Could something like Japan, Germany and Italy's descent into fascism happen in America today?
If you remember the circumstances when these three countries fell under fascism's spell, the following was happening in these 3 countries:
1. A major economic depression put amazing stress upon these three countries' economic systems, causing massive unemployment, inflation, and extreme stress upon their banking systems;
2. Weak democracies were unable to meet the demands upon its organization;
3. Strong nationalist feelings helped make the people in their country ready for a leader (Hitler, Mussolini) who would exploit the country for his own personal sake;
4. In each country, a strong military presence - either with generals taking over the gov't. in Japan or the rebuilding of Germany's industry through an increase in military forces - allowed each country to channel their aggression and spread their imperialist demands;
(I may think of some more things between now and Thursday, but let's go with these four for now).
Your questions:
Could these things occur in America? Are these things already occuring in America right now? Why or why not?
150 words minimum. Due Thursday, March 4
Author Sinclair Lewis wrote about this exact scenario in his novel in It Can't Happen Here in 1935. http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0301001h.html Here's a link to the novel online.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
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33 comments:
Could America fall under the power of fascism, or something similar, today?
No, I don’t think it would be possible. There are a number of reasons why. While economic times are tough now, we haven’t hit a Depression as severe as in 1930’s and 40’s. There are some government systems in place to prevent a complete collapse of our economy. Also, our communications have improved tremendously. We pretty much have instant information about what’s going on. So, nobody gets too much power without someone else knowing about it. I don’t think anybody has a strong nationalist opinion without somebody else countering it. We also don’t have a strong military leader ruling the country. We also don’t build as much within only our country. We have become less of manufacturers. We couldn’t build weapons as quick. There are also some balances in the world such as the United Nations that make sure to try and keep the peace in the world. We can enforce economic sanctions, or refuse to trade, with countries that don’t operate fairly. There are many other world organizations such as the World Heath Organization and Food Organizations that try to keep peace and education in preventing world problems. There is also the history of the World Wars to teach us what has happened and prevent it from happening again.
Laura S
3rd hour
Things like this have occured in America, but beefore World War II. I think that the only thing that could make another major economic depression, not just a recession, is if the United States became involved with another war that was very large. Larger than just the Iraq war and other countries near there. but a war that was as vast as the 2 world wars. After becoming involved, we would have to lose to be plunged back into a MAJOR economic depression. I don't think that America will ever have a leader that will exploit the country as much as Hitler did, mainly because American Citizens don't have the kind of laws that the Germans had, so we vote at our will and Americans would never become so desperate for a man like Hitler. I don't think that we will ever become such a military state, mainly because our people are the military, and we wouldn't rule ourselves harshly, policing and such like the Nazi party did. Some smaller incidents have similarities with these, like the recession, but I don't think we will go so far as to be a country in the same situation as Nazi Germany and Japan. David Bellefleur, 1st hour
To be honest, I really don’t know if the United States would turn into a fascist country. If you think about it, I bet Germany never thought it would become they way it was after Hitler took over. While yes, we are in a major economic depression, and people are very unhappy with the way things are right now in America, I doubt things would get as bad as they did in Germany during World War 2. Back then, people in Germany were extremely desperate because of the Versailles Treaty and what it did to Germany; Germany was extremely poor and needed a lot of help and support. So when Hitler came into the picture and told them that he would help, people found hope in him and hope that he could help them. Hitler became leader, and with his “promises” to making things better, he first blamed the Jews for all the problems in Germany. If you take this situation and compare it to now, things are very different. Thankfully, we are not in such a bad situation as Germany was when Hitler came to power. Also, people now are tolerant of different religions and we respect each other regardless of our religions (most of the time). We would never let our leader start a genocide against any religion or race, and if they did, we’d surely rebel, for people know what’s right and what’s wrong (I hope so anyways..) Now, consider Obama to Hitler; Obama doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to start a genocide against Jews or make himself dictator of the U.S. But we never know how he could change, or how Obama himself thinks. So like I said: Since there are so many different factors to this, I really *don’t* know if this would happen again.
