Dark Vision

By David Cogswell

Note to a Friend

Oct. 24, 2001

Sorry if the exposure to my rather dark political views is unsettling. Oddly enough, I'm not that depressed about it myself. I've come to a place of acceptance of it to some degree, though I've certainly had a lot of anxiety and anguish over it at times. It doesn't make me feel any better to try to embrace a sort of white-picket-fence image of America as per "The Donna Reed Show." It is what it is. I believe we are in a fascist state. The Germans also thought they were living in a free country, a great country. If you trace the fall of the Weimar Republic, the corruption of the political system by money, the suppression of the unions, the concentration of wealth, the sell-out of government to big business, the systematic suppression of certain ethnic groups within the population, the building of a military machine that fueled big industry, the use of electronic media for propaganda -- I could go on and on -- the parallels are quite disturbing. I'm not trying to spread bad feeling, but on the other hand I don't think it is very positive to pretend we are living in a gloriously democratic country.

There are obviously many differences as there always are with historical parallels. Bush is no Hitler, he's the ex-cheerleader fratboy party animal that is the front man for the regime. That's about it. Personally he is of little consequence. On the other hand, I don't see a Winston Churchill on the horizon to wake up the world. America has a culture of freedom and democracy, human rights, justice, tolerance of diversity, free enterprise, freedom of expression, etc., which will not die easily. But there are forces working very hard to roll that back and establish a political hierarchy that mirrors the economic hierarchy that is well-established and digging in deeper with every tax cut for the rich and every corporate heist of the treasury. My hope is with the spirit of freedom in the people and the culture of the American Revolution. It's a cultural war now. So we, the intellectuals and the media people, can play a part in helping to strengthen that culture. I think it's good to be aware of what we are up against, however. The enemy of American freedom is not in Afghanistan, at least not the primary enemy.