#fascist theocracy

[spotlightstory]

Crossfire 1986 Frank Zappa defines 'Fascist Theocracy'

Frank Zappa: The biggest threat to America is not Communism. It's moving America toward a Fascist Theocracy and everything that happened in the Reagan administration is steering us right down that pipe."

Panel goes bonkers: "You can't really believe this! Give us an example!"

Frank Zappa: "When you have a government that prefers a moral code derived from a certain religion and that moral code turns into legislation to suit one religious point of view. And if that code happens to be very very right wing...." [he's interrupted]

John Lofton: "Every form of civil government is based on some kind of morality, Frank!"

Frank Zappa: "Morality in terms of behavior; not in terms of theology."

[arlengrossman]

Frank Zappa on Fascist Theocracy

[thatweirdtranny]

there’s a very insidious form of racism in the western left when people act like fascists in nonwhite or nonwestern countries shouldn’t be held to the same standard y’all hold fascists in the US and europe

fascist theocratic regime supporters are just as bad in the middle east or elsewhere as they are in the west and you not wanting to call that shit out is just that type of racism where you think nonwhite people can do no wrong, it’s infantilizing and gross

[hezigler]

Watch "Frank Zappa defines Fascist Theocracy in 1987 on Crossfire" on YouTube

Thirty-five years later, we're nearer to a Christian theocracy.

[bypatia]

The bjp government introduced the ucc bill in Uttarakhand which has made it mandatory for live in couples to register with the government and a copy of the registration will be sent to respective families. It also added the father as a first class legal heir for inheritance of property, encroaching upon the the right of the mother, wife, daughter (the actual victims of patriarchy, who most likely did not have any social right to gain access to financial independence or inheritance from other family members) to accommodate the father, who more than likely than not already has financial freedom and ownership rights over land property. Moving on, they removed the Muslim personal law, which guaranteed the rights of the daughter in a fixed inheritance percentage. Not to mention the whole act is modelled after hindu personal laws and demanding other religions to bend according to it is inherently regressive no matter how progressive the law on paper looks to be. So should I just bang my head against the wall right now and be done with it or watch as the bjp government slowly sets fire to all our lives?

[republicansexscandals]

What does he have to say about a billionaire that cheated on his pregnant wife with a porn actress he paid for sex?

[touchlikethesun]

america is literally a failed experiment. how many people are going to have to pay with their lives before something gives?

[elbiotipo]

Heyo! You made a post about the insane impracticality of super soldiers and super soldier programs and as a certified lover of the trope (or I guess, as it exists in my head) I could not agree more. I think the only way a supersoldier program makes sense is specifically a eugenicist vanity project for powerful Evil Empire type factions, where its specifically framed as insane waste of time and money but pursued anyway for Ideological Reasons. The Space Marines, as you mentioned, could be a great example of The Emperor fucking around on another one of his grand science experiments rather than doing anything actually useful and a massive drain on imperial resources to keep functioning despite limited to no practical purpose. But, you know, we could go on all day about what Games Workshop could do to make Warhammer into an actual satire/subversion of fascism instead of just continuing to produce one of the most nakedly fascist franchise ever, but then we'd be here all day lmao. Anyway keep up the Good Posting! As a writer and fellow worldbuilding enthusiast you are a joy to follow!

Aw thank you, that's so nice to hear, seriously!!!

And I'm glad you liked my rant, I plan to expand on it. To me what's interesting is that on a tactical level (in real life, I'll get to that) you have little need actually for super soldiers, because the trope of a ultra-fortified position you need to assault with though armored soldiers is pretty much a fantasy. Even sieging a castle with knights (which I believe are the origin of the trope) was very different from that, and it's especially different today where fortifications are worn down with artillery and airpower. Not only that, but guerrillas have proven once, and again, and again, and again, and AGAIN, to be incredibly effective against expensively trained and equipped soldiers, even when facing overwhelming firepower.

Now of course WH40k isn't real life at all, for some reason space and air power isn't an option and you have giant evil demons which can justify the need for Space Marines (which are again, basically the armored knight trope with all that implies). And you have to sell figurines of course. I could understand then Space Marines as an elite force that fights against those threats, and maybe a mass-production program since those threats also are army-sized. But even then, for me, wars are won by logistics and geopolitics (astropolitics?) not tactics. Even when assuming something ridiculous as a company of space marines conquering an entire world of billions of people because they're so super (pretty sure the lore is full of that), let's say that your ultra-badass Astartes clear up the world from whatever demonic threat was there. Who stays behind to deal with the guerrillas, to put on efficient governance, to rebuild the aftermath of a battle. The Imperium's answer seems to be 'barely nobody' and that does explain some things. Nerdy nitpicking? Of course, but still worth pointing out.

It would be interesting to indeed recontextualize the Space Marines as a vanity project of the Emperor, as a kind of demi-gods the rest of humanity would swear feudal loyalty to (very fitting to WH40k modern and troubling aesthetic) while he neglected actual governance and logistics that would have allowed him to build a proper government. Because relying on a handful of super-dudes that CAN and ARE killed isn't enough. In fact, that might be one of the reasons why the Imperium is such a failure. But to say something like that it means implying Space Marines (the enforcers of a fascist theocracy) aren't as badass and heroic, and Games Workshop, as you said, has already moved on to portray the Imperium as 'the good guys' almost unironically.

[roach-works]

"It's possible to have a nuanced discussion of Israeli politics." Great, let's have one of those. Every article and thinkpiece: "Israel is uniquely the Worst Country Ever and the Jews deserve to be dead."

if you haven't bothered to actually read the stuff i reblogged or commented on you can just unfollow me, since you're not listening anyway

[admiral-arelami]

The Bonfire of the Thrawnities

When Thrawn critics go all medieval on your ass.

[brutermonger]

...🍺

[lenbryant]

Oh, well then, THAT’S not scary at all. Jeez! 😱