Sure…and that’s why the discussion is about abuse of power. When power is abused, what is the purpose of the abuse? When the rich can buy elections, why do they care? Nearly always, it’s about money or a proxy, and making sure it flows or continues flowing to you, or your family or your in-group (other rich people). That’s not the way things should be, but it’s the way things are, for much of the world, and particularly in fascism. Do people want money to gain power, or do they want power to gain money? Tony Montana aside, it’s a false dichotomy, because the two are inseparable. Mill’s Homo Economicus. Fascism is systematic, institutional abuse of power. Liberal democracies try, with varying degrees of success, to temper such abuses.
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no. that’s my point. and when they are inseparable, that’s a sign the system has broken down.
ex. we could view misogynist men as trying to control women economically; but economics is just one method of control.
part of the trouble with the “prosperity gospel” of white evangelicals – trump supporters – is conflating moral authority ( and political power ) with economic prosperity.
political power should not be the same as economic power.
it’s important to keep those concepts separate. but, it sounds like we may just have to agree to disagree.
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I’m not sure there is any disagreement. Indeed, political power should not be the same as economic power, and when it is, it’s a sign something is wrong. The naturalistic fallacy is deriving an “ought” from an “is”; that fascist systems conflate economic and political power, and that it seems that in America today, money and super Pacs can buy politicians, does not imply that this is how things ought to be.
It’s interesting that you bring up misogyny, because there is indeed something very male about fascism/authoritarianism, which becomes quite explicit with shirtless leaders like Mussolini and Putin.
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You must be Scottish. They have all the best curse phrases!
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To be fair, I think that’s what the other poster is trying to say, too, just not expressing themselves in a way that works in this forum.
ETA, because Discourse won’t let me say three very different things in three separate posts:
And how they’re measured.
If one person has 2 jobs, does that count as employment for one person or employment for two people? Because that would artificially lower the employment rate substantially in these times, with so many people working 2-3 jobs.
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I like to think that I may have helped caused a resurgence in the usage:
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Oh I didn’t read that comment. I think I picked it up from an old teacher…
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What can I say; I’m ‘self centered.’
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In a snitch culture, you don’t dare be the first person to stop clapping. And you’d better not fail to drop a report on anyone else either.
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