These posts explore the themes developed in my monograph, Narcisso-Fascism, which is itself a real-world test of the central concepts of the Biocognitive Model of Mind for psychiatry.
A superb profile of Trump and his people, but led by Mary Trump.
It is an ominous thought that you project that Trump might pull the whole lot down.
This is what Adolf Hitler did when he would not allow the Germans to surrender (blaming them for failing him) despite the overwhelming Russian and allied advances right to the heart of Berlin and to his own suicide.
In March 1945, Hitler ordered Speer to destroy everything, rip up all the railways, demolish the surviving factories, blow up every bridge, kill all the livestock and so on, partly to block movements of the Red Army but partly because the German people had let him down. Fortunately, Speer didn't do it but told him it was underway. I wouldn't put it past Trump. We can only hope that the military would refuse. Hegseth and the other crazies would gleefully do it.
And Biden's Bunch of Loonies took us to the brink of actual nuclear war on several occasions. Had Killary won in 2016, none of us would be here now. Trump 2.0 is also a dangerous beast, but still not as bad as the religiously-neocon nutjobs.
'Power attracts the corruptible'.
Tbs, it was a miracle we survived this long after inventing WMDs and creating enough stockpiles to destroy the entire solar system.
Kegseth. JHC. How in all the holies did that POS lunatic ever get confirmed?
He was confirmed bc Miller went around and said to every Rep. congressman and senator: "Confirm him or we'll primary you." At least Hitler surrounded the Reichstag with the SA and arrested the communist deputies, that was an honest coup. This is a coup by stealth. Fortunately, they're all so incompetent (taking their cue from the top again) that the whole shitshow will fall apart before long. Let's hope it doesn't splatter us in the process.
My thesis is that fascism is not a form of government, like democracy or monarchy or theocracy, or an economic system like socialism or capitalism. It is a technology for gaining and maintaining power using themes, devices and tropes related to humanity's fundamental urge to form dominance hierarchies. Thus, Stalin certainly was fascist, albeit within a brutally socialist system. Fascism leads to totalitarianism because once in power, the first task of the ruling clique is to remove all competition. Mao gleefully used fascist technology to cement himself in power. This is just a different way of looking at things but it gets rid of the old "left vs right wing" argument, replacing it with those who look for equality compared with those who are pursuing power for power sake e.g Trump.
Soviet communism could have gone in many directions. Fx, the next group the Bolsheviks turned on once the White Russian armies had been defeated, was the actual worker-owned soviets themselves, the new worker coops who had taken the reins of industry into worker hands.
The Bolshies weren't happy about "Counter-revolutionary petite-bourgeois" worker liberation.
Ironically, Western Capitalism could also have gone in that direction, during the debates on banning slavery - indeed, during the American Revolution and Constitution writing too - there was a significant block that wanted to add "Wage-slavery" to the law too.
Needless to say we would be in QUITE a different present had that happened, and one considerably more pleasant for the large majority.
The quiet and blood-free Danish Revolution of the late 19th Century followed Adam Smith's ideas, and quite explicitly built worker-owned private companies, the famous Danish Coop movements that lead the poorest country in Europe to become one of the wealthiest in just 2-3 generations.
In Australia, there were many coops in the first half of last century, mainly farmers and fishermen but they were strictly limited in how much money they could borrow. That meant they had to save before they could build the facilities they needed, which is very difficult for those livelihoods. Companies could borrow unlimited. Often they would wait for the coop to build then move in, undercut them and force them to sell at a loss. There are very few coops left now. Thank the neolibs.
It happened all over the world. The UK dairy coops got slaughtered en masse when the supermarkets were allowed to buy cheaper imported milk - naturally, the price soared again once they had been dismantled. And the milk is poorer quality, and the cattle treated worse. Corporate profits are high though.
The Israeli state worked with the banks to load the Kibbutzes with debt - and then cut the food subsidies so the kibbutzim fell.
One can almost suspect that is the real goal of all those "summits" that are regularly held, to share tips on how to screw the population further.
That is precisely correct. You don't think they travel to Davos in winter just to talk about how to make workers' lives happier and more fulfilling? No, I guessed you don't. They're in the business of making everything work for them, nothing else. The future? Forget it, here, take this wad of money and have a good time.
Yeah, it wasn't the greatest. Trouble with violent revolutions is that they tend to continue the violence long past the actual revolution, and all opposition becomes wall-fodder once the new elites realise how much unconstrained 'power' they have.
Lenin warned about the danger Stalin presented to the revolution. Trotsky was no better, between them, they turned what could have been a solid socialist state into a vast gulag.
A quote I read in my teens and stuck with me: "The worst thing about treating people as your equal, is when they do it back to you", lol.
Although Trump did not have any plans for his presidency in advance, the catholic right wing Opus Dei group filled that gap admirably.
