Thursday, May 12, 2005

The Clash of Fascisms

I liked this one from Faith Freedom International:

The Clash of Fascisms

Some Americans have a stereotypical view of Europeans as being appeasers. There is definitely an appeasement instinct in Europe, but it is first and foremost a continent of extremes, sometimes changing in rapid succession. The pendulum will swing back. Europe right now has all the ingredients needed for the rise of something akin to a new Nazi movement. It is an extremely dangerous mix of suppressed nationalism, high unemployment and failed economies, democratic detachment and a widespread sense of being betrayed by the ruling elites. Tens of millions of immigrants pour into Europe, changing the face of the continent forever without any real debate about the issue. People feel like strangers in their own cities, but are being silenced as "racists" if they object to this. There is a widespread feeling that Europe is descending into chaos, and that the governments are unwilling or incapable of stopping this. If this situation continues, some people will cry out for a Strong Man to “cleanse Europe of foreigners" and restore its honour and wounded pride. And He will step forward. There is never any shortage of self-proclaimed Strong Men once you call for them. By then, you won’t have a “Clash of Civilizations” in Europe, but rather a Clash of Fascisms: Euro-Fascism vs. Islamo-Fascism.

2 Comments:

At May 13, 2005 12:53 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Very interesting read; of course, who can be blamed other than the politicians who themselves seek to appease their constituents rather than making the right short-term and long-term decisions that will operate in the best interests of the nation?

For example, there is no reason for high unemployment if people are permitted to engage in capital enterprises without an excess of governmental interference. In the USA, small businesses employ most of the people. High unemployment rates ought to result in the imposition of immigration restrictions. There should be a national effort to protect the rights of the nation's citizens to be productive workers.

Over time, people who live in a welfare state become less likely to demonstrate individualism and entreprenurial skills; they lose their motivation to be creative, and they also develop poor attitudes.

People do not like being treated like second class citizens in their own country. If politicians are too stupid to realize that, then they should be voted out of office.

HB

 
At May 15, 2005 4:10 AM, Blogger Jason Pappas said...

I have been worried about a European turn towards fascism in response to the Islamic threat. The problem is that there are legal and cultural impediments to discussing and condemning Islam and its jihadist practice. In France, a writer was arrested for being critical of Islam (while making a distinction between the ideology of Islam and the demographic group of Muslims). People are fined in France for negative statements about Islam of Muslims.

If people can’t discuss Islam in public and get a proper prospective, they will talk about Islam in private and it will be crude hate – not measured assessment of the inherent problem. The hate will fester and become unhinged allowing any demagogue to step into the intellectual vacuum.

I wrote about this and Bat Ye’or spoke about this.

It's best that reasonable people come to grips with the Islamic threat so that an intellectual vacuum doesn't develop. In times of a crisis, there are those who will exploit people's ignorance and fear. I hope we don't go from denial to crude demographic hate led by some fascist thug. The 1930s should give us some lessons in false alternatives of fascism vs. communism. We don't need fascism vs. Islamism today.

 

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