Fascism

in our Midst

by Kathy Fitzpatrick

written December 5th, 2007

Fascism can be defined as "A form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion."
 

-by Robert O. Paxton,

a professor emeritus at Columbia University,

from his book The Anatomy of Fascism

When i first began my foray into the Internet world of the chemically injured i wasn't sure what to expect, or even, what to look for. My first encounters with list owners and groups more than exceeded my expectations. Questions were answered, fears soothed and a wealth of useful information gleaned. There was a feeling of shared camaraderie as new friends were made, it was, in many ways, my life support during the most severe part of my illness. Of course, not all groups are all things to all people, disagreements are bound to happen in any group setting. It would be a boring world if we all agreed. But there are some groups that go far beyond disagreements, breaching all rules of etiquette by abusing members in a manner resembling fascism. Perhaps the word is a bit strong but as i was listening to a talk given by Naomi Wolf, it occurred to me this was happening in the CI community. If you want an idea of what fascism in terms of chemical injury might look like, imagine if we couldn't use terminology that some people might find offensive and those words were redacted from our books and articles.

Most people don't have a clear understanding of fascism, which is why, as a community, it is essential to examine. At it's very core fascism is innately anti-democratic. We would be remiss, if, as a community, we excused or condoned poor behavior by rewarding it with a rationalization it couldn't happen in our community. This is cloudy thinking, because indeed it has happened in our community and is in fact happening as i write these words. And while not genuine fascism some chemical injury groups bear many of the basic characteristics of a fascist movement. If you belong to a group employing any or most of these characteristics you might ask yourself, is it right? Then who does it benefit? Certainly not members who become collateral damage, while others in the group suffer from the residual damage of humiliation and other forms of abuse levied on group members. While i agree list owner/groups have the right to run their list or organization as they see fit, i would like to pose a couple of questions. What is the purpose of censorship? How can we exchange information if someone is acting like Big Brother and making decisions for us  How are to express ourselves if open and direct communication and dialog are suppressed? Censorship, suppression and heavy handed tactics create a community based on fear. This is not healing.

As a community we speak out against the suppression of information regarding everyday chemicals. This type of suppression is called "doublespeak," a tactic used by the EPA, the government and many other factions. We are outraged when it happens, why are we not outraged when it happens in the very groups and organizations designed to bring us together to work for the common good of all? Are we, as a community, so wounded, so mired in learned helplessness we refuse to speak out against the tyranny being waged upon us by our own community?

To show how fascists work i've taken the ten steps from Naomi Wolfs' "Fascist America, in 10 easy steps", and applied them to the chemically injured community. If you belong to a group, online or otherwise, displaying these tactics you may wish to consider finding a more nurturing space to spend your time.  (full article)