A superb profile of Trump and his people, but led by Mary Trump.
It is an ominous thought that you project that Trump might pull the whole lot down.
This is what Adolf Hitler did when he would not allow the Germans to surrender (blaming them for failing him) despite the overwhelming Russian and allied advances right to the heart of Berlin and to his own suicide.
In March 1945, Hitler ordered Speer to destroy everything, rip up all the railways, demolish the surviving factories, blow up every bridge, kill all the livestock and so on, partly to block movements of the Red Army but partly because the German people had let him down. Fortunately, Speer didn't do it but told him it was underway. I wouldn't put it past Trump. We can only hope that the military would refuse. Hegseth and the other crazies would gleefully do it.
And Biden's Bunch of Loonies took us to the brink of actual nuclear war on several occasions. Had Killary won in 2016, none of us would be here now. Trump 2.0 is also a dangerous beast, but still not as bad as the religiously-neocon nutjobs.
'Power attracts the corruptible'.
Tbs, it was a miracle we survived this long after inventing WMDs and creating enough stockpiles to destroy the entire solar system.
Kegseth. JHC. How in all the holies did that POS lunatic ever get confirmed?
He was confirmed bc Miller went around and said to every Rep. congressman and senator: "Confirm him or we'll primary you." At least Hitler surrounded the Reichstag with the SA and arrested the communist deputies, that was an honest coup. This is a coup by stealth. Fortunately, they're all so incompetent (taking their cue from the top again) that the whole shitshow will fall apart before long. Let's hope it doesn't splatter us in the process.
Yes. Besides Lenin's mess (the murder of the royal family...), Stalin's gulags etc ain't good at all
Good piece. However, the quote by Marshall Gyorgy Zhukov “We liberated Europe from Fascism and they will never forgive us" raises questions in me.
Simply, shortly put: Soviet communism ain't better. (Was't better than Fascism)
My thesis is that fascism is not a form of government, like democracy or monarchy or theocracy, or an economic system like socialism or capitalism. It is a technology for gaining and maintaining power using themes, devices and tropes related to humanity's fundamental urge to form dominance hierarchies. Thus, Stalin certainly was fascist, albeit within a brutally socialist system. Fascism leads to totalitarianism because once in power, the first task of the ruling clique is to remove all competition. Mao gleefully used fascist technology to cement himself in power. This is just a different way of looking at things but it gets rid of the old "left vs right wing" argument, replacing it with those who look for equality compared with those who are pursuing power for power sake e.g Trump.
Soviet communism could have gone in many directions. Fx, the next group the Bolsheviks turned on once the White Russian armies had been defeated, was the actual worker-owned soviets themselves, the new worker coops who had taken the reins of industry into worker hands.
The Bolshies weren't happy about "Counter-revolutionary petite-bourgeois" worker liberation.
Ironically, Western Capitalism could also have gone in that direction, during the debates on banning slavery - indeed, during the American Revolution and Constitution writing too - there was a significant block that wanted to add "Wage-slavery" to the law too.
Needless to say we would be in QUITE a different present had that happened, and one considerably more pleasant for the large majority.
The quiet and blood-free Danish Revolution of the late 19th Century followed Adam Smith's ideas, and quite explicitly built worker-owned private companies, the famous Danish Coop movements that lead the poorest country in Europe to become one of the wealthiest in just 2-3 generations.
In Australia, there were many coops in the first half of last century, mainly farmers and fishermen but they were strictly limited in how much money they could borrow. That meant they had to save before they could build the facilities they needed, which is very difficult for those livelihoods. Companies could borrow unlimited. Often they would wait for the coop to build then move in, undercut them and force them to sell at a loss. There are very few coops left now. Thank the neolibs.
It happened all over the world. The UK dairy coops got slaughtered en masse when the supermarkets were allowed to buy cheaper imported milk - naturally, the price soared again once they had been dismantled. And the milk is poorer quality, and the cattle treated worse. Corporate profits are high though.
The Israeli state worked with the banks to load the Kibbutzes with debt - and then cut the food subsidies so the kibbutzim fell.
One can almost suspect that is the real goal of all those "summits" that are regularly held, to share tips on how to screw the population further.
That is precisely correct. You don't think they travel to Davos in winter just to talk about how to make workers' lives happier and more fulfilling? No, I guessed you don't. They're in the business of making everything work for them, nothing else. The future? Forget it, here, take this wad of money and have a good time.
I worry about the actual direction communism (or socialism) took in the USSR.
Thanks
Yeah, it wasn't the greatest. Trouble with violent revolutions is that they tend to continue the violence long past the actual revolution, and all opposition becomes wall-fodder once the new elites realise how much unconstrained 'power' they have.
Lenin warned about the danger Stalin presented to the revolution. Trotsky was no better, between them, they turned what could have been a solid socialist state into a vast gulag.