September 11, 1973 and modern conservatism
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There was another terrible event in history that occured on September 11 that many forget. It was September 11, 1973 when a fascist dictator, Augusto Pinochet, overthrew the democratically elected President of Chile by a coup-d'etat. That day, the fascist forces of Pinochet killed the President of Chile, Salvatore Allende, and established one of the most brutal fascist regimes in history. Over 3200 Chileans died under the military junta of Pinochet, while at least 130,000 were incarcerated without trials and 30,000 tortured.
After many years of terror, torture and killings, the regime of Pinochet eventually collapsed. Pinochet though remained free, until he was arrested in London on October 16, 1998, while visiting europe. After a prolonged legal battle, he somehow escaped prosecution. Despite efforts to bring him to justice later in Chile, at the end he escaped prosecution and died from natural causes on December 2006. Prior to his death, the fascist dictator took "political responsibility" for his crimes.
I believe that there is a strong link between the events of September 11, 1973, the establishement of the fascist regime in Chile and the current conservative movement and republican party of today. For starters, it is well established that the Republican Nixon administration then, with Henry Kissinger leading the effort, helped Pinochet gain power. Kissinger also encouraged the brutal repression of Chile by the Pinochet regime then.
Although people have argued that the help that Kissinger and the Nixon administration gave to Pinochet had only to do with "efforts" to counter the influence of the "evil Soviet empire", in my opinion there are ideological similarities between the Pinochet regime and the conservative movement of today. In fact, one could argue that the ideologies of the republican party of today and of modern "conservatism", are a natural evolution of ideologies of regimes like the Pinochet regime. It is not surprising that some on the right openly still admire and approve of Pinochet's actions. They do so because they represent a more refined ideological homologue of that regime.
The ideological links between fascism and the conservative movement of today can be seen on several issues. Here are some examples:
1. Extreme nationalism. All fascist regimes in history were driven by extreme nationalism. Need to say more?
2. Many fascist regimes in history used religion as a weapon. They have been traditionally pro-religion, whether christian (like many dictatorships in the recent past in South America) or islamic fundamentalists (like the fascist theocratic regimes of the Taliban or Iran). The resemblance with many religious fundamentalists of the republican party of today who think that God drives their actions could not be more obvious.
3. Anti-abortion/ultra-conservative mentality. A classic example was the fascist regime of Mussolini in Italy that had banned abortion as a crime against the state. We all know who would love to make abortion a crime in this country these days.
4. Political illiteracy of fascist supporters through history. Traditionally the supporters of fascist regimes have been illiterate, or at least politically illiterate people who are easy to manipulate and instill hate. The similarities with the tea-baggers of today are more than obvious.
5. Anti-immigrant hysteria.
6. Bigotry, hate towards homosexuals.
7. Racism.
In summary, I believe that there is a lot of evidence that the current "conservatism" of today is in many ways the evolution of fascism from the 40s, 70s and 80s.
There was another terrible event in history that occured on September 11 that many forget. It was September 11, 1973 when a fascist dictator, Augusto Pinochet, overthrew the democratically elected President of Chile by a coup-d'etat. That day, the fascist forces of Pinochet killed the President of Chile, Salvatore Allende, and established one of the most brutal fascist regimes in history. Over 3200 Chileans died under the military junta of Pinochet, while at least 130,000 were incarcerated without trials and 30,000 tortured.
After many years of terror, torture and killings, the regime of Pinochet eventually collapsed. Pinochet though remained free, until he was arrested in London on October 16, 1998, while visiting europe. After a prolonged legal battle, he somehow escaped prosecution. Despite efforts to bring him to justice later in Chile, at the end he escaped prosecution and died from natural causes on December 2006. Prior to his death, the fascist dictator took "political responsibility" for his crimes.
I believe that there is a strong link between the events of September 11, 1973, the establishement of the fascist regime in Chile and the current conservative movement and republican party of today. For starters, it is well established that the Republican Nixon administration then, with Henry Kissinger leading the effort, helped Pinochet gain power. Kissinger also encouraged the brutal repression of Chile by the Pinochet regime then.
Although people have argued that the help that Kissinger and the Nixon administration gave to Pinochet had only to do with "efforts" to counter the influence of the "evil Soviet empire", in my opinion there are ideological similarities between the Pinochet regime and the conservative movement of today. In fact, one could argue that the ideologies of the republican party of today and of modern "conservatism", are a natural evolution of ideologies of regimes like the Pinochet regime. It is not surprising that some on the right openly still admire and approve of Pinochet's actions. They do so because they represent a more refined ideological homologue of that regime.
The ideological links between fascism and the conservative movement of today can be seen on several issues. Here are some examples:
1. Extreme nationalism. All fascist regimes in history were driven by extreme nationalism. Need to say more?
2. Many fascist regimes in history used religion as a weapon. They have been traditionally pro-religion, whether christian (like many dictatorships in the recent past in South America) or islamic fundamentalists (like the fascist theocratic regimes of the Taliban or Iran). The resemblance with many religious fundamentalists of the republican party of today who think that God drives their actions could not be more obvious.
3. Anti-abortion/ultra-conservative mentality. A classic example was the fascist regime of Mussolini in Italy that had banned abortion as a crime against the state. We all know who would love to make abortion a crime in this country these days.
4. Political illiteracy of fascist supporters through history. Traditionally the supporters of fascist regimes have been illiterate, or at least politically illiterate people who are easy to manipulate and instill hate. The similarities with the tea-baggers of today are more than obvious.
5. Anti-immigrant hysteria.
6. Bigotry, hate towards homosexuals.
7. Racism.
In summary, I believe that there is a lot of evidence that the current "conservatism" of today is in many ways the evolution of fascism from the 40s, 70s and 80s.
posted by Nevum @ 11:16 AM
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