DC's Revolving Door is Fascism, Pure and Simple

Eric Blair
Activist Post

The revolving door of useful idiots swapping positions from the U.S. government to private industry is pandemic. It permeates every single industry; but especially banking, energy, war, food, medicine, prisons, and now surveillance.  It's fascism, pure and simple, and it's time we start admitting it.

"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.

We're already well aware of the revolving door at the Pentagon to keep the war machine going:

The latest example of the fascist revolving door involves privatized spying.  Former NSA Chief and instigator of warrantless spying programs, Michael Hayden, publicly speaks out in favor of expanded spy powers, refers to privacy activists as Al Qaeda terrorists, and collects a paycheck from the Chertoff Group.

Glenn Greenwald writes:

Hayden is a partner in the Chertoff Group, a private entity that makes more and more money by increasing the fear levels of the US public and engineering massive government security contracts for their clients. Founded by former Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff, it's filled with former national security state officials who exploit their connections in and knowledge of Washington to secure hugely profitable government contracts for their clients.

Greenwald points out that CBS conveniently forgot to mention that Hayden was the person most responsible for implementing spying on Americans and that he now benefits financially from expanding that policy.

I know, what we need is to empower a new well-funded government agency to provide oversight of these private contractors. That'll stop fascism, right?

Most still view democracy, or majority rule over others, as somehow opposite of fascism. Yet both are simply means to the same end -- control. Democracy sounds nice in theory, but in practice we have very little say in public discourse, laws, or regulations; and when we get to vote, it's up between two carefully chosen useful idiots.

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." -- Benjamin Franklin.

There are many goodhearted political activists trying to rid the campaign system of corporate money without fully recognizing how the revolving door works in a fascist state. Yes, campaign contributions play a part in that, but the perpetual promise of an elite job is the real carrot.

When did we elect Michael Hayden to represent us? Did any of you vote to give up your privacy and offer to pay for surveillance?

Activists naively think they can poke around the edges and fix this system; a system that institutionalizes -- no, subsidizes -- fascism. Our "democracy" doesn't allow us to fix it. Fascism is embedded in our system.

"When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." -- Benjamin Franklin.

Significantly, when lawmakers and regulators have the power to grant corporate favors, there is no way to stop the the flow of corporate bribes.  It's nature.  Put simply, he who wants a favor will always pay those with the power to grant them that favor.  It makes no difference if it's called a democracy, monarchy, republic, or whatever -- if the government is the sole provider of market favors, the result will be fascism.

We've reached a point where giving more money and more power to the government means giving more power to the multinational corporations. Yet, the very same activists who hate corporatism in turn hate the idea of weakening the government. They believe one counterbalances the other.

Although the NSA and spying are in the spotlight, who do you think benefits from budget increases for the supposed watchdogs FDA, EPA, or SEC? Can you honestly say it's for our benefit after understanding the revolving door?

That is why the only genuine solution is to remove the power that government has to regulate our personal lives and business altogether. If you're against corporatism, you must also oppose big government because they are one and the same.