*Reanna,3rd hour
Although some of our characteristics match up with with the ideals of Fascism there is no way that the United States could be a Fascist nation. President Obama is not that kind of a leader. He is so, so different from Hitler and Mussolini. I could never see him bringing terror upon the people for his own power because of his background. He did not have power when he was growing up and even though he doesn't he is still the same. There is a lot of pressure on him but that would not cause him to exploit the country. Us Americans are very nationalist people but that is because we are a great country and we have worked very hard to become one of the most powerful countries in the world. We have a lot to be proud of and it is not wrong of us to be. And yes, we do have a strong military but Obama has no reason to take our economic failures out on the other countries. Obama is very peaceful and he would not let America become Fascist.
Caileigh Papp
3rd Period
I do not think that something like Japan, Germany, and Italy’s descent into fascism will happen in America today. Besides the fact that our economy is starting to go down the drain, we are nothing like Japan, Germany, and Italy back then. The United States doesn’t have a weak democracy that is unable to meet the demands upon its organization. The democracy now in America is a lot stronger than it was in Germany, Japan, and Italy. The people of the Untied States don’t have a strong nationalist feeling. They are also not looking for a leader, like Hitler and Mussolini, who would exploit the country for his own personal sake. Unlike the strong military presence in Japan, where the generals were taking over the government, the generals in America are loyal to the president. Also, the United States don’t channel their aggression and spread their imperialist demands by rebuilding our industry through military presence, as Germany did.
Nicholas Kizy
1st Hour
These things are already occuring in America. The economy is terrible due to greedyness and damage due to people, like terrorists, and due to the war in the Middle East. We do not really have a week democracy but if they dont start agreeing with what the people want then they will eventually become a weak democracy. If I were to organize the democracies I would make them listen to the people. There were alot of strong nationalist feelings. My dad and my dads friends thought that Obama was the man who would change America when the only thing he did was to try to pass the Heath Care plan. In my opinion, I do not think he is a bad president its just that if he wants to get stuff done he should do it instead of staying in Hawaii or playing basketball with desperate teenagers (which he did not). America does have a very strong military. We have won many wars and lost some. If we didnt not have a strong military things would be terrible for America till this day. We have a good military its just that the people we are fighting, Al Queda, are smarter, especially Osama Bin Laden. We have been trying to find him for years and did not succed. All we know is that he his probaly hidding in mountains in the Middle East. He also knows key builiding in America, for example the 9/11 attack on the Two Towers and the Pentagon. This is my opinion on what is America like today.
Harrison Brode
3rd hour
Alesha Lewis
Yes fascism that happened like in Japan, Germany and Italy's descent could happen today in the United States. My reasoning for this is like the other countries, the United States has massive unemployment. The depression or somebody might say “recession” is worst than it has been. Ever. And inflation and of course the banks “losing” peoples money. I don’t think democracy is weak, but I do think our government isn’t meeting our needs; while we are losing jobs every day, their giving themselves raises. Notice I said we as in the people as in not a foreign country but the government. As like the countries our enemy. And definitely s strong military presence, it seems like the worse our economy gets; the more troops are sent to go fight in nonexistent war. All the things that happened Japan, Germany and Italy are happening in America today, so we need to stop before we end up like them.
I think fascism could occur in America, and maybe even are now. The economy is in terrible shape and the unemployment level is very high. According to milmi.org, Michigan’s unemployment rate was 14.6% in December, 2009. This has gone up about 8% in the last 5 years. That’s a pretty drastic change, and could leave people looking for a way to make things better. A lot of Americans are very vulnerable and will look to anyone saying they can make a change, like Obama. Not to criticize him in any way, but I think one of the reasons he got elected was because he is very different from our last president, being from the opposing party, and people were ready for any change. The election could be a possible start into fascism. Not that I’m saying Obama has the same intentions as Hitler at all, but people were desperate for a new leader to try his ideas. With the poor economy and people desperately wanting change, its easy to think that fascism could happen in America.
