I got these two quotes from Brad's Brain:

"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini (widely attributed)

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross." -- Sinclair Lewis

I got these here:

"Fascism is capitalism plus murder." -- Upton Sinclair

"Fascism is capitalism in decay" -- Vladimir Lenin

"Green politics at its worst amounts to a sort of Zen fascism; less extreme, it denounces growth and seeks to stop the world so that we can all get off." -- Chris Patten

"Fascism is a religious concept" -- Benito Mussolini

I hate to quote Mussolini twice, but ever since I ran across Brad's post on the modern fascist state, I've been thinking about the alignment between business and government.

Ever since the Supreme Court ruling in Kelo V. New London, there should be absolutely no doubt where government lies on the business equation. Effectively, the ruling said that more tax revenue is for the public good. As credit card companies bombard us with more and more credit card applications, they have managed to reform bankruptcy. Now, if they give us 40 credit cards that we can't make payments on, we can't file bankruptcy to get out from under the crippling debt. But we might be able to get a couple more credit cards. . .

Government has ceased to be about the people, and instead become about the economy. And it's not just the Republicans' fault. It's not just the Democrats' fault. It's everybody's fault. "Everyone votes with their wallet," as the old saying goes. Corporations can afford to vote a bit more heavily than we can, and all politicians listen. That's why the Democrats couldn't pass campaign reform and that's why the Republicans can't. They would be biting the hands that feed them.

Since we, as individuals, don't matter to Congress or the Supreme Court, why should they do anything to help us--like strengthen bankruptcy laws instead of restrict them, like protect our private property?

The Cold War is over, and I think we lost.