IPFS Dave Hodges

More About: Philosophy: Fascism

The Unintended Consequences of Fascism

With increasing public dissatisfaction of the politicians forsaking of the American middle class in favor of Congress’ servitude to corporate special interests, many refer to our elected representatives as metaphoric whores who will do anything for monetary donations to their next political campaign. There is a situation brewing in Arizona which may move the term “political whore” from a figurative term to a literal form of speech.

In my recent article, Government Sponsored Corporate Welfare, Waste, Fraud and Abuse within Arizona (Part Three) , I detailed how the State of Arizona is playing loose and free with $50 million of Arizonan’s tax dollars in order to bankroll the film and entertainment industry. Now, there are new facts coming to light which suggests that not only are the taxpayers being fleeced by the politicians and their film industry special interest partners, but some of this$50,000, 000 could be used to support the hard core pornography industry which is in the process of relocating from California to the more friendly governmental economic and social justice confines of Arizona.  

Shelley Lubben (www.shelleylubben.com ), a former pornography star and now the Executive Director, Pink Cross Foundation has led the fight against exploitive employment practices of California’s porn industry including a reform effort to force the use of condoms by performers, enforcement of the Occupational safety standards prohibit contact between skin, mucous membranes and blood which serves to promote the spread of diseases such as Herpes, Gonorrhea and Chlamydia. HPV, HIV, Hepatitis A, B and C, etc.

Sales of pornographic DVD’s have decreased because of California’s clamp down of its own sex industry. Arizona is treading on virgin ground as there is virtually no regulation of the sex film industry and recent events may create a clear reason for the porn industry’s move to Phoenix as the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed complaints against 16 porn studios  to the state's OSHA division for failing to require porn actors to wear condoms. The new requirement has forced the porn industry the threat of moving their place of business. Therefore, the next best place is Phoenix, Arizona with its corporate friendly lack of enforcement of Arizona version of OSHA laws (http://www.ica.state.az.us/Divisions/osha/index.html )

And, of course, there is the possibility of tapping into the $50 million dollar taxpayer giveaway that Arizona’s legislators have so graciously made available to their campaign friendly partners in the entertainment industry.  

The porn industry is replete with horrific statistics which demonstrates its threat, not only to the performers, but to our youngest citizens as well.  

The largest consumer of internet pronorgraphy are 35-49 year olds. Yet,  children, 7-17,  who would give out their emails and addresses online are 29%. Sixty percent of Children, 8-16, have hard core online sexual experiences. 
 
 
My Libertarian leanings tell me that what happens behind closed doors is the business of the participants and certainly not the business of the government.  I also get the notion which speaks to a parent’s responsibility to protect their own children and to stop relying on the government to raise their children. However, when our tax money is up for grabs to these flesh peddlers, then it becomes the business of all the people.

On a larger stage, when we allow any form of fascism to triumph, we all get screwed regardless of whether the consequences were intended or unintended.  

8 Comments in Response to

Comment by Freed Radical
Entered on:

 Hodges--The fact that you are a neo-con educrat statist doesn't piss me off, but the fact that you are trying to cloak yourself in libertarianism and claim to be an advocate of freedom does piss me off. And I know plenty of other RepublicRAT so-called "conservatives" just like you. You guys bleat about the sanctity of the Constitution and limited government all day long without any idea that the Constitution is actually a very statist document designed by the Hamiltonians to eventually create the fascist nanny/police state we have today. I highly recommend you read Boston T. Party's "Hologram of Liberty: The Constitution's Shocking Alliance with Big Government." Hell-Just read the Constitution itself! It's all about giving the federal government power to initiate force and violence against Americans using language vague enough that you can drive a truck through it (the "general welfare" and commerce clauses immediately come to mind). The Bill of Rights was the classical liberal (libertarian) compromise of the day, and the BOR died a long time ago. One thing is certain--Either the Constitution created the police state leviathan we have today, or it was powerless to prevent it. Either way--The results of the experiment are in--The Constitution failed to protect our basic human rights.