Lizzie Davidson
3rd hour
Do I believe that Fascism can occur today? I don’t really have a yes or no answer to that; it is more of a maybe to me. The only way I truly believe of this happening is if our country switched to a dictatorship and we were just in a terrible situation. Economic depression is going on right now, especially in the state of Michigan. And it is a problem, many people are unemployed, and meeting costs for things is harder now. Things have also increased in price a bit because less people are buying the products. But really only in a circumstance where our country had an even worse economic crisis( and by this I mean more then like 50%) would we really need a dictatorship and a leader, and that leader might not be such a good person and that does thing more for their own benefit. So can it happen? Possibly , but it isn’t very likely.
Elliott Wolf
1st hour
I don't believe that the fascist control that happened in Japan and Germany could ever happen in the U.S. A majority of Americans believe in democracy and even if a large countity of people pulled through and tried to take over with Fascism, more of a majority would silence their rebellions. Although our economy is suffering, we know our morals and what works. Fascism doesn't work. Our democratic goverent had been working thus far, and it gives power to the people. Ultranationalists haven't really appeared publically. I do believe that they're are some people that would favor Fascism, however, I believe in the good in people. And I like to think that most people want everyones opinion invovled. We've seen what happens when a Fascist comes to power, and most of the country was horrified with what they heard about Mussolini. There aren't enough Fascist supporters in this country. If they're were, we'd know because we are a democracy and their views would be shown in our government.
Karen De la Rosa
3rd hr
I think that this will never happen in America because the government is well control and it was built and design since the beginning so that the branches of powers won’t have more power than the other two. I won’t fall under military power because the military can’t make big the decisions that would end up controlling the country, if any power has to much power the other too can take it away to balanced it out, this wont happen either because the US has been a well plan country since the beginning and it has never fallen into fascism. The US also has a lot of diversity, which means that many people have many opinions and different views so it be hard to agree in many things under one leader , and it would cause many problems since many would want to make sure that they get fair treatment.
Blog 16
I don’t think that the U.S. would descend into fascism like Japan, Germany and Italy did. Even though we are in a major economic depression where the end is not in sight and our democracy can’t meet our demands (debt unemployment ect.) and we have very strong nationalism for our country. So why do I think it won’t happen; even though we are in an economic depression most Americans have a false hope that the end is just around the corner. With the government being week the people will protest but they wouldn’t go for the government because they wouldn’t know what to do once they got there. And with the strong nationalism, most the people with the strongest nationalism are rednecks and other people like that and as seen in history most “peasant” rebellions are crushed. We also have a major system of checks and balances to stop the military from getting to much power. And lastly our allies would help our government because they don’t want to make theirs look week and give the idea of over throwing the government to their people.
Drew White
3rd hour
Lauren Johnson
1st hour
The governments in Japan, Italy, and Germany were never the same as the government in the United States so I think that fascism could never take over America. Even though America is in a recession it is not like the economy in Michigan, where 1/3 of the state is jobless, America is a democracy. If Barack Obama took over the entire country people would lose their minds, riots would start and, people would resort to other ways of dealing with their problems. In America we don’t just have one person that is in charge of our future and well being we have a whole system of checks and balances. Also the country was built and developed in a way that no one person could decide to just take over Texas than move on to rule all of the U.S. Also there is no one person who could be trusted enough to be the one and only person to control the United States.
Andrea Kelly
3rd hour 3/3/10
There is a very rare chance that these things could happen in America right now but it would be very difficult. There would be a lot of opposition if the U.S. tried to rebuild our industry through an increase in military forces. That is not occurring right now in the U.S. It would also be very difficult for a single person to come to complete power. Those who are extreme nationalists in our country are commonly racist, white supremacists in the south. These people would have a hard time gathering enough followers in other parts of the country other than that immediate group’s followers. But, the U.S. is currently experiencing a major economic depression. We are going through massive unemployment and inflation, which is putting extreme stress upon their banking systems. However the country is beginning to turn around and make its way back up so the possibility of any of these events occurring is increasingly small.
