authority."
James Alexander Campbell Brown, Techniques of Persuasion, 1963
"The Fascist conception of the State is all-embracing; outside of it no human or spiritual values can exist, much less have value. Thus understood, Fascism is totalitarian, and the Fascist State–a synthesis and a unit inclusive of all values–interprets, develops, and potentiates the whole life of a people.
The Fascist State lays claim to rule in the economic field no less than in others; it makes its action felt throughout the length and breadth of the country by means of its corporate, social, and educational institutions, and all the political, economic, and spiritual forces of the nation, organised in their respective associations, circulate within the State."
Benito Mussolini, The Doctrine of Fascism, Vallecchi Editore, Firenze, 1935
"Still another danger is represented by those who, paying lip service to democracy and the common welfare, in their insatiable greed for money and the power which money gives, do not hesitate surreptitiously to evade the laws designed to safeguard the public from monopolistic extortion.
American fascists of this stamp were clandestinely aligned with their German counterparts before the war, and are even now preparing to resume where they left off.
Always and everywhere they can be identified by their appeal to prejudice and by the desire to play upon the fears and vanities of different groups in order to gain power. It is no coincidence that the growth of modern tyrants has in every case been heralded by the growth of prejudice.
The American fascists are most easily recognized by their deliberate perversion of truth and fact. They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest. Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection.”
Henry Wallace, The Danger of American Fascism, NY Times, 1944
"The helplessness one feels at
a given moment, an impotence which must never be regarded as definitive,
cannot dispense with remaining faithful to oneself, nor excuse surrender
to the enemy, whatever mask he may assume.
And, no matter what name
it may take—fascism, democracy, or dictatorship of the proletariat—the
principal enemy remains the administrative, police, and military apparatus;
not the enemy across the border, who is our enemy only to the extent
that they are our brothers and sisters’ enemy, but the one who claims to be
our defender while making us its slaves.
In any circumstance, the worst
betrayal possible always consists in agreeing to subordinate oneself to this
apparatus and trample underfoot, in order to serve it, all human values in
oneself and others."
Simone Weil, Reflections On War, (trans Chris Fleming), La Critique Sociale, November 1933
"The ultimate purpose of crime is to establish an endless empire. It seeks a state of complete insecurity and anarchy, founded upon the tainted ideals of a world thought doomed to annihilation. When humanity, subjugated by the terror of crime, has been driven mad by fear and horror, and when chaos has become the supreme law, then the time for the empire of lawlessness will have come."
Friedrich Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse, 1933
"Anxiety leads to a narrowing of the field of attention, the so-called tunnel vision, and when people are anxious they are unable to attend to the total situation as is necessary to enable them to act rationally, but impulsively do the first thing that comes into their heads which is usually determined by what others are doing at the same time."
James Alexander Campbell Brown, Techniques of Persuasion, 1963
I was fairly confident that unless 'something happened' over the weekend we would see a broad market rally that would take us back up to the point where stocks had sold off because of the 'rigged jobs number.'
Petty yes, malignant yes, but surprisingly consistent.
The economy is still entering a recession now, if we are not already there.
The tariffs may provide us with that rare economic phenomenon of stagflation.
It's always something.
Gold and silver rallied back a bit.
They are not Trump friendly. They are only fit to decorate his lavatories.
American history suggests that fidelity and faithfulness are resilient, despite intimidating threats.
It seems like there is always a minority of sociopathic impulses, but they tend to gather and become more pronounced every 60 years. Is this a generational memory thing?
All things must pass. Especially unsustainable aberrations.
Try not to go down with them.
Some will. Perhaps some nations.
The descent into madness is an intoxicating escape for those who are plagued with anxieties, real and imagined.
Pride, fear, and greed. These are the familiar routines from the devil's playbook.
Have a pleasant evening.