It's probably true that both Jet & I have "anarchist leanings," and I am proud to call myself an "anarcho-capitalist." You really should check out LewRockwell.com and some of the other anarcho-capitialist websites. You will soon discover that we do not government to provide things like postal service, roads, education, and probably not even so-called "national defense," which has clearly morphed into endless wars of aggression by the American Empire over the last 150 years. If you know anything about history, you should remember that Washington and Jefferson were both OPPOSED TO STANDING ARMIES, unlike you neo-cons of today. As far as government police and prisons go, they generally are more harmful to freedom than useful. The Bill of Rights has been gutted, and the American police state is completely out of control. I have been a guest on Ernie's show a few times, and I'll be more than happy to debate the merits of anarcho-capitalism versus the Constitution any day of the week with you on your show or with both of us as guests on Ernie's show. Bring it on, Mr. Neo-con! Eric New
Comment by Jet Lacey
Entered on:

Mr. Hodges,

Yeah, I guess you could call me an Anarchist.  Not some "rag on the face" commie Anarchist, but an Anarchist nonetheless.  All I know is that this government doesn't work on any level, and I'd much rather have nobody wielding the lever of power; especially these knuckleheads. 

Ernie says "the difference between a libertarian and an anarchist is about 5 years if you're paying attention."

If you're reticent to do a show with me, that's fine.  When I said I hosted on RBN, I meant that I fill in for Ernie about half the time on his morning show.  I'm doing both of Ernie's shows today, so listen in if you feel like it and feel free to contact me if you change your mind.  

Comment by Brock
Entered on:

Holy Mother Market, protect us now from the false choice and false analogy.  Lead us not to accept the statist say-so, but require us to reason without contradiction.

In your name we pray, Agora!

Comment by Dave Hodges
Entered on:

Piss away Jet, because the more that you write the more you expose your anarchist learnings. 

No military? No roads? No police? No fire protection? No prisons? No court system? No Constitution, eh Jet?  In tthe final stages of communism, didn't Marx call for the dissolution of all government? Sounds like your taking a page out of Karl's playbook! Check the enumerated powers, Jet, the limited use of these powers are all constitutional. Are you against the Constitution, Jet?  So was Bush 43 and so is Obama. You might want to be careful about what line that you stand in.

Are you right to be concerned about how these federal agencies have been misued?  Of course, but your "throw the baby out with the bath water" solution is insane. Limited government serves a legitimate purpose.  I agree with Dr. Paul, Congress and the other branches need to follow the Constitution. That means the Fed needs to be abolished along with the income tax as well as the direct election of Senators (re 9th and 10th amendments to the Constitution).

According to what you write here, you must be opposed to Ron Paul and his notions of limited government. If it wasn't for our military, you would not have the freedom to write your anarchist tirades because some Nazi,communist, etc., would not let you.  One more time, for the hearing impaired, the piece I wrote was not an indictment of porn, it is an attack upon fascism and far our fascist legislature and how far they are willing to go to gain political allies.   If you read my three part series on Fraud Waste and Abuse by Arizona state government, you would see that I strongly chastized all government handouts. That is my literal and direct comment. In my junior english class, I learned a lot about symbolism, metaphor and other writing tools. Most of these were present in my latest article. I think you might have been absent on that day from school because you and your junior partner failed to grasp the significance of the article. Namely, the real porn stars in this state are our legislators because they will stop at nothing when it comes to self-promotion. 

Profane rants? Oh yeah, you crossed the line in a big way. Some of your comments border on being vile. And when you drop f bombs on someone who has closed ranks with you in opposition to our government's marxist policies, you need to take a second look at your level of professionalism. I have taken hits from you before and did not respond because your critiques represented a valid point of view which differed from mine. However, this time, you totally misrepresented and twisted many of my positions, coupled with the veracity  and the very personal nature of your attack, I felt compelled to respond. 