I think some of these things could happen in America, but not all of them. Our economy is weaker now, and this means more unemployment and stress on the banks, but our leader isn’t trying to exploit the country for personal reasons like Hitler and Mussolini. We still have free speech, so the government can’t put away people who oppose them, another reason we can’t become a fascist government. We have a strong military presence, but our country isn’t imperialist or aggressive. The generals and admirals who run the military are loyal to the president, and even if they weren’t there’s no way they could go to war without his consent like in Japan where they bypassed the emperor. One of these things is happening in America now, and that’s the economic situation. But one thing isn’t going to turn America into a fascist state, because we can fix this without a leader that’s so zealous in his own power that he would sell out people just to rise to power. We’re also nothing like Germany, Italy, and Japan in the 40’s. Our democracy is stronger so it won’t cave to the demands of the people because it’s able to deliver.
Larry Geist 3rd hour
I belive that america can turn facist. we are going through depression that has impacted all of us and is making people turn agianst e.o. and the president to.
We also got a strong military and we are not fully meeting the demands that most people feel. and alot of people are very nationalist
~Anthony Lossia~
Jacob Seid
I do think that fascism can occur in America but i do not think it will due to the laws the citizens of the U.S. must abide to. The things that happened to the three countries then with military, economic and social problems and weak governments are all things that can happen today. For example we are in a recession or a depression causing economic turmoil. Our presidential campaigns help us get ready for a leader, even though we vote for him (although that could change). We also use our military quite frequently. With problems like these, people may loose or have lost faith in our democratic government which makes people think that our government is weak. This might provoke stronger national feelings which may lead to people wanting a new leader like in the case of Hitler and Mussolini. If only we had a country where we had dictatorship, then I would say yes fascism will occur but i don’t think it can because the systems the government has to prevent such things and also as ways to back themselves up if a problem like this occurs.Hopefully fascism won’t come back again.
Yes, Fascism could occur in America if a Fascist party ever joined and got enough votes to be the President. Now a day’s people are more modern thinking and do not approve of Fascism, so there is a very small chance that it will happened. Another factor it wouldn’t happen is because Fascist would be like bringing up the Nazis and that terrible war. Fascism isn’t currently happening in America because it would never be allowed. All the power isn’t in only one man because it is in three different branches with equal power and can’t do anything without one other branch. There is also power in the people and must have the majority to support something, so it would be very hard for an unfavorable party to win the election. The only things related to our parties are that one person is elected, but ours doesn’t have complete control over the country. Overall billions of people have a choice to let a party rule their country.
-Eric Chan
I do not think it is possible for America to fall under the power of fascism. I do believe that some of these things could happen today in America, but not all of them. The United States doesn't need and isn't looking for a leader like Hitler or Mussolini. And our current president isn't like either of them at all, so we couldn't have that characteristic. Also, the United States doesn't have a weak democracy that isn't able to meet the demands upon the organization. That's two of the characteristics that the United States doesn't have. We also don't have a strong military presence. Unlike Japan and Germany, we don't have generals taking over the government and rebuilding the industry through an increase in military forces. Instead we have a military that is loyal to their country and doesn't try to take over or rebuild industries on their own. It is true though that just recently, there was a major economic depression that occurred. This caused inflation throughout the country and many people became unemployed. Economic stress to me is probably the only factor that is currently occurring in the United States. Even though the United States displays this one characteristic, that doesn't mean that we can fall under the power of fascism.
Emily Honet
1st hour
For many reasons, the United States have things as to how it could be a fascism country but to answer the question I don’t think there is any way for this country to have this occur today. I feel this way because reasons that support this overrule reasons as to why this wouldn’t occur in the present. One of the biggest problems in our country is the recession. Although it’s bad and marks a strong time in the United States, we still haven’t reached a depression quite yet giving us much time to get better and not reach that point. Another big reason that we wouldn’t become a Fascists nation is because of our president. Right now President Barack Obama is doing everything he can to keep us out of this situation and he, in my opinion, is succeeding. With his good leadership skills there isn’t a way for this to happen.
