By DAVID ZHA
I know, I know, I’m the guy that just keeps pointing out obvious truths but never offers any real solutions. Bear with me anyway.
My freshman year, I took a classical fencing class through Cornell P.E. with Maître d’Armes Adam Crown. He said some very interesting things to us before he left. For example:
Curiously, instead of instilling a patriotic epiphany enlightening me to the heresy of his ways, Crown’s leaving caused me to brood over his claims even more. He can still be found in Ithaca, where he teaches at the Crown Academy of the Sword.
What constitutes a fascist state? Well, according to the dubiously reliable, questionably credible and not-yet-peer-reviewed Google search I just performed, fascist regimes have certain traits in common. Here are 10 from a list by a certain “Dr. Lawrence Britt” (possible scholar, possible cyber-Pinocchio, I just don’t know):
America is also an institutionally racist country. Most people who live here and have a clue already realize this. Due to recent events, the Acquitted Trigger-happy White Police Officer and the Dead Unarmed Black Teen are something of stock characters in the urban legend of America. We live in a society where our guardians gun down our own people regularly based on how they look. Since America cannot rally itself through racial homogeneity the way WWII Germany could, American fascism has to account for this diversity in its populace with additional levels of control.
True control requires the right application of force on the right socio-economic level and the proper dissemination of accepted stereotypes. For example:
Private jails to house a penniless criminal underclass.
Heavily armed police to dominate impoverished black or Hispanic neighborhoods resorting to violence.
Drug laws that encourage the use and abuse of lethal (but taxable) substances and laboratory-made medicines.
Religion for thought control.
Money to buy out the politicians.
Corporate bamboo ceilings to ensure Asian-Americans don’t forget their place.
Lower female salaries.
A National Security Agency to spy on civilians, domestic and abroad.
Torture prisons to keep our enemies.
Depictions of Middle Eastern defenders as “insurgents” or “terrorists” to secure foreign oil, with the added consolation that Muslim-Americans at home will be suppressed by other ethnic groups.
Elections with the same two options (which are really the same team).
Price tags for educations.
And nukes. Just in case.
TLDR: Your vote doesn’t count, this is a police state, democracy is an illusion and you can be sad or go drink about it.
David Zha is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He may be reached at [email protected]. The Angry Spirit Bear appears alternate Tuesdays this semester.