America on the Road to
Fascism and Bankruptcy
By Nathaniel Gilbert
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FAQ: An Interview with Nathaniel Gilbert
Q: What does “democracide” mean?
A: It literally means “killing democracy.” I needed a word to describe the constant erosion of our freedoms, and “democracide” seemed to sum it all up. It’s related to words like suicide and matricide, which refer to the violent death of someone. Q: Do you think that the government is actually killing our democracy? A: Yes, I do. The government has been using our fear of crime and terrorism to extend its power far beyond its legal limits. To do this, it has been willing to trash our Constitution and restrict our freedoms. Q. You say America is on the road to fascism. What do you mean? A. When they hear the word “fascism,” everyone thinks of Mussolini or Hitler. But many countries have gone through periods of fascism. Countries in the grip of fascism have dictators—all-powerful leaders who glorify the nation at the expense of the individual. They are also ruthless and warlike. When a country relies on war to carry out its foreign policies, strips its people of their liberties, and accuses its critics of being “unpatriotic” or “disloyal,” it’s time to start worrying. 
Q: Does DEMOCRACIDE explain how the government is destroying
our liberties?
A: Yes—in exquisite detail. DEMOCRACIDE describes how the White House and Congress have been waging an assault on democracy. It tells how the federal government has been able to assume more and more power over our lives. How the President’s grab for power has upset the traditional balance of power, weakening Congress and the courts. How the President only obeys laws he likes. How we have lost our right to privacy—and some traditional safeguards to our liberty. Q: Why did the American public allow this to happen? A: The United States is a highly competitive society with a long history of violence. Violence dominates our media—particularly movies, TV, videogames, and contact sports. Many Americans believe that the way to solve problems is with prisons, guns and bombs. So it’s easy to persuade the public that talking tough and launching wars is the way to go. And the result has been an explosion in terrorism in many countries, making us more vulnerable than we were before 9/11. Q: Has the danger of "democracide" diminished now that the Democrats have won majorities in both houses of Congress? A: Somewhat; but it takes a two-thirds majority to override Presidential vetoes, and the Democrats have a bare majority of seats. The President can still use signing statements to subvert the intentions of Congress. And remember, several assaults on our freedom were done secretly—without the knowledge of Congress. Q: Why hasn't Congress stood up to the President? A: Congress has been frustrated by the administration’s secrecy. It didn’t know that the government was tapping our phones without a warrant until years after it began. But Congress has its own share of guilt. It has put many of our laws up for sale. Of course, we still have the right to vote. But virtually every candidate for public office accepts enormous campaign contributions from corporations, special interest groups and rich individuals. In return, they pass laws that favor their contributors—often to the detriment of the ordinary citizen. Q: Why are the rich and powerful able to buy our elected officials? A: It was the result of a Supreme Court decision in 1979 that equated free speech with the right to give money to candidates. It’s not just Congress that is beholden to big contributors. So is the President. Q: You say that we are also on the road to bankruptcy. Can you explain how this is happening? A: During the last six years, the government has been borrowing an extraordinary amount of money. Our national debt is now more than $8.5 TRILLION. We’ve had to borrow such enormous sums, because Congress refuses to stop its irresponsible overspending and because we’ve drastically lowered taxes on rich people and corporations. At the same time, we’ve started two expensive wars. Our debt is now so large that we pay more than $350 billion every year just on interest. This is an irresponsible economic policy. Q: But we’re a rich nation. Can’t we just issue more government bonds? A: The heaviest buyers of our securities are foreign countries, like China and Japan. If they ever stop buying our treasury notes, we’re in trouble. And if they sell the billions they’re holding, we’re toast. Inflation would soar, and our standard of living would drop sharply. We couldn’t afford to buy all the foreign goods that seem so cheap to us now. Q: Your book discusses the U.S. criminal justice system as well as foreign policy. What’s the connection? A: The government approaches both these subjects in the same way. We use quick fixes on almost every problem, whether it’s crime, terrorism or war. The government throws money and people at a problem without ever considering the long-term consequences of its actions. So we wind up with counterproductive, extremely expensive initiatives instead of long-term policies aimed at the fundamental causes of our problems. Q: Can you give an example? A: In the case of crime, we lock up people without giving them rehabilitation. They leave prison without getting education, therapy, or instruction in a trade. That’s why more than two-thirds of ex-convicts end up back in prison. In the case of terrorism, instead of going after Al Qaeda, we initiated full-scale wars against Afghanistan and Iraq—none of whose citizens participated in the 9/11 attacks. In the process, we destroyed these countries’ governments and civilian infrastructures, which fostered insurrection and chaos. Despite our protestations, we failed to establish “instant democracy” in either country. Our foreign policy has caused millions of Muslims to hate us, has killed nearly 3,000 American soldiers and more than 100,000 civilians. It has also wasted hundreds of billions of U.S. taxpayers’ dollars.
Q: Why did the President take us into these wars? A: In the case of Afghanistan, it was mostly a matter of vengeance against the Taliban who refused to turn over Osama bin Laden. He was a rich Saudi who had helped them in their war against the Soviets. In the case of Iraq, our invasion had nothing to do with terrorism. No Iraqis participated in 9/11, and there were no weapons of mass destruction threatening us. The truth is that the U.S. government wanted control over Iraq’s oil reserves—which are the second largest in the Mid-East. 
Q: Are we going to lose our democracy?
A: If we can persuade people to participate in the political process, we have a good chance of restoring our freedoms. We need to change America from a spectator democracy into a participatory democracy. Our top government officials are not being held accountable; and many of our basic problems, such as crime, illegal immigration, inadequate healthcare and job insecurity are not being solved. To combat this situation, I’ve recommended a new federal department: the Department of Public Opinion, which would present neutral explanations of major issues, conduct public-opinion polls regularly and publish the result. Another recommendation is that all high federal officials—the President, Vice President, Cabinet Members, and members of Congress—be held to the same standards as those set forth in the U.S. Uniform Military Code of Conduct. Q: What do you think is your most important recommendation to bring us back from the brink of fascism and bankruptcy? A: DEMOCRACIDE’s most important suggestion is to get money out of politics. Government funds—not contributions by business, unions, or rich individuals—should be the only money allowed to finance political campaigns. Then the playing field would be level, and no candidates would be beholden to corporations, industries, special interest groups or labor unions—none of whom have the right to vote. |