Nona Campbell
I don’t think that America will descend into fascism like Japan, Germany, and Italy did. There are some signs of it occurring right now, though. We are in an economic “recession” that is causing massive unemployment and inflation. But, our democracy isn’t falling apart, and isn’t really showing any signs that it will any time soon. There is no one person that is about to lead our country/take control. We wouldn’t let our president, or anyone, exploit the country for their own personal sake. We all know about Hitler and what he did and how he did it. We are too prepared to let anyone take over the way he did. Also, our military forces aren’t about to take over the government or rebuild industry through an increase in military forces. So, our aggression won’t be channeled and imperialist demands wouldn’t be spread. The United States of America would not let anything like this happen.
Austin Lessnau
1st Hour
Autumne Parker
1st hour
3/3/10
I don’t think that these things could occur in America today. However, some of the same things that were happening in the Fascist countries are happening in the United States. For example, we are currently in an economic depression. However, the situations aren’t as severe as they were in the Fascist countries. Even though some of the characteristics match up, I don’t think the United States is weak enough to fall into something that deep. I don’t think the United States’ government could allow the country to become Fascist because there are many groups controlling the government that check each other. Also, I don’t think the citizens would allow a leader such as Hitler or Mussolini. There would be rebellions everywhere. Obama, in my opinion, is a great leader. Considering his personality and ways that he handles things, I don’t think he would turn the United States into a Fascist country.
Could something like Japan, Germany and Italy's descent into fascism happen in America today?
No, I do not think that the US could or would be turning into a fascist nation anytime soon. For one, yes we are in a RECESSION not a depression and there is a lot of unemployment and stress on banks, foreclosures and stuff like that but there are things in place to stop the economy to completely fail and it be even worse than it is. Also our technologies have advanced greatly and nothing can really happen anymore without everyone being able to hear about it, and we have the system of checks and balances so that one branch of the government cannot get too much power. Right now we don’t have an extreme military that could or wants to take over the country. Right now you don’t never really hear about the military outside of the war in Iraq. All in all I just don’t think that the US will just become fascist anytime soon.
-Eli Jensen
I don’t think that fascism could happen in America today because of the fact of how bad our economy is now; it is nothing like Japan, Germany, or Italy’s government back then. Now a day’s, America has a strong democracy which is unable to meet the demands in its organization. Back then in Japan, Germany, and Italy, the democracy was much weaker than it is today in America. Also, in America the people aren’t looking for a specific person to be a leader like Mussolini or Hitler, where the people didn’t have a choice who their leader was, a dictatorship. In America we get to vote for who leads their country. And in America the soldiers are all loyal to the president and the country, so our government doesn’t have to be concerned about a revolution like in Japan, where the generals were taking over the government. Lastly, America’s government takes the responsibility of rebuilding the industry, unlike Germany, who spread their imperialist demands by rebuilding the industry through the military.
Andrew Samosiuk
3rd Hour
I don’t think Fascism could occur in America now because our economy is really bad and we are in a recession. Our economy is weaker and the unemployment rate is really low but I don’t know if fascism could really occur now because are our rights we do have freedom of speech but our president is not trying to control us into thinking a certain way like Hitler and the Mussolini did, Barack isn’t killing everyone that says he’s a bad president like Hitler did. The United States isn’t in the state yet to fall under Fascism the government would not let that happen our president is on top of things and is handling things very maturely so I don’t think he would turn us into a Fascist country like Japan, Germany and Italy.
Sierra Barnes
3rd hour
The likelihood of Fascism occurring in America is almost non- existent. For example, we have been through depressions and difficult times before (1930’s the Great Depression) and we and survived. In fact, we were quite possibly stronger afterwards than we were before. And there was never any sign of fascism or dictatorship. In other words, a poor economy won’t necessarily turn into a fascist country. Another reason is that as Americans, we are so diverse. We have all different races, religions, and ancestries. Meaning, since we are not all one type of people, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to elect a dictator and have him dominate another race/religion. Lastly, a big difference is that our democracy is much stronger than any of the other fascist countries back then. Our democracy’s strength comes from our 3-part government, and our unique constitution, which other fascist countries did not have. Our 3-part government has a checks and balances system, which will not allow any one branch of government to dominate the other.
-Brett Schwartz-
1st Hour
Emily A.
