if i were filthy rich I would make very thin bumper plates out of tungsten and watch a bunch of beefy powerlifters struggle with it while eating champaign grapes in the garden #aristocracy

Lawrence W. Britt: 14 Characteristics of #Fascism

"Historian Lawrence Britt studied the fascist regimes of #Hitler (Germany), #Mussolini (Italy), #Franco (Spain), #Suharto (Indonesia), and #Pinochet (Chile) and found they had 14 elements in common. He calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism.

1. Powerful and Continuing #Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of #patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. #Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of #HumanRights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, and long incarcerations of prisoners.

3. Identification of #Enemies/#Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: #racial, #ethnic or #religious #minorities; #liberals; #communists; #socialists, #terrorists…

4. Supremacy of the #Military
Even when there are widespread #domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant #Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional #gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is #homophobia and anti-#gay legislation.

6. Controlled #MassMedia
Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation or by sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Government #censorship and #secrecy especially in war time, are very common.

7. Obsession with #NationalSecurity
Fear of hostile foreign powers is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. #Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.

9. Protection of #Corporate Power
The #industrial and business #aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Suppression of #Labor Power
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor #unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for #Intellectuals and the #Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to #HigherEducation and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

12. Obsession with #Crime and #Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the #police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant #Cronyism and #Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. #Fraudulent #Elections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by #SmearCampaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control #voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

This post is a summary of Fascism, Anyone? by Lawrence W. Britt published in 2003 by Free Inquiry magazine."

https://voxpopulisphere.com/2017/08/23/lawrence-britt-14-characteristics-of-fascism/

A rare example of commoning of land! https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/21/aristocrat-forced-to-open-part-of-estate-to-public-after-council-ruling
#TheCommons #CommonLand #LandReform #Aristocracy #HatfieldHouse

The evil of aristocracy is not that it necessarily leads to the infliction of bad things or the suffering of sad ones; the evil of aristocracy is that it places everything in the hands of a class of people who can always inflict what they can never suffer.
-G K Chesterton (1905) Heretics

#Rich #Oligarchy #Aristocracy #Plutocracy #Evil #Systemic #Balance #Unbalanced #ThingsIHaveComeToAccept #GKChesterton #Quotes

#aristocracy : a ruling body composed of the best citizens

- German: der Adel

- Italian: aristocrazia

- Portuguese: aristocracia

- Spanish: aristocracia

------------

See previous words @ https://wordofthehour.org/r/past

Film of the day: 流転の王妃 (THE WANDERING PRINCESS, dir Kinuyo Tanaka, 1960) Gloriously glossy melodrama of a woman buffeted by the winds of history, its narrative unevenness rescued by sumptuous colour and virtuoso staging on a par with the masters. #JapaneseCinema #melodrama #womanspicture #history #war #family #aristocracy #KinuyoTanaka

This evening I made the mistake of eating my tea while watching the #C4News piece on a group of England's chinless wonders apologising for their slave-owning ancestors. It made me want to puke.

These aristocrats, who say they want to stimulate a conversation, call for the state to make reparations. To whom?

These parasites should have their assets confiscated and titles liquidated, and be hunted for sport by the oppressed of all colours.

#slavery #aristocracy #ClassWar #Racism

Even workhouses have their aristocracy.
-- English Proverb

⬆ #Quotes #EnglishProverb #Aristocracy #SocialClass

⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Pictographs #RockArt #NativeAmerican #Utah

There's a popular misconception that rich people don't do any work to actually earn their wealth. In reality, they buy influence, create labyrinths of bureaucracy, and put a great deal of effort into taking as much as they possibly can from everyone who is poorer than them. This is the system working as designed. This is the world capitalism provides - one in which those at the bottom are ground down relentlessly, to the point where they're selling parts of themselves to survive, while those at the top invest obscene amounts of money in military and police to crush the uprisings that such a system will inevitably provoke.

#Capitalism #WageTheft #theft #profit #greed #aristocracy

https://freethoughtblogs.com/oceanoxia/2023/04/11/wage-theft-and-surplus-value-capitalist-greed-is-unaffordable/

Trump got finnaly indicted, depending on the outcome it might be a huge step towards fixing US's demogogary/aristocracy into a healthy democracy.

#US #USPolitics #Politics #demogogary #aristocracy #democracy #trump #trumpindicted

Today's photo with the most hits: the east beds at Lyme Park country estate.

#LymePark #fFowerBeds #StatelyHome #CountryHouse #heritage #wealth #aristocracy #LeghFamily

"Each honest calling, each walk of life, has its own elite, its own aristocracy based upon excellence of performance." — James Bryant Conant — — — #JamesBryantConant #quote #quotes #calling #profession #activities #hierarchy #aristocracy #elite #excellence #performance

Anecdotes of the aristocracy and episodes in ancestral story
(1849) : Burke, Bernard
url: https://archive.org/details/anecdotesaristo04burkgoog/page/n18/mode/2up
#UK #history #aristocracy #my_bibtex

【昔の人達、ありがとう】#観光#大阪#旅行#歴史#sightseeing #osaka #travel#traveling #history#貴族#aristocracy https://www.alojapan.com/722611/%e3%80%90%e6%98%94%e3%81%ae%e4%ba%ba%e9%81%94%e3%80%81%e3%81%82%e3%82%8a%e3%81%8c%e3%81%a8%e3%81%86%e3%80%91%e8%a6%b3%e5%85%89%e5%a4%a7%e9%98%aa%e6%97%85%e8%a1%8c%e6%ad%b4%e5%8f%b2sightseeing-os/

#Osaka #Osakadestinations #Osakatour #OsakaTravel #Osakatrip #Osakavacation #大阪

#aristocracy : a ruling body composed of the best citizens

- German: der Adel

- Italian: aristocrazia

- Portuguese: aristocracia

- Spanish: aristocracia

------------

See previous words @ https://wordofthehour.org/r/past

Watching #DowntonAbbey, I can't help but think that these poor people probably never had a chance to have a meal in their pjs.

#aristocracy

@Nokidding

Maybe so - but national awards recognising personal achievement exist in most societies, unrelated to the absence or presence of an #aristocracy

"my first English teacher was British" is a pretty weak basis on which to disparage a country you do not belong to - like me claiming to have a critical insight into #Italy from attending a #Verdi opera

@therobburgessshow

Indeed, but I have moved to a refinement: #plutocracy reaching to restore themselves as #aristocracy

yeh fk-dat

oligarchs are usually rich so the word underscores their wealth and that they gov *by* wealth

It's the new trend it seems, #politicians who want to stay in power.
#Trumpism in #Africa #ANC #Southafrica #Bolsonaro #Brazil #junta #Myanmar #Tories #UK #Putin #Russia #Xi #Xijinping #China the end of real #democracy Back o medieval times with its #aristocracy aka #kleptocracy by the #Forbes500

#History keeps repeating itself over generations

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-63822096

'Downton Abbey: A New Era' https://boxd.it/uUHk

My review:

Julian Fellowes's biggest enemy will remain Julian Fellowes. His biggest friend will remain the monarchy.

Upstairs synopsis: 'Look at how happy they are, the plebs, to have our scraps to live from! Yes, they can even literally act as noblepeople in one scene yah.'

Downstairs synopsis: 'This is the hand that God has dealt us and we must be infinitely grateful that Master treats us ever so well.'

#UpstairsDownstairs #aristocracy #feudality