Friendly fascism

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Friendly Fascism: The New Face of Power in America is a publication by Bertram Gross from 1980. The book examines the history of fascism and describes, based on the Growth in big business and government, possible political scenarios for the future of the United States .

According to a 1981 review in Crime and Social Justice magazine, the book is described as a "timely" treatment of a subject that deserves serious attention. It deals with the dangers of fascism and focuses primarily on the United States, but recognizes that monopoly capitalism must be understood internationally, since capitalism “is not a national mode of production ”.

reception

According to Jason Epstein, editor, publisher, and book critic of the New York Review of Books , “ Friendly Fascism [...] reflects the apparently widespread feeling among liberals and conservatives that democracy in America has played itself out: that the Americans soon will no longer be able to govern themselves. "

According to Gaddis Smith, a history professor emeritus at Yale University and an expert on American foreign affairs, the book is “an illuminating complaint about the growth of centralized power through an alliance of business and government led by faceless managers who [...] promote democracy replace it with a form of benevolent fascism. ”For Eclectica Magazine , reviewer Dale Wharton comments that the book offers“ a faint hope of averting neo-fascism, ”but suggests, as a possible compensation, increasing the claim, in particular by“ establishing clear, ambitious goals that are broad enough to reach a large majority. ”Help could come from insiders as“ a longing for decent employment opportunities that are detached from consumer exploitation, environmental degradation or militarism is rising from all levels of the establishment . "

Reviewer Dennis Phillips notes in the Australian Journal of Law & Society that Gross wrote his book Friendly Fascism before Ronald Reagan became President of the United States, but Reagan's United States, suspected in part as a result of the neo-fascist techniques described in the book had “proved [...] that Bertram Gross is an astonishingly astute prophet. [...] The evidence [in the book] is amazing. "

According to a review in the journal Crime and Social Justice by Gregory Shank of the Institute for the Study of Labor and Economic Crisis, Friendly Fascism “was written to alert readers to a clear and present threat in the current evolution of American politics. "

More recently, in 2016, immediately after Donald Trump was elected president, the book sparked the following response from Michael Moore: “The next wave of fascists won't come with cattle wagons and concentration camps, but they will with smiley faces and maybe come to a TV show. [...] So the fascists of the 21st century will essentially take over power. "

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Jason Epstein : Is the Party Over? . In: The New York Review of Books , October 23, 1980. Retrieved September 19, 2018. 
  2. ↑ a b Dale Wharton: A review by Dale Wharton: Frienndly Fascism: The New Face of Power in America by Bertram Gross . In: Eclectica Magazine . Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  3. ↑ Gregory Shank: Book Review: 'Friendly Fascism: The New Face of Power in America' by Bertram Gross . In: Social Justice . 15, 1981, pp. 71-79.
  4. ↑ Matthew Jacobs : Michael Moore: Fascists Now Come With 'A Smiley Face And Maybe A TV Show' . In: HuffPost , November 14, 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2018. 

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