1st Period
I believe that fascism is right in a nation given the right circumstances, large groups of people can be easily manipulated by a small group under the right circumstances. In America currently we are experiencing large unemployment and tough economic times. People become desperate and think only of themselves at times like these and the average person just wants someone to fix it. Many argue that we are in this position because the leaders in the banking systems were allowed to do whatever they wanted and caused a major financial collapse, instead of arguing for more regulation, like president Obama correctly did, we could have gotten a leader who decided to take over the banks and the American people were so panicked that they might have agreed. Currently, our congress cannot agree on the issue of health care for America, this inability to work out this issue could be a sign that our current system is not working. If they cannot come to an agreement on such an important issue our democracy could be in jeopardy because they have an inability to govern. September 11th is a great example of how Americans can band together and put aside their differences when we have a common threat. This event also allowed our then president to argue the need for a stronger military and to put more money towards the army. I think that we are on the right path with president Obama even though we have all of the components to easily be influenced the wrong way.
Malik Banks
3rd
Blog #16
I think things thing gas a possibility of happening in America because of our harsh economic time right now. Our economy is facing a hard time like Germany and Italy. The pressure of the country’s economy could just make our countries leaders crack under pressure. I really don’t think our country could turn to fascism, because I think that our countries leaders and democrats can handle what happening in our economy. Also I don’t think our president Barack Obama will exploit our country for his own personal achievements that will not help our country. I also don’t think the the military general or the secretary of defense would be able to take over the country. Some of these things are happening right but I think that our country is strong enough to overcome them. Because of our rights as Americans, if our leaders mess up we can impeach him and appoint someone else to run the country
To me I think some of these things would happen in the United States today. Even though we are not living in economic depression, we still have massive unemployment, inflation, and extreme stress upon their banking systems. This country really isn’t a bad country put it is pretty powerful and is still standing strong. America has strong nationalist feelings helped make the people in their country ready for a leader (Like Barack Obama the president) who would exploit the country for his own personal sake. And also America has strong military presence to fight and protect our country and the president controls it and that’s why we need a president to rule the country for us. All countries channel their aggression and spread their imperialist demands, like oil, and natural resources, and special items for their country. So these are the things I think America has today.
Kris C.
No, I don’t think these things could happen in America. Even though we are in some what an economic depression right now, it’s not nearly as bad as the one’s we had during those time periods. In America, our system is set up so that a single person won’t end up having as much power, such as Hitler. They might have great influence, but never total control over our whole country.
Kelly G.
I think something like Japan , Germany, and Italy's descent into fascism could happen in Amercia today. im not saying it will, but it could happen. Maybe. Although America isnt exactly going through an economic depression, There is alot of unemployeement, inflation( Gas is an example) and stress upon banking systems. like in 2008 Congress had to temporarily increased the insurance limit to $250,000 due to the financial crisis, and to encourage businesses.Also the glorofied millitary... But then again, It doesnt seem like it could happen. America seems like it just wants to be left alone. Not get into trouble with other countries, just protect their own.Its not like the Elections here a fraudent either, and unlike facist nations, Americas police actually has limited power and most people arnt willing to overlook police abuses and over go the civil liberties for the sake of patriotism.(unlike the serect police) But then again, There was Bush.. Who could have shown a bit of facism, One time was when he tried supressing labor unions and giving labor unions warnings for useing their money politically. So my opionion is that america, Now could possibly turn into a facist nation, but it seems as if it most likely wont..
Jithmi
Hour 1
I think that these things are very likely to happen in the United States. Right now in the United States we are going through many economic issues. I think that we could need some other economic goverment to help get our country back on the right foot. i think that some traits of facism are already happening in the U.S, but to my knowledge not all of facism is happening.
-Rachel S.
No I don’t think it would be possible. While economic times are tough now, we haven’t hit a Depression as severe as in 1930’s and 40’s. I don’t think anybody has a strong nationalist opinion without somebody else countering it. We also don’t have a strong military leader ruling the country. We also don’t build as much within only our country. We have become less of manufacturers. We couldn’t build weapons as quick. There are also some balances in the world such as the United Nations that make sure to try and keep the peace in the world. We can enforce economic sanctions, or refuse to trade, with countries that don’t operate fairly.
-Kaitlin
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