Boston College Professor of Sociology Charles Derber spoke on this subject on March 27, 2016, for the Ethical Society of Boston. In the context of today's presidential campaign, Charlie presented his analysis of the possibility of the advent of fascism, or on the other hand, democratic socialism, in the United States.
Charlie reviews the economic crises helping Hitler and fascism rise in Germany, despite a remarkably liberal culture and large socialist and Communist parties making this seem extremely unlikely. Unemployment and poverty were major factors. Sound familiar?
Charlie argues that 1920s and 1930s Weimar Germany and the US today share stunning parallels. White working class voters in both elections have been presented with a fascist or neo-fascist narrative of their economic problems and a socialist one. The corporate establishment believes it can control or prevent either option (the fascist or socialist candidates) from upsetting its own priorities. Also sound familiar?
In this talk, Charlie looks at the factors which will affect how voters -- especially white workers -- will respond to corporate, fascist and socialist candidates and movements, both in the 2016 elections and beyond.
Besides the massive list of his books shown pictorially at http://www.amazon.com/Charles-Derber/e/B001ITXTBO, Charlie's two most recent are The Disinherited Majority: Capital Questions - Piketty and Beyond (2014), and Bully Nation: How the American Establishment Creates a Bullying Society (2016, with Yale Magrass). A basic bio of Charlie is posted at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Derber.
[As of 4/5/16, the last 10 minutes of this recording come from a 2nd recorder.]
This was recorded for Truth and Justice Radio, aired Sundays 6-10am ET on WZBC 90.3FM, Newton, MA, streaming and archived for two weeks at wzbc.org. TJR's primitive website is truthandjusticeradio.org and its slogan is âFour hours of spirited examination of warmaking, empire, corrupt justice, engineered poverty, lying politicians, jingoism, corporate criminality, and media disinformation.â We welcome your corrections and comments at tjr@bluebottle.com.
Fascism, Socialism, and the White Working Class
a talk by Boston College Professor and author Charlie Derber
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