Fascism in America, Part 2

In 1992, Rudolph Ryser’s groundbreaking report Anti-Indian Movement on the Tribal Frontier examined the Wise Use movement of industry-funded, anti-democratic, anti-environmental, anti-Indian activists. This was followed in 1994 by David Helvarg’s The War Against the Greens.

In June 2024, Andres Chang at Political Research Associates wrote Big Oil Wants to Exploit the Legal System to Crush Protest & Dissent, in which he follows the money behind this fascist endeavor. As Chang notes, “The oil industry has been laying the groundwork for climate protest suppression for decades by manufacturing climate denial and framing activists as an extremist, eco-terrorist, or violent threat.[ii] These disinformation tactics are dangerous because they provide the justification for harsh policing and legal treatment.[iii] New research shows that a global web of think tanks called the Atlas Network has created trailblazing marketing materials and supported “thought leaders” who vilify climate activists in Europe, Africa, Australia, and the Americas.[iv] The Atlas Network was founded in 1981, after landing early support from Shell, BP, and Charles and David Koch. Its member organizations include Koch-affiliated groups such as the Cato Institute, Heritage Foundation, and American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).”  

Fascism is a hot topic in the US news today, so I thought I would help shed some light on this subject. My late friend and mentor Paul de Armond was a recognized authority on fascism and domestic terrorism in America, having among other things, consulted the U.S. State Department and U.S. Department of Justice. In 1997, Paul’s research helped to convict Christian Patriots arrested by the FBI for bomb-making.

Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, vol 22, issue 2, 1999 contains a review by Paul de Armond titled A Time for New Beginnings, in which he examines the history of ideas motivating the fascist movement in the United States. Mr. de Armond locates Wise Use and Christian Patriots within that movement. He notes the merger of the Christian Right with Christian Patriot white supremacists emerged as an important fusion of the extreme right during the militia organizing drive of 1994. 

Mr. de Armond urged a behavioral definition of fascism, such as the Reagan Administration’s use of the American extreme right to organize paramilitary action in Central America. He reminds readers that it was state and local governments that used armed right-wing paramilitaries like the Klan to attack civil rights activists, and that there is a continuity of the American paramilitary right that includes the Klan and Minutemen.

Paul says, “Fascism is a form of social change as a movement and a form of social institution as an establishment. … It is a rationalization of theft, just as statism is a rationalization of power, capitalism is a rationalization of acquisition, and sociopathy is a rationalization of the irrational. Anti-fascism is a form of informational public health, related to epidemiology.”

Christian fascism’s overwhelming success in subverting American democracy is attributable to the supreme strategist Paul Weyrich, Bruce Wilson reports.

To effectively fight fascism, one must understand netwar (networked psychological warfare). In 2013, I compiled Communications in Conflict,  a free download booklet, with everything you need to know on the topic, including interviews with some of the top political researchers in the United States.