Human Wrongs Watch
By John Scales Avery*
18 December 2015
The recent Republican presidential debates took place in the gaudy and luxurious Venetian Casino in Los Vegas, a building whose billionaire Republican-backing owner Sheldon Adelson held a private meeting with fellow-billionaire Donald Trump before the debate.
**This photo depicts Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. | Author: Neelix | public domain.| Wikimedia commons
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43743.htm
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43748.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/12/16/republicans-principle-free-presidential-debate
In the two-hour hate-show that followed, the Republican candidates for the 2016 presidential nomination competed with each other over who could be the most avid in advocating war and racism.
***From left to right, Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini and Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano as they prepare to sign the Munich Agreement. | Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R69173 / CC-BY-SA 3.0 | Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license. | Wikimedia Commons
To worried observers, the scene was disturbingly reminiscent of the slide into fascism seen in Germany and Italy in the 1930’s. At that time too, there were serious economic problems, and there was a desperate need for reassurance among populations.
Hitler and Mussolini appealed to the lower instincts of their electorates, especially to the primitive instinct of tribalism; and this is why these two hate-mongering politicians of the 1930’s were genuinely popular, just as Donald Trump is today.
There are other parallels with the 1930’s: The Nazis used the Reichstag fire as an excuse for attacks on civil rights, just as terrorism today is used as an excuse for suspending civil liberties.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire
The dominant role of corporations today also parallels their role in the rise of fascism in the 1930’s.
According to Benito Mussolini, “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power”.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Benito_Mussolini
****Mr Donald Trump New Hampshire Town Hall on August 19th, 2015 at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, NH by Michael Vadon | Author: Michael Vadon | Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. | Wikimedia Commons
For those of us who feel affection for the United States, it is sad to see the country slide towards political irresponsibility and fascism.
Even more importantly, just as in the 1930’s, political irresponsibility led to an all-destroying world war, so today there is a great danger of a world war; and the threat today is far greater because of the terrible power of thermonuclear weapons.
But there are many very good people in the United States. We know this because of the great popularity of Bernie Sanders.
It is time for them to speak out and act. We cannot have a situation where, as Yeats put it, “the best lack all conviction, while the worst are filled with passionate intensity.”
We must prevent the rough beast of fascism from slouching towards Bethlehem to be born.
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*John Scales Avery, Ph.D., who was part of a group that shared the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize for their work in organizing the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, is a member of the TRANSCEND Network and Associate Professor Emeritus at the H.C. Ørsted Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
He is chairman of both the Danish National Pugwash Group and the Danish Peace Academy and received his training in theoretical physics and theoretical chemistry at M.I.T., the University of Chicago and the University of London.
He is the author of numerous books and articles both on scientific topics and on broader social questions. His most recent book is Civilization’s Crisis in the 21st Century http://www.learndev.org/dl/Crisis21-Avery.pdf.
More articles by John Scales Avery in Human Wrongs Watch:
Paris and the Long-Term Future
We Must Stop the Madness of Brinkmanship
Paris: A Sense of Proportions Is Urgently Needed
Book Review: Aurelio Peccei and Daisako Ikeda, “Before It Is Too Late”
The Need for a New Economic System – PART IX: a New Society, a New Social Contract, a New Way Life
The Need for a New Economic System – PART VIII: The Cooperative Movement
The Need for a New Economic System – PART VII: The Global Food Crisis
The Need for a New Economic System – PART VI: Adverse Effects of Globalization
The Need for a New Economic System – PART V: The Threats and Costs of War
The Need for a New Economic System – PART IV: Neocolonialism and Resource Wars
The Need for a New Economic System – PART II: Entropy and Economics
The Need for a New Economic System – PART I : Limits to Growth
Israel, Iran and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Will the Real Issues Be Discussed in 2016?
New Hope for Avoiding Catastrophic Climate Change
Albert Einstein, Scientist and Pacifist
“The Path to Zero: Dialogues on Nuclear Dangers”, by Richard Falk and David Krieger
Millay’s “Epitaph for the Race of Man”
The Future of International Law (Part I)
The Future of International Law (Part II)
The Future of International Law (Part III)
Europe Must Not Be Forced Into a Nuclear War with Russia
Tactical Nuclear Weapons in Europe – The Dangers Are Very Great Today
Why Is the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons So Urgent?
Why Is the Military-Industrial Complex Sometimes Called “The Devil’s Dynamo”?
Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand Is at Our Throats
Does It Make Sense to Saw Off the Branch on Which You Are Sitting?
Blood for Oil – The Close Relationship Between Petroleum and War
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Images:
**This photo depicts Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. | Author: Neelix | public domain.| Wikimedia commons
***From left to right, Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini and Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano as they prepare to sign the Munich Agreement. | Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R69173 / CC-BY-SA 3.0 | Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license. | Wikimedia Commons
****Mr Donald Trump New Hampshire Town Hall on August 19th, 2015 at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, NH by Michael Vadon | Author: Michael Vadon | Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. | Wikimedia Commons
Baher Kamal
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 
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