A debate with you on the air.  My first fear in letting you on my show, is that RBN has a prohibition against the kind of language that you used in your response to my article. My second fear is that my audience might be listening to a lot of slient air caused by the seven second delays needed to delete your language and inuendos. Of course, bursts of silent air might be preferrable to the anarchist hot air that we would be forced to listen to :).  Finally, I had no idea that you were an RBN talk show host (I'm proud to be one). I knew Ernie was one, and a good one too. I did not know that you were. My last fear is that I do not know what you and I would talk about. You would say "I'm against all government and governmental services, including the invocation of self-defense by the military." And I would say that I am closest to Ron Paul and Thomas Jefferson's ideals of limited government and I make no apologies for this viewpoint.  Do you like the Suns and Cardinals? Because when we completed our 30 second debate, we would have to have something else to talk about. Ernie has my number, feel free to give me a call. But please Batman, leave your Robin at home.  Happy holidays.

Comment by Jet Lacey
Entered on:

Mr. Hodges,

While I certainly don’t wish to engage in some pissing contest, (not that I’m above it on occasion) I must stand firm in my statements, especially my statement about those with self-described “Libertarian leanings.” In my view, either you’re for the protection of everyone’s individual liberty or you aren’t.  I must also question your definition of what a “profane rant” entails. 

However, as a fellow RBN host, I would like to invite you to discuss this issue point/counterpoint style on the air, perhaps under the topic of “Limited government vs. Anarchy.” I think might be fun.

You see, I really, really, really don’t care who sticks what into whom, who films it, or if the stickers, stickees, or cinematographer tries to earn money from said acts. Again, I simply don’t want the government involved; period.  Furthermore, I’m no one’s parrot; including Ron Paul.   

In response to your question, no, I don’t think we need government for postal service (see Lysander Spooner) or for road construction, nor do we need an agency for every combination of letters in the Latin alphabet like the Departments of Homeland Security, Education, Energy, Agriculture, and so on.  As far as the necessity of a military, the jury of my mind is still out on that issue but at this point I’m leaning heavily against it.  If you were looking for a single word to describe me, I guess you could use recalcitrant.

Another thing, you speak as though I have disagreed with everything you’ve ever written because I disagreed with your reasoning on this opinion piece.  What I object to is the back-door attack on the porn industry (What, you’re not for a free market?), and how you have obtusely tied in OSHA, penitent hookers, and a wacko family organization into an article about the tyranny of big government.    

Did you take a look at the products listed on the very front page of the Family Safe Media’s website? Hello, New World Order!  It would appear that they include these statistics solely in order to sell their products to frightened parents via the classic problem-reaction-solution stratagem. 

What ever happened to taking the time to do your best to teach your children right from wrong, creating open lines of communication with them, and then trusting in them to make their own way in the world?  I absolutely LOATHE it when people use the excuse that “it’s for the children.”  Typically, it’s used as an excuse by those who wish to promote their own personal “I know what’s better for you than you do” tyrannical crusade.   

Peace,

Jet  

 
Comment by Dave Hodges
Entered on:

 Mr. Lacey

I appreciate your many fine deeds that you have engaged in on behalf of your community. However, I have to wonder what you were drinking when you missed the point of the title of the article "The unintended consequences of fascism"  I stated very clearly, that I do not believe that closed door behavior needs to be, or should be  regulated by the government.  You must have taken a long swig while skipping over that sentence. Plus, if you have read my articles, you would have seen I consistently oppose the taxpayer handouts to ANY private enterprise and I have repeatedly labled the practice as FASCISM!

Your junior partner seems to equate libertarianism with anarchy and even equates education with fascism (this explains a lot in his inane ramblings).

I believe in limited government which is made to follow the limitations as set forth in the Constitution. Funny, I thought Ron Paul believed the same thing. I do not believe in anarchy and I certainly do not believe that my tax money should support the porn industry, sports stadiums or parking garages at major shopping malls. You must have missed my articles on these topics as well.

 For God's sake, do we not need a military (for defense, not wars of occupation), a post office, construction of roads, etc? Or do you and your junior partner control a nuclear device, own FEDEX, and have a grader parked in your driveway?

Our government is disgraceful, it is marxist and it is certainly immoral. However, the answer to these abuses  is not to eliminate any form of government unless of course, you really favor the ideal that might makes right and the law of the jungle should be the only one that libertarians adhere to.

