In Reply: Fascism: Citizens Are Not "Pro-Government Forces"

Revised and extended, in reply to Is it fascist? - Don Surber

I see where the Occupy Wall Street crowd is going to march on the homes of billionaires. This ain’t no tea party. At what point do we call intimidation by pro-government forces fascist?
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I know of no definition of the word fascist that includes describing where and how folks protest, so no, it's not fascist. If the "pro-government forces" actually worked for the government and were being ordered to act on the government's behalf, Don Surber might have a slightly stronger case--but even then, he'd then be describing the police and the military as fascists, which kinda makes him sound like a left wing extremist... ...or a member of a right wing extremist militia group defending their compound.

Citizens, whether protesting in favor or opposed to a particular government action, policy, or form--and really, even those opposed to the government as it is are protesting in favor of government as they want it to be and the politicians advocating for those changes, making almost everyone "pro-government"--are not equivalent to armed and organized martial units enforcing the wishes of the government for money.

That said, I disagree with protesting at folks homes or in any way involving innocent family members, no matter who the target(s) of the protest or the folks doing the protesting are...

A march through a particular neighborhood is one thing--and some of the accounts I'm reading say they plan to (or have) pass(ed) by the homes. To the extent that that's all they plan to do (or did), I have no problem with that; massing on an individual's lawn and shouting is quite another. (I was opposed to the tactic when it was used against abortion providers, and I'm just as opposed now.)
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Submitted for moderator approval October 11, 2011 at 3:23 PM