In 1945, World War II was over. We thought fascism had been vanquished. Fascist Germany, Italy and Japan were destroyed. The world rejoiced. Unfortunately, Fascism, like some virulent forms of cancer, was not entirely eradicated. Like cancer, unless all cells are killed, they can still remain a threat. While the Nazi party was destroyed, many individuals infected with the disease were not.

Most people think of fascism as strictly a political and economic scourge, but it is a good deal more complex than that. It is actually a complex disease characterized by authoritarian constructs.

Fascism is a psychological disorder. No, it's not defined as such by the medical community, but the mental and emotional behaviors of infected people are described under other nomenclature. It is a sado-masochistic authoritarian constellation that evidences itself as a form of sociopathy. Fascism is not confined to any single ethnic or national group.

Whenever a nation is faced with drastic change, whether social, economic, political or military, the citizenry become fearful for the future. It is in this fertile ground that extremists plant their fearful crop. People who are not fearful do not provide such fertile ground. People who enjoy a feeling of well-being, of feeling secure and who have hope for the future, cannot be led, lied to or defrauded by extremists. This is the reason why extremists fight any program, change or philosophy that is good for the people. Only frightened, worried people can be led by liars, cheats and thieves. Quoting Adolf Hitler, "The great masses of the people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than a small one."

It is unfortunate that, like cancer, the seeds of fascism are always with us. In many cases, those individuals so infected are beaten back because of their extreme views and behavior. When a serious tumor is recognized, it can usually be excised. But fascism, like cancer, has many subtle variants, all deadly.

A variant of this type was in evidence in the slave-holding states in the South, prior to our Civil War. Then, and even now, certain groups of people viewed themselves as superior to others and those others owed their "superiors" respect and complete acquiescence. The most compelling evidence of this mind-set is betrayed by their authoritarian pronouncements.

Keep one very important thought in mind as you think about and examine the current political scene in the United States. Throughout American history the greatest liars, most dangerous spies and vilest of traitors have wrapped themselves in the flag, and presented themselves as Christians, holding themselves out as decent, patriotic and sincere, while concealing the rottenness within themselves. Yes, there is a vast right-wing conspiracy in the United States and its roots go back to the beginning of our nation!

Former Vice President Wallace, in 1944, said: "The really dangerous American Fascist ... is the man who wants to do in the United States, in an American way, what Hitler did in Germany in a Prussian way. The American Fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist, the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public, but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or power. They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest. Their final objective, toward which all their deceit is directed, is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection."

Using the mechanisms of laissez faire unregulated capitalism as a weapon to attack the rights of American citizens and our democracy is despicable. Liberty or freedom is not license to do any damned thing that some private corporation or individual decides will make a profit. It's simple: Fascism is capitalism gone berserk!

Ask those around you if they believe in and support Law and Order. Most will respond in the affirmative, but that begs the question: what kind of Law and what kind of Order? Keep in mind that Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Ceausescu and many others were firm believers in Law and Order. When those in our government become the captives of industrial, commercial and financial interests, your elected representatives become commodities that can be bought and sold on the market. At that point, the Law is transformed into a spiked club used to beat the common man into a bloodied and silent submission. Many of our fellow Americans seem to exist in a state of semi-wakefulness. We should all be well advised to become fully awake to our current social, economic and political surroundings. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas said, "Nightfall does not come all at once; there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged. It is in such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air; lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness."

Ours is a dynamic world and change is always in the air. For that reason, we must note that those individuals or groups who drift too far to the right face the danger of crossing a Rubicon into a region of mental, emotional, social, economic and political constructs that our nation, The United States of America, fought World War II to defeat.

Will the American people finally heed the warning delivered by former President Eisenhower in his farewell address to the Nation? Eisenhower was a Republican and a man with genuine insight and a historical perspective that is missing in many Americans today. If you read the address, keep in mind that his reference to the Military-Industrial Complex included all industrial, commercial and financial entities in America.

Benjamin Franklin once said, "We have a Republic if we can keep it." In achieving that goal, our nation's founders pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Do Americans today possess that same dedication to these sublime objectives? I really wonder.

J. Albert Rowe is a Coeur d'Alene resident. Contact him at [email protected].