Cross-posted at OpenLeft.com

Though there are many varied and contradictory definitions of Fascism, there are certain elements that characterized Fascism in Italy and Germany and have been common if not universal in other fascist states historically.  I do not believe that the United States fits a reasonable definition of Fascism, but I hope to show in this diary that there is a core of our government and our society that operate independently as a fascist state.  That core is composed of what are commonly called the Prison Industrial Complex and Military Industrial Complex.  Those two institutions encompass major corporations and corporate leaders, millions of employed Americans, Republican and Democratic Congresspeople, significant portions of the executive and judicial branches of government, countless hordes of lobbyists, and by my rough estimates are worth several trillion dollars.  (For comparison, the Federal budget is approximately 3 trillion dollars, and the entire GDP of the United States of is 13 trillion.) The four features that I would argue are present in these American institutions and characterized the fascist governments of Germany and Italy are Institutionalized Racism, Militarism, Corporatism, and Unrestrained growth of Government power.