Whenever some crazy person started bringing out the “f” word in the past, it angered me. I don’t like when people throw that word around for everything when there isn’t much to support their claims. I’ll start off therefore by saying that I am not one of those types. However, I’d have to say that America should be concerned about the fascism that is now clearly becoming a reality.

How can this be? Almost 70 years ago, America joined an allied effort to end fascism. Many of the Americans who were a part of this heroic struggle are still alive today, and they are still involved in our political process. Sadly, some of these people, along with a large portion of our population, are being fooled into supporting a system that is developing far too many similarities to fascist nations of the 1930s. Just as it was 70 years ago, it should be the responsibility of every American aware of this to put an end to it.

Many people are skeptical of claims involving US Fascism because there doesn’t seem to be anyone in government as bad as Adolph Hitler. There doesn’t have to be. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are people in our current government who are just as ill-intentioned as Hitler. They just haven’t shown it yet. Remember that Hitler was voted into power democratically by gaining the trust of the German people. Much like we are today, Germans in the 1930s were suffering economic hardship and Hitler was the charismatic leader who was going to lead them out of it.

I should briefly describe Fascism as a political ideology. Fascists believe in a powerful central government run in an authoritarian fashion. Anything people within the fascist state do is supposed to be for the benefit of the state, because the idea is that the stronger the state is, the better off society will be. The result is that anyone who opposes the leadership is suppressed. Fascism also fosters a strong feeling of nationalism. While not being Communist, a fascist state does not support the free market because the government and the economy is often entangled. The media is also controlled in order to discourage dissent.

It took Hitler 6 years of being in power before he invaded another country and began authorizing the killing of Jews. However, during those 6 years, he whittled down democracy and freedom in Germany, and he issued propaganda accusing Jews of being a nuisance to society. A fire broke out at the Reichstag (parliament) building in 1933, and he used this as justification that Germany was under threat, therefore requiring the drastic restriction of rights and liberties. Does any of this sound familiar?

The reality is that much of the prime traits of fascism have been in full force in America since 9/11. It is only just beginning to be obvious, although for some it has been obvious all along. President Bush started to make this obvious when he instituted the Patriot Act in response to 9/11. Bush claimed that the Patriot Act was there to give the government a better opportunity to catch terrorists, but it also severely restricts the civil liberties of all Americans. President Obama had an opportunity to put an end to the act, but instead he signed an extension to it.

The thing that finally put a spotlight on American fascism was Occupy Wall Street, perhaps unintentionally. The initial goal was to put an end on corporate greed and influence in politics, but the resistance has been shocking. And why didn’t the government work as hard to dismantle the tea party? They didn’t dig deep enough into the issues, and they targeted the wrong people. Since they missed the real problem, they weren’t deemed a real threat.

Academics will hate me for citing Wikipedia, but I’m going to do it anyway because I’m not writing this article for school. The wikipedia quote cites a book anyway! From the fascism article: “Fascists advocate: a state-directed, regulated economy that is dedicated to the nation; the use and primacy of regulated private property and private enterprise contingent upon service to the nation or state; the use of state enterprise where private enterprise is failing or is inefficient; and autarky.”

The text that I outlined in bold is what really struck me. Doesn’t that describe a bailout? Both Presidents Bush and Obama supported this bailout, but such a bailout is fascist in nature. It completely undermines the idea of free market capitalism by not allowing entities to fail. The television program 60 Minutes recently had some interesting reports for us as well. The first told the story of how criminal lobbyist Jack Abramoff was able to corrupt countless congressmen into doing his bidding. The second revealed that Congress is currently involved in a great deal of insider trading based on non-public information. This is the sort of thing that landed Martha Stewart in jail.

Clearly the OWS protesters have a valid argument that the system is broken. How does the government respond? How about a national crackdown on all dissent, coupled with police brutality? Recent reports suggest that the federal Department of Homeland Security assisted mayors in breaking up the occupy protests. This department answers directly to the President and also to Congress. If this is true, it is a complete outrage, and possibly a case to impeach President Obama. The President has remained largely silent on the response to the protest and the brutality that has occurred.

The press hasn’t been helpful either, but is the press free? Fox News pundits, along with some politicans, have described the protesters as ‘anti-American.’ This is the nationalist trait of fascism. I feel more patriotic than a lot of people right now because America is not supposed to be a fascist nation, and I am trying to protect true American values. Also, it should be noted that during the NYPD raid of Zuccotti Park, the heart of the protest movement, the media was restricted from reaching the area. Countless members of the media have been arrested, beaten, and silenced since the start of the protests. It comes to no surprise that the media who does report on the movment often puts it down.

To top it all off, bills are being proposed in Congress called the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act. These bills look like attempts to stop internet crime on the surface, but they are written in such a broad way that they would lead to censorship of the internet in America. Right now the internet is basically the last place we can receive the truth, and soon that form of dissent might be suppressed too.

Meanwhile, America continues to engage in empire building around the world. Nobel peace prize winner Barack Obama not only kept troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he also decided to intervene in Lybia and just recently established a new troop presence in Australia aimed at countering an increasing Chinese influence. All the GOP candidates for president, with the exception of Ron Paul, Jon Huntsman, and Gary Johnson, have said that war with Iran would be an option to consider. Many of them have indicated that they would support Israel if it decided to go to war with Iran. This sort of militarism is extremely fascist and dangerous to the well-being of the United States.

The protesters who are resisting this dangerous philosophy are labeled as a public nuisance, and are being blamed by some as the exact problem in society. This is exactly what happened to the Jews before Hitler sent them to death camps. How long will it be before we are detained for meddling against the government, thanks to provisions included in the Patriot Act? We already see a police state in New York City, where police dressed like stormtroopers march around everywhere we go and helicopters circle low overhead. People on the sidewalks are asked to provide identification in order to pass checkpoints, and barricades restrict movement in particular areas. Those without identification can be profiled as protesters even if they’re just trying to get to work, and turned away. Rick Santorum even said he’d like to profile muslims for being potential terrorists.

The atmosphere in the United States is becoming increasingly dangerous, and we must stop this madness before it is too late. It might already be too late. Remember this: do not trust your politicians, especially President Obama. He has shown himself to be no improvement over President Bush. Don’t trust the police, and don’t trust banks. Treat everyone with respect, but don’t expect to get it in return. And stay peaceful. The future of America rests on our shoulders.