“It Can’t Happen Here” – Well guess what? It is.

Sinclair Lewis’ famous work is as apropos today as it was in 1935. Different regimes, same theme. For those of you unfamiliar with the book, Lewis’ fictional (?) novel is about fascism taking over America. Here’s a synopsis of the book by one Amazon.com reviewer:

“Surprisingly, Sinclair Lewis' darkly humorous tale of a fascist takeover in the US, "It Can't Happen Here," is not merely out-of-print, but also quite hard to find. As dated as it is (1935), its themes will be quite familiar to Americans today. It starts with the highly contested election of an oafish yet strangely charismatic president, who talks like a "reformer" but is really in the pocket of big business, who claims to be a home-spun "humanist," while appealing to religious extremists, and who speaks of "liberating" women and minorities, as he gradually strips them of all their rights. One character, when describing him, says, "I can't tell if he's a crook or a religious fanatic." After he becomes elected, he puts the media - at that time, radio and newspapers - under the supervision of the military and slowly begins buying up or closing down media outlets. William Randolph Hearst, the Rupert Murdoch of his times, directs his newspapers to heap unqualified praise upon the president and his policies, and gradually comes to develop a special relationship with the government. The president, taking advantage of an economic crisis, strong-arms Congress into signing blank checks over to the military and passing stringent and possibly unconstitutional laws, e.g. punishing universities when they don't permit military recruiting or are not vociferous enough in their approval of his policies. Eventually, he takes advantage of the crisis to convene military tribunals for civilians, and denounce all of his detractors as unpatriotic and possibly treasonous.”

Sound familiar? It should. The current administration’s approach to the economy, national security, religion, human rights, organized labor, corporate power, etc., are all eerily similar to past fascist regimes, fictional AND real.

A political scientist by the name of Dr. Laurence W. Britt, has studied several fascist regimes from the past, including Hitler’s Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, and Franco’s Spain, among others. He identified 14 characteristics of fascism, which he published in the Spring 2003 edition of “Free Inquiry” magazine. Here are the 14 characteristics:

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.

The “Patriot Act”, “God Bless America” at every ball game, Flags everywhere, etc.

2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.

Guantanimo Bay. Need I say more?

3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.

Terrorists, Democrats, Liberals, Intellectuals, Gays, Immigrants, take your pick.

4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.

“Support the troops”, U.S. Military spending at an all-time high, including expenditures not approved by Congress.

5. Rampant sexism.

Abortion rights (or lack thereof), inequality in pay, “Traditional family values” Translation – Mom should be at home with the kids.

6. A controlled mass media.

Fox (faux) News, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, etc. Here’s a hint: Corporate control STILL means control. Just take a look at which party the execs. from these corporations are contributing to.

7. Obsession with national security.

“Patriot Act”, Dept. of Homeland Security, NSA spying program, etc.

8. Religion and ruling elite tied together.

“Faith-based initiatives”, Famous Bush quote: “There’s a higher father”, Robertson, Fallwell, etc.

9. Power of corporations protected.

Enron, Halliburton, The Carlyle Group, Diebold, etc.

10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.

Establishing the Dept. of Homeland Security eliminated the collective bargaining rights of 170,000 federal employees. Revoking the federal requirement for overtime pay for an estimated 80 million people.

11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.

Hollywood is “out of touch” with mainstream America, reduction in funding for the arts, etc.

12. Obsession with crime and punishment.

Bush’s record on capital punishment in Texas. Need I say more?

13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.

This one speaks for itself.

14. Fraudulent elections.

Katherine Harris, Kenneth Blackwell, Diebold. Need I say more?


Americans are deluding themselves if they think that the similarities here are mere coincidence. The fact is, we ARE dealing with fascism in America. Institutionalized fascism. We can try to rationalize it all we want, we can attempt to explain it away, and we can simply ignore it. Or, we can do something about it before it’s too late.

We CAN take our country back, but we must act quickly to do it. Mark my words, the next major crisis this nation faces, whether it be another terrorist attack, a financial calamity, or a major military conflict, will be all that is necessary to impose total fascist control of our country. Bush & Co. are just itching to turn the thumbscrews that last little bit.

America must organize and mobilize to thwart the current perversion of our Democratic system. More than anything else, organized labor needs to step up to the plate. The unions in this country seem to be the only remaining organized force with enough power and clout to pose a serious threat to the entrenched fascist regime that calls itself our government. Organizations like Moveon.org need to spend more time on the “big picture”, rather than focused issues, and help to educate America as to exactly what’s going on in our country.

And average Americans need to quit being so fat, dumb, and happy. Quit the complacency. “Well, it’s not so bad”. YES IT IS. “We’re still a free country.” NO, WE’RE NOT. “It can’t happen here." YES, IT ALREADY HAS.