Warning! Police State USA

BY JAAN LAAMAN

From its inception over a year ago, 4strugglemag has been warning about the growing police and war state that America has become since 9/11/01. Of course there has always been an imperialist and racist aspect to the U.S. The founding fathers unleashed genocide on the indigenous Native people, while Africans were brought here as slaves.

The question now is whether a qualitative new level of police and government power is taking place. Is bourgeois democracy fading while a fascist police state grows?

The rhetoric of “fascism” and a “fascist police state” has been tossed around the left for many years. The reality of identifying the turning point when fascism takes hold is much harder to see, particularly as it might be happening. Fascism won’t be a Hitler look alike marching into the White House with nazi banners. It probably will be a lot of American flags and “patriotic” and “religious” words, as essential rights and liberties are taken away from the public, while the police power of the government becomes legally unchallengeable.

Prior to Hitler taking power in Germany in 1933, there were socialists and communists in the German parliament and the left and unions were active. How did the nazis so easily take over? More importantly, what is happening in the U.S. today? Are we seeing a qualitative growth towards a full out fascist police state?

Prisons in the U.S. are the closest realities to living in a complete police state, so as a political prisoner for over 20 years, it is difficult for me to gauge how extreme the police state is across America. There are clearly very many bad signs though.

A few months ago the Revolutionary Worker (the newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist Party), put out a statement that a type of “Christian fascism” was taking root in this country. I have asked many of my friends and family to give me their opinion on this. The responses have varied, but everyone agrees that government and police power is growing and dangerous.

4strugglemag is printing a large section of the RCP statement. People can see the full position paper at rwor.org (RCP Publications, P.O. Box 3486, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, Il 60654).

Whether you agree with the RCP’s analysis or choose to follow their direction in opposing the growing police state is up to each reader. 4strugglemag is an independent and nonsectarian revolutionary voice. We think the question of a creeping or already in place fascist police state is very important for all of us to discuss and deal with. 4strugglemag welcomes this discussion on our chat board as well as written letters or articles for future issues.