Run to Ruin

How did it come to be in a supposed democracy that the fed, the "state," runs everything?

The Spanish Civil War is conventionally seen as a square off between democracy, fascism, and communism: a dress rehearsal for WW II. Fascism won the preliminary; democracy was supposed to have won the big one. But as an anarchist I can't tell the difference between democracy, fascism and communism, not in the actual world of experience. In democracy the people are supposed to decide important issues. (Of course this is done only by the people voting for other people, who are then supposed to know what their voters wanted, and act accordingly.) In fascism the state decides who gets the important contracts. Communism is supposed to lead to anarchism, a stateless society: but only after a communist state runs everything. Democracies, after WW II, the US, for example, staged elections but somehow got the representatives to all out-fascism fascism and to extend its interference into all areas: just like communism!

(I gave myself great pleasure this week by revisiting the movie Belle Epoque: a "beautiful time" before the Spanish Civil War: which was of course followed by Franco, fascism, WW II ... and the sad history we all inherit (which I don't believe the human species will survive). The characters in the movie are torn between their old habit of the Church and their new hope for a republic.)

Whoops, I see I need to revise my title: The State Runs Everything.
I see that what I wrote will make the best sense if I add a letter. Gee, the same letter that stands for me: I!

The State RuIns Everything!

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My son responds:This explanation isn't directly applicable to US democracy, but in all the "former" fascist countries, the CIA actively influenced all the elections, promoting the most hard-line anticommunist candidates, who happened to be supposedly reformed fascists. In Japan and Italy, especially, the fact that the CIA was running the government was something of an open secret. You might enjoy some of the details as told in Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA.

(I grew up with an awareness of the CIA's attempts, mostly failed, to control Latin American governments. I had no idea how much more successful they were with Europe and Japan — or of how many Western journalists, scholars, publications, and think tanks they sponsored through unmonitored funds.)

On the other hand, the most fascist government the United States has had was the one that decided to join WWII, so we can't blame the war for American fascism. Instead, we might have to blame American fascism for the length and depth of the war.