(I copied the following from a poster hanging in an office at EcoVersity.)

Early Warning Signs of Fascism

Powerful and continuing nationalism
Disdain for human rights
Identification of enemies as a unifying cause
Supremacy of the military
Rampant sexism
Controlled mass media
Obsession with national security
Religion and government intertwined
Corporate power protected
Labor power suppressed
Disdain for intellectuals & the arts
Obsession with crime & punishment
Rampant cronyism & corruption
Fraudulent elections

Laurence W. Britt wrote about the common signs of fascism in April, 2003, after researching seven fascist regimes. Those were Adolph Hitler’s Nazi Germany, Benito Mussolini’s Italy, Francisco Franco’s Spain, Antonio de Oliveira Salazar’s Portugal, George Papadopoulos’s Greece, Augusto Pinochet’s Italy, Mohamed Suharto’s Indonesia. These signs resonate with the political and economic direction of the United States under Bush/Cheney. Get involved in reversing this anti-democratic direction while you still can!

Poster #P590CW SCW(c)2005. Early Warning Signs of Fascism Text by Laurence W. Britt. Design SCW. Available as a poster and t-shirt. TOOLS FOR CHANGE catalog, Syracuse Cultural Workers (SCW), Box 6367, Syracuse, NY 13217 USA 315-474-1132. FREE fax 877-265-5399 www.syculturalworkers.com Printed by union labor on recycled paperr containing postconsumer waste.

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Our permaculture teacher Scott Pittman offers an extremely important addition to Britt’s list, and points out that, like the above-mentioned conditions, it is very much happening NOW: “Government operates at the pleasure of corporate structures.”