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Starting a new thread (maybe 3rd time's the charm?) because I'm interested in seeing what other people think. I am outright asking the Mods/Stewards to be the Coaches/Referees in the sense that I want this thread to stay in Off-Topic and if any Mod/Steward see anything that starts spinning out of control move in swiftly and split and pit. That's what was agreed upon by the old Mod Teams with Sean himself and what he himself preferred be done to just pitting the whole thing. ********************* I, for the moment at least, am not quite certain the West are true Fascist countries yet. I do think at the very least they're Oligarchic/Plutocratic. My thinking has changed a lot over the years from when I was young and in college. Back then I was a typical "liberal". What I now think of as more correctly known as an Egalitarianist. Although lately modern liberals are reclaiming the term Progressive. Most likely because the Right has successfully transformed the term "liberal" into a moniker for scorn. While I do not like the scorn and ridicule the Neocon Right often uses when talking about or at "liberals" I'm glad to see the term Progressive come to the fore again. If only because I'd rather see the term "Liberal" return to what it once meant in the very early 19th century. BTW - the current "Right" is something I do not agree with either. That is I don't agree that they are "rightwing" nor do I see them as Conservative. I've only come to this conclusion after years spent studying it and looking at the origins of many strands of political thought and historical events. To me the current US Right are actually left-leaning. They tend to support ideals that had their origin in the French Revolution rather than strictly British traditions of Liberalism such as John Locke. Hence the support for a strong military, using military and corporate power to "bring the Rights of Man" (aka nation-building) to all the other nations of the world, etc. You can find that same ideology and enthusiasm in the rhetoric of supporters of the French Revolution. 2. Another reason which I might post about later is much of the above is greased by the Managerialisation of developed-countries' society. The Management class/staffs of middle and large businesses whose interests do not coincide with what's good for nations as a whole. To ask if the West has become Fascist ignores that whole other aspect. But from what I've been studying it's a huge part of why the US and Europe are "systems stupid" (check out the following book for a good intro) when it comes to government and markets. 3. Money. The domination of money and credit in nearly all aspects of modern societies arrangements introduces systemic weaknesses. Basically it makes society a 'monoculture' of money. Back when Western societies had multiple competing methods of getting things done - 'gift economies', trading services for services (no I'm not talking only about barter), etc it meant that financial booms and busts and speculation were limited to devastating a smaller segment of the population. Now that everything has been given over to the 'marketization' of exchanges between humans it can bring down entire societies. The spread of money has increased certain kinds of efficiency for decision-making but at the cost of resiliency. There was a time when I thought under-developed nations's people were greatly disadvantaged by living on less than a dollar a day. Now I see it as a strength. Were these 3rd world societies to take on the sole method of exchange that the developed world does it would also be taking on the developed world's prone-ness to systemic financial risk and ruin that was not of their own making. 4. The above has occurred in government as well. Centralizing power in money and governing has increased the systemic risk to society as a whole. Just witness how two factions - the Tea Party Republicans and Obama democrats - are able to hold an entire nation hostage over arguments about how to treat debt and repayment of financial obligations. If there were serious multiple centers of power in the U.S. besides the duopoly of Wash. D.C. and Wall Street it would be much harder to pull shenanigans like this off. Those are just a few of my current thoughts on the subject. I'm not convinced just yet that the West is fascist. For one thing I'm not sure the West will be able to pay for what it takes to maintain a Fascist regime for the long haul. Heck...it may not even be able to pay for it much longer in the short run either. Curious to see what other people think. I might repost my short blurb on this subject I put in my PPF simply to open it up for others comments. Cheers.

SONIA BARRETT - "HOLOGRAPHIC GAME" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVl88xw6U_I A very enlightening 1hr 18mins. In fact it was enthralling and captivating. Its refreshing when something truly resonates. Namaste, gentlewind

My writings from 4 years ago, put together into an anthology. I viewed the link yesterday and was amazed how many people have seen it. I am sharing it here with TaoBums community, hopefully I can get some more readers. leonbasin.weebly.com/3/post/2012/12/december-26th-2012.html Thank You, Leon