American Students Embrace Jack-Booted Fascism
Now here's one I missed. Nearly a year ago, the BBC reported that a study of U.S. high-schoolers found that the students largely reject basic freedoms. About half think that newspapers should not be able to publish news that is not officially approved by the government. Over a third think that the First amendment goes "too far." Seventeen percent think that people should not be allowed to express unpopular views.
In the "just plain false" category, half think that the U.S. government has the right to censor the internet, and two-thirds think that it is illegal to burn the American flag.
Sound familiar? Sound like things Bush has said? If not, then you haven't been paying attention. There is, of course, the famous "there ought to be limits to freedom" quote, but there is also the Patriot Act and innumerable other decisions and actions that have eroded basic freedom.
Mind you, in totalitarian countries, the things America's high school students believe about America really are true. In fascist countries, theses things are true. In China, they're mostly true. In a land of freedom and democracy, they cannot be true. They are incompatible with the very foundations of democracy. And yet American students believe them. Accept them. Support them.
So, where does that leave us?
The U.S. is finished as a democracy. Oh, I hear you arguing "but they're young and impressionable; we can show them the light; there's lots of good about this country; it's still the best country..." Right. Let's think about this.
First, there's about seventeen million high school students in the U.S. Apparently, they're not well-educated, or they don't care about democracy. Apparently, whatever medium is currently conditioning them is working against the basic tenants of American democracy. How are you going to counter this? One child at a time? With seventeen million high schoolers, you'll never make the least dent. Not unless you can gain control of the same medium that is currently turning them against America.
Second, recognize that children are a reflection of the times. If today's children are against basic freedoms, all they're really doing is picking up on the trends of America as a whole. It's not just the high schoolers that are the problem. They've grow up in an environment—a system—that has taught them that "the First amendment goes too far." We're talking about a country where half of the people support torture! So focusing on the students is, at best, only going to partially alleviate the problem. The real problem is the country as a whole. America is against the basic freedoms of American Democracy.
Sure, it's not the whole country. There's a range. A broad range. If you haven't noticed, I'm way over on the Left, and I have friends who are even more liberal. But the average—the center—is clearly on the side of limiting freedom. Of "de-scoping" democracy. Of creating a safe, strong, (fascist) State.
Just like Bush, Cheney and the other rich elites want. With them in charge (because, after all only they know how best to protect you), and you and me as little wind-up toys.
How do you fix that? How do you change the system that is American democracy to be, well, more American?
I don't know. I've hardly even heard anyone thinking along these lines (with the possible exception of economist and columnist Paul Krugman).
Maybe Bush and Cheney are self-destructing. Maybe they'll drag the Republican Party down with them, like Nixon did. But if you think that'll be the end of it, you're mistaken.
Their legacy lives in today's students. The damage is done, and unless we fix the system, it will only grow. The next generation, having been acclimatized to the anti-American ideals of the neo-conservatives in Congress, the White House and the media, will be more willing to limit freedom than the last. For the most part, they won't even see it as harming democracy.
America is finished. It's dying of a disease that most Americans are utterly blind to, because the only way to see it is to give up pride and patriotism and look critically at that which you have always been taught was best: your country. The only way to fix the system is to break it, and no one is willing to give up the safety of the current system for the uncertainties of improvement. That safety may be an illusion, but at least it's a known factor.
The neo-Cons know this, and they've spent more than two decades telling Americans what to be afraid of. Most, if not all, of it has been bullshit, but Americans have bought it. The next generation has clearly bought it. And as long as Americans are afraid, the anti-American neo-Cons win; American democracy and values lose.
Update: It seems that Bob Harris is thinking along similar lines. Which is somewhat reassuring. Of course, he says it with so much more style.