Before you profess to read my mind, I would ask that you please read the entire article before writing another profane rant.

One question for you, are you for limited government or anarchy? Your junior partner does not seem to know the difference, I suspect that you do and you should have known better before your wrote what you did.

Comment by Freed Radical
Entered on:

I hate the "libertarian leaning" bullshit too, Jet. This is just a cloak for statists to wear as they try to justify the state's violence against those of us who want to be free. We already know Mr. Hodges has no problem with the state using violence against us to pay government schoolteachers' salaries. Apparently, porn actors don't deserve the same type of subsidy, although I dare say they do far less harm to the minds of children than the "teachers" in the statist indoctrination camps. I know I was not harmed by reading Playboy and Penthouse as a boy (in fact I read about many things my parents weren't willing to discuss that were useful to know when I was old enough to play with girls), while I was most certainly harmed greatly by the lies taught to me in the government indoctrination camp. I've spent the past 30 years unlearning the statist propaganda about the glorious state and its glorious wars fed to me by so-called "teachers."

And I completely agree with you regarding the OSHA thing. There should be no OSHA in existence in the first place! Citing OSHA as a reason for regulating the porn industry is about as dumb as citing UN resolutions as an excuse to start a war. Neither has any ethical/moral basis for existence. You are also spot on regarding the "age of consent" nonsense. It's just like the Drug War in that it creates an arbitrary standard and puts people in jail for consensual acts that were commonplace 100 years ago. People routinely got married (and had sex presumably) between the ages of 13-18 when they reached sexual maturity. (They also used cough syrup with opiates.) Though I am an atheist, it seems to me that this would be God's/Nature's plan. Sex is certainly a normal part of human existence, despite the religious right's whining about "sin." Dave--the last thing Arizona needs is to become more like Commiefornia. Maybe we should embrace higher taxes, more regulation and less freedom so that you teachers can scam the taxpayers Commiefornia style. Maybe Osama can tell the Fed to print up some more money to throw at bankrupt states like CA and AZ. Then we can afford to subsidize teachers and the porn industry. (sarcasm off) Eric New
Comment by Jet Lacey
Entered on:

I appreciate and enjoy many of your articles, but this one?  Not so much. 

For one, the most important issue is almost entirely missed.  The bottom line from a libertarian standpoint is that it just doesn't matter and it’s nobody’s business what they’re filming per se (as long as their filming doesn’t initiate force or fraud), what ultimately matters is that the government is funding private business with the taxpayers’ money.

Furthermore, all the talk about rubbers, Chlamydia, and herpes (the gift that keeps on giving) is neocon, Christian-right, fear-mongering, column-filling, jibber-jabber. 

C’mon, did you have to quote OSHA guidelines…twice? 

“The porn industry is replete with horrific statistics which demonstrates its threat, not only to the performers, but to our youngest citizens as well.  The largest consumers of internet pornography are 35-49 year olds. Yet, children, 7-17, who would give out their emails and addresses online, are 29%. Sixty percent of Children, 8-16, have hard core online sexual experiences.”

 

Seriously?  Really? When you really think about it, what is the age of consent anyway?  Isn’t it an arbitrary number created to wield the lever of power?

 

“However, when our tax money is up for grabs to these flesh peddlers, then it becomes the business of all the people.” 

 

The statement is true without it, but with “flesh peddlers” added, it is reduced to trifling nonsense. 

 

Mr. Hodges, you can keep your arbitrary “Big Brother Nanny-state” but I want no part of it; on any level.  I believe I can take care of myself, thank you very much. 

 

One last thing:  I absolutely loathe it when people say they have “Libertarian leanings.”  I don’t know where it came from, but there’s this prevailing misperception about libertarianism that people think they can suckle on the sweet milk of liberty flowing from its teat whenever it suits them. 

 

For fuck’s sake, Camille Paglia says she has “libertarian leanings.”  

 

Remember, government = force.

 

And either you’re for individual liberty or you aren’t……which is it? 

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