Communism or Fascism?

My observation is that there are only two basic types of national government:  the Laws of Rulers and the Rule of Law.  The tendency of Rulers is to seek more power; become more authoritarian; implement collectivist economies; and place themselves above the law.

That is true, of course, for those who rule here in America as well, even those who are elected.  The difference, though, is that through our Constitution, our Rule of Law, our Rulers were supposed to be subject to the same laws as the rest of us.  And we were all to have had the same Rights, whether citizen, bureaucrat, official or ruler.

It is interesting to contrast the economies under Communism, Socialism and Fascism.  With the Marx Communist plan, the government owns everything and the national production is shared equally.  “You will own nothing and you will be happy!” - as they advertise at Klaus Schwab's World Economic Forum in Davos.

The idea of a Socialist economy, sometimes a precursor to Communism, is that the government takes money from certain groups and distributes it to others; of course that can happen in conjunction any governing system.  “Democratic Socialism” only means, in theory at least, that the majority rather than the Ruler decides who takes how much from whom, and who receives it.

A Fascist economy is different; unlike Communism, it recognizes private property and industry.  But rather than free trade and free markets and true capitalism, the government regulates and aggressively controls the industries . . . in effect, the government and industry are merged.

Note that a Fascist economy does not require a dictator.  China today no longer has a Communist economy, which is now better described as Fascist after they began allowing for private industries, where producers could keep some of their profits, even though they are still strictly regulated.  That shift also produced their incredible economic growth over the past couple of decades (although it remains to be seen how sustainable it is because, like America and other countries, it was built on fiat money and mountains of debt).

Here are some insights to consider, especially as to how they relate to America today:

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[Note:  the following is reprinted from the 2015 book America IS Exceptional, Appendix C, with the permission of the author (me).]

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published the Communist Manifesto in 1848 [a philosophy that would become a movement and change the world].  They included ten “planks” necessary to transform a society to Communism:

 1.  Abolition of private property and the application of all rent to public purposes.

 2.  A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

 3.  Abolition of all rights of inheritance.

 4.  Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.

 5.  Centralization of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.

 6.  Centralization of the means of communication and transportation in the hands of the State.

 7.  Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State.

 8.  Equal liability of all to labor.  Establishment of Industrial armies, especially for agriculture.

 9.  Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries.

10.  Free education for all children in government schools.

In his 1944 book As We Go Marching, John T. Flynn described eight marks of Fascism:

Point 1.  The government is totalitarian because it acknowledges no restraint on its powers.

Point 2.  Government is a de facto dictatorship based on the leadership principle.  [In our case, leadership by the concentration of power in the Executive Branch, via agencies and executive orders that bypass Congress.]

Point 3.  Government administers a capitalist system with an immense bureaucracy.

Point 4.  Producers are organized into cartels in the way of syndicalism.  [Also know as the elite "crony capitalists” like the central bank and the various Complexes.] 

Point 5.  Economic planning is based on the principle of autarky.  [“Autarky" means self-sufficiency; restraints on free trade; and/or enlarging the resource base through empire building.]

Point 6.  Government sustains economic life through spending and borrowing.

Point 7.  Militarism is a mainstay of government spending.

Point 8.  Military spending has imperialist aims.

Flynn said, “Fascism will come at the hands of perfectly authentic Americans who have been working to commit this country to the rule of the bureaucratic state; interfering in the affairs of states and cities; taking part in the management of industry and finance and agriculture; assuming the role of great national banker and investor, borrowing billions every year and spending them on all sorts of projects through which a government can paralyze opposition and command public support; marshaling great armies and navies at crushing costs to support the industry of war and preparation for war which will become our nations greatest industry; and adding to all this the most romantic adventures in global planning, regeneration, and domination, all to be done under the authority of a powerfully centralized government in which the executive [branch] will hold in effect all the powers, with Congress reduced to the role of a debating society.”

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Flynn’s book was written 80 years ago!  His astute observations were based on the “progressive" communist and collectivist movements that swept the world in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  How relevant are Marx and Flynn today?

Here are the questions that face us now:

Does America today have a Socialist economy?  That is, does our government, on a large scale, take from some groups, by force if necessary, and distribute money and benefits to other groups?

How many of the Marxist "Ten Planks” have been implemented, or are in progress?  How much popular support is there for Marxism?  How far are we down that path?  Is there a larger global movement in that direction?

Do Flynn’s Points now describe our Federal Government?  Has the Executive Branch and its hundreds of ABC Agencies and millions of bureaucrats rendered Congress almost powerless?  How many of those millions of folks in the massive Executive Branch do we vote for and elect through the democratic process?  (Only two, the President and Vice-President.)

Have free markets and capitalism been completely abandoned in America?  Has our economy been transformed into some witches brew combination of socialist and fascist economies?

Have we reverted back to the Laws of Rulers, from which we initially rebelled?  Was Walt Kelly prescient:

       “We have met the enemy and he is us.”  - Walt Kelly's Pogo Comic Strip

Most importantly, can we restore the Idea of America and the Rule of Law?