Fascism and the Tea Party

The typical supporter of the modern Tea Party movement thinks of themselves as fervently anti-government: skeptical that government or any other large institution can ever be competent, consequently they are fervently anti-tax and anti-regulation.   But in fact, it is a deeply authoritarian movement, the most severely so since the fascists of the 1930 and 40s.

Fascism is about extreme devotion to a leader and the state, pretty much the opposite of what the tea party professes.  But it is also about jingoism, the belief that might makes right, active support of big business, anti-socialism, ethnic scapegoating, and strong propaganda--all of which describes the tea party perfectly.   All they need is a heroic-seeming national leader to unite behind--and there are lots of people trying to get that job.  Perhaps the modern tea party will hold to its roots and reject such an authoritarian takeover, but I doubt it.

The tea party started as a reaction to the government bailouts at the start of the financial collapse of 2008-2009.  The term seems to have come from a famous rant by Rick Santelli.  But within days, the leaders of the anti-tax, anti government regulation movement had put itself in charge, attempting to re-label their own movement as the new one.  To be sure, they share a lot.  But the new leaders would like to end unions and collective bargaining, to lower or completely eliminate business regulation and taxes, to allow business almost absolute power in their communities and nationally.  They're careful to avoid saying that in the presence of their Tea Party minions, but it's the simple truth.

One of the most important things that the new leaders recognized about the Tea Party is their willingness to follow a propagandist--Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Fox News in general.  They will repeat whatever they are told, even if it's nonsensical, and shy away from their own analysis of this stuff.  This tendency is called "authoritarianism".  They receive "wisdom" from an authority and even when exposed to contradictions, they prefer the received wisdom to real wisdom.

The Nazis didn't really get power until big German businesses realized that through them they could accumulate more power for themselves.  The same thing is happening with the Tea Party movement today.  The most visible exponent are the Kochs--they know exactly what they are doing and are trying very hard to stay hidden.  The big banks, insurers, oil companies and so forth are better at staying hidden.

This is fairly simple:  There surely some business regulations that need to be rationalized, but if you believe that "freedom" and business deregulation are close to synonymous, then you are not a libertarian or "objectivist", you are an oligarchist: an advocate that the economy and government be run by a small cartel of very large businesses.  And very likely a fascist.