Fascism in America?

• Position: Letters to the Editor - Letter to the editor

Noam Chomsky's fears seem entirely justified and realistic as far as I'm concerned ("Chomsky's Nightmare: Is Fascism Coming to America?" by Matthew Rothschild, June issue). I write as a 1937 Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany at age sixteen with very keen memories of the collapse of democracy and the arrival of the Hitlerian regime. Prolonged economic chaos and threats, especially to the lower middle class, and the rise of the far right all played a powerful role. I do not deny some parallelism between Germany and the present-day United States drawn by Chomsky.

Still, it is important to consider some of the great differences between 1933 and 2010 and between the two countries, cultures, and continents. Germany was not alone in its rightward shift, as Mussolini had triumphed in Italy as early as 1922. And do not omit, please, the consequences of the outcomes of World War I all over Europe, including Russia.

So, it's more complex than a country-by-country comparison would make it appear.

Herbert D. Rosenbaum

Professor Emeritus of Political Science

Hofstra University

I was disappointed in your Chomsky article. The bulk of it, the large middle section, was devoted to being "reasonable," with a short question mark at the end. I did not see mention of the rising sales of firearms and ammunition, of frequent gun shows, of rising anti-Semitism, of desire for strong leadership to solve our problems. We already devote half our federal budget to the military and are fighting two or more wars: That isn't militarism?

I live in East Tennessee. I expect that the large number of retired military personnel and hunters will keep a lid on things, but I am not expecting a free ride from all the citizens, and I think there are many areas of the country not so well situated as East Tennessee.

Chomsky is old enough to remember the feel of fascism, and he says it is here. He still has the scars of having been beaten up by Irish Catholics in North Philadelphia (as was my older brother), and takes physical threat seriously. Your article, on the contrary, reads like a Disneyification of the threats.

The economy is tanking, with the southernmost tier of states having just received a devastating hit to their fishing and tourist industries, not to mention a way of life. BP hasn't a clue on fixing it, and even James Carville is disgusted with Obama's tepid response. You don't think those folks are going to be really angry and ripe as they travel north?

Please reconsider...