Friendly Fascism: The New Face of Power in America

How much freedom do you think you have? Very little. Did you know some 90% of what the government robs us of each pay day finds its way into the hands of the rich, and Giant Corporations? You know the weapons we buy for the event of war, which do not function as advertised. Then we the Taxpayers spend billions more to make these weapons function as sold. Not just weapons, but computers, and just about everything else the government purchases. The Federal Reserve is not a government bank, but a private bank, and they print, and value our money. Shockingly they are now writing laws designed to protect these bankers aganist the everyday citizen's attempts at filing bankruptcy. With Government being so impotent in the face of the Bankers, it is no wonder all of our jobs are going over seas, and soon we will be in the grips of a new depression. Thank you Woodrow Wilson. No wonder we can do nothing to prevent all the illegal aliens from flooding into our country. It is called economic control. A sure sign of "Fascism." Something we fought World War II to put an end to. Taxes are scattered to prevent you the taxpayer from understanding just how much we are robbed each payday. You know income tax, gas tax, sales tax, property tax, exise tax, etc.,etc. And you know what, we pay taxes on the taxes we pay. Our bad, we do nothing to change these tax laws. We sit back and take the screwing, all done without lube. Imagine that. It is all here, but the fact is, some of this should have changed long ago, because this book was written in 1982. Things have only gotten worse. This means we the people are not reading, or trying to change things. We continue to elect, and elect the same old "Brainless, Spineless Twits", and refuse to look past our noses, meaning we get what we deserve. Read America, please read. Become informed, only by learning can we hope to restore our government.

I lost my trusty old `dogged-eared' copy of this wonderful classic in a house fire a couple of years ago, and only recently found a used hardcover copy at the wonderful independent bookstore in Peterborough; The Toadstool Bookstore. Considering how relevant the book is to events transpiring in this country now, it was a fortuitous discovery. This is a relatively short but extremely cogent and well-argued treatise on the rise of a form of fascistic thought and social politics in late 20th century America. Author Bertram Gross' thesis is quite straightforward; the power elite that comprises the corporate, governmental and military superstructure of the country is increasingly inclined to employ every element in their formidable arsenal of `friendly persuasion' to win the hearts and minds of ordinary Americans through what Gross refers to as "friendly fascism". For anyone familiar with modern social theory, it is apparent that the author's thesis is a quite clever and accurate extension of sociologist C. Wright Mills' well known notions of what came to be known as the `mass society' theory. This was an essential aspect of Mills' famous theory of the power elite as forwarded in a book with the same title. Like social theorist G. William Domhoff ("The Higher Circles"), Professor Gross shows how the deceptively friendly and engaging style of the powers that be actually constitute an increasingly dangerous threat to the democratic process and to the long-term survival of our precious civil liberties. Of course, for Americans used to the association between the term `fascism' and the image of angry totalitarian states such as Nazi Germany and the Italy of the same period of time, it is perhaps difficult to associate with the notion that clever and systematic manipulation of the general population through use of the mass media is a form of fascistic influence. Yet, as Gross argues so persuasively, that is exactly what it is.The term that pops to mind is that process that M.I.T. scholar Noam Chomsky would refer to as "manufacturing consent", a dangerous propensity which dangerously influences the perceptions of individual citizens by continually immersing the populace in an electronic stream of messages, both blatant and subliminal, that serves to condition them to a particular way of experiencing, participating, and perceiving the world around them. We find ourselves constantly bombarded by powerful and suggestive images, message-laden icons which deliver consistent themes regarding the nature of the environment we are living in, one we come to employ more and more exclusively as our preferred method of interacting in both the civil and legal aspects of contemporary society. As Professor Gross so prophetically forecasted, the mergers of all commercial news sources, both electronic and other, have come under the ownership and control of corporate America, one of the leading edges of the power elite. Amazingly, all of this also rings a responsive chord

I ran across this book when I was 17; it spooked me then. I decided to pick it up again and see how far we've come, and I am amazed at how on the mark Bertram Gross was in his analysis of elite control of America. These days, even reading a book like this likely gets you branded a "conspiracy theorist" but Gross points out several times he's not referring to conspiracies -- the Big Government/Big Business combine that is the fueling engine of fascism is alive and well. Indeed, stronger than ever in this country.This book is a deep, frightening account of elite power structures in America. Friendly fascism is fascism with a friendly face -- not so much jackboots, mass rallies, and so forth that comprise the popular stereotype of fascism, but rather an insidious, public-relations savvy manipulation of power for profit.What impresses me most is how thorough and cogent Gross's analysis is, and I am sad more people haven't read this book. While it came out in 1980, anybody who is politically aware today will see that, rather than being dated, Gross was definitely ahead of his time in his thinking. This is a big book (@400 pages), and densely packed with information, but it is definitely worth your time.

Friendly Fascism, by Bertram Gross, is an excellent, gripping, knowledgeable and illuminating book by a man who served as an insider in the system (the White House) and evolved to the point that he felt the system itself was the problem, and both needed exposing (as to its anatomy and tactics, never discussed publically in the mass media or in our educational institutions) and its need for change. His book was a warning as to the seeds of a new brand of fascism he clearly saw evolving in this country (written during the Reagan administration), which was also warned against, prophetically, in Romano Guardini's early books, The End of the Modern World, The World and the Person, Power and Responsibility, Letters from Lake Como, and The Virtues (some of which are still out of print). He brilliantly analyzes the hierarchy of the system, where real power lies, how it is maintained, the role of the public in all this, perhaps - most importantly - the issue of wealth and control of information. When I read this book I felt great joy - because he succeeded in getting it into print and because what he had to say was so desperately needed. I even feel this more strongly now - my only complaint is that what he said was beginning was, I feel, understated - it has evolved and progressed farther than that and many of his warnings (as surveillance) are now "accepted" ways of conducting high-level business, are, in fact, the foundation of it in many ways. Whole industries (as mass media) are becoming built upon this, hidden behind Gross's brilliant explanation of "triple speak" (truth, only whispered at elite gatherings, myth, and jargon - the latter two fed to the public to confuse and distract.) It is an exciting, brilliant and very necessary book, right on the mark, and highly recommended.

At the close of the Carter administration, Bertram Gross was less concerned about Billygate or an October Surprise than about the vision he had for America's future. Now with the hindsight of sixteen years, it is readily apparent how talented a prophet Dr. Gross was. His premise was simple: Big Business and Big Government have realized that with the increasing docility of Americans, along with their demand for mindless consumption, no longer need to resort to the violent oppression of its citizens that has been the hallmark of past authoritarian states. Today, it is much kinder and gentler (and, arguably, more effective) to assert control through Big Media, what Chomsky would refer to as Manufacturing Consent. No more messy clubbings of uppity citizens darkening the screens of your evening news and no real access to the media for those outside of Big Government/Business. Now controlling all we see as real, these forces are capable of molding reality into their own image, marginalizing those outside their own ranks, and rendering any action, as individuals or collective citizens, impotent. Yet this is all done with a smile, painted just like Ronald's, and just as faux; with a grandfatherly arm around the shoulder as Reagan took America under his wing; and with Big Business' promises of more and better services and products to keep our minds dull and occupied, starving for the next opportunity to consume. Yes, Gross saw the future nearly two decades ago, and it has quietly strolled to our doorstep. Can't you hear the knocking? Or is that just the Domino's delivery driver?