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Comment by appleflaxen | Hacker News Reader

The American public is losing the battle of words. We need to start calling these policies what they are: fascist

Pelosi and others who support the NSA surveillance dragnet are American fascists.

My understanding of historical fascism is that it includes a strong sense of national identity combined with a muscular state and usually some sort of narrative of national superiority.

When's the last time someone flew an American flag un-ironically in downtown SF? We're nowhere close to fascist.

When's the last time you made a politically incorrect statement to an American citizen living outside of SF?

At first I agreed with you, but on a broader basis your sentiment just doesn't match up with reality.

That's not really a useful definition. More specifically fascism elevates the interests of the state over the interests of individuals. While similar to communism in that regard, fascism uses private economic production rather than state ownership of production. So hallmarks of fascism are things like state-granted monopolies to specific companies, organized cartels, and heavy handed industrial policies. Fannie Mae, U.S. Farm programs, and subsidized green energy loans are little slices of American economic fascism.

Because patriotism is being used to justify evil. If you don't support the "Patriot Act" then you must not be a "patriot", apparently.

And the second you use a word that most Americans need to look in a dictionary to understand, you've already lost them. In my opinion - you need to find a way to combat the concept that "if I'm not doing anything wrong, I have nothing to hide - and they're doing it for my safety" rationale in a very real, tangible, personal way.

If you can win that argument in a convincing-enough way that people you've convinced actively refute that concept to others going forward - only then will you start to win the battle of words.

Unfortunately, I fear that may only start to happen if (when?) some of the data collected under these programs is abused or leaked.

the battle of words isn't a battle of who can make the most inflammatory historical comparison of their opponents

>>Pelosi and others who support the NSA surveillance dragnet are American fascists.

No they aren't. It is rather strange to call Pelosi a right wing xenophobic ultranationalist....

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