4 ms·

It’s not even a government service. It’s a private business they have entrusted with authentication for the government.

by isiahl 2mo ago

varispeed 2mo ago
textbook fascism (marriage of corporations and government).
- rho138 2mo ago
  [flagged]
  - gjsman-1000 2mo ago
    No system has ever provably worked; otherwise we wouldn’t have had revolutions.
    - DANmode 2mo ago
      and?
    - forestrywat 2mo ago
      That's a different bar. Probably doesn't work is much easier to meet, and narrower. The person didn't ask for provably works. They are probably comfortable with "might work might not, but at least it's not provably wrong".
  - brookst 2mo ago
    Nah, I’m downvoting for the ludicrous claim that government paying a private company to provide a service is necessarily fascism.
- eesmith 2mo ago
  I believe you are referring to the misquote described by McKay as 'Benito Mussolini created the word "fascism." He defined it as "the merging of the state and the corporation."'? I'll now quote from https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fascism-corporations-corporatism-dictionary/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fascism-corporations-corpo... , which thoroughly rejects that interpretation: "In other words, corporatism in Mussolini's fascism was not a free-market capitalist system. Far from it. It did not allow for the kind of competition, innovation, market entry, and research and development characteristic of modern capitalism, and it was closely ruled in every way by the state with Mussolini at its head. Anything that draws a direct link between what are now referred to as corporations (large, powerful private companies operating in a modern free-market capitalist system) and Mussolini's corporatism, is founded on a misunderstanding — most likely caused by the similarity between the words."
  - ChrisMarshallNY 2mo ago
    Thanks for that. That quote was not something I ever lost sleep over, but it also never seemed correct.
  - varispeed 2mo ago
    > It did not allow for the kind of competition, innovation, market entry, and research and development characteristic of modern capitalism, and it was closely ruled in every way by the state with Mussolini at its head That is precisely what is happening with Western economies. Big multinational corporations dominate procurement and dictate regulation to limit competition, create barriers to enter the market and research and development out of reach for SMEs. As in marriage of corporations and the state.
    - eesmith 2mo ago
      But that is still not "corporatism" ("corporativismo" in Italian), as used in Mussolini's fascism. From the Snopes page: > In his Dictionary of Political Thought, Roger Scruton describes corporatism in this way: > The economy was divided into associations (called 'syndicates') of workers, employers and the professions; only one syndicate was allowed in each branch of industry, and all officials were either fascist politicians or else loyal to the fascist cause. According to law the syndicates were autonomous, but in fact they were run by the state. The 'corporations' united the syndicates in a given industry, but made no pretence at autonomy from the state. That is nothing at all like what is happening with Western economies, so it is not "corporatism", so it is not "textbook fascism". You can read the various definitions of fascism at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitions_of_fascism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitions_of_fascism and verify that none align with 'marriage of corporations and government'. FWIW, surely the Dutch East Indies company was a marriage of corporation and government, yes?
- notnmeyer 2mo ago
  doesn’t id.me predate trump? i could totally be wrong about that, but it’s not new.
  - greyface- 2mo ago
    Trump didn't invent fascism.
    - notnmeyer 2mo ago
      i understand that, but i also didn’t feel facism taking hold before trump. probably a bad lumping of things, but my experience with id.me has been largely positive.
      - KetoManx64 2mo ago
        Fascism only exists if you feel it yourself and not if other people get ground down by it?
- snootypoot 2mo ago
  [dead]

It’s not even a government service. It’s a private business they have entrusted with authentication for the government.

by isiahl 2mo ago

It’s not even a government service. It’s a private business they have entrusted with authentication for the government.

varispeed 2mo ago

textbook fascism (marriage of corporations and government).

rho138 2mo ago
[flagged]
- gjsman-1000 2mo ago
  No system has ever provably worked; otherwise we wouldn’t have had revolutions.
  - DANmode 2mo ago
    and?
  - forestrywat 2mo ago
    That's a different bar. Probably doesn't work is much easier to meet, and narrower. The person didn't ask for provably works. They are probably comfortable with "might work might not, but at least it's not provably wrong".
- brookst 2mo ago
  Nah, I’m downvoting for the ludicrous claim that government paying a private company to provide a service is necessarily fascism.
eesmith 2mo ago
I believe you are referring to the misquote described by McKay as 'Benito Mussolini created the word "fascism." He defined it as "the merging of the state and the corporation."'? I'll now quote from https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fascism-corporations-corporatism-dictionary/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fascism-corporations-corpo... , which thoroughly rejects that interpretation: "In other words, corporatism in Mussolini's fascism was not a free-market capitalist system. Far from it. It did not allow for the kind of competition, innovation, market entry, and research and development characteristic of modern capitalism, and it was closely ruled in every way by the state with Mussolini at its head. Anything that draws a direct link between what are now referred to as corporations (large, powerful private companies operating in a modern free-market capitalist system) and Mussolini's corporatism, is founded on a misunderstanding — most likely caused by the similarity between the words."
- ChrisMarshallNY 2mo ago
  Thanks for that. That quote was not something I ever lost sleep over, but it also never seemed correct.
- varispeed 2mo ago
  > It did not allow for the kind of competition, innovation, market entry, and research and development characteristic of modern capitalism, and it was closely ruled in every way by the state with Mussolini at its head That is precisely what is happening with Western economies. Big multinational corporations dominate procurement and dictate regulation to limit competition, create barriers to enter the market and research and development out of reach for SMEs. As in marriage of corporations and the state.
  - eesmith 2mo ago
    But that is still not "corporatism" ("corporativismo" in Italian), as used in Mussolini's fascism. From the Snopes page: > In his Dictionary of Political Thought, Roger Scruton describes corporatism in this way: > The economy was divided into associations (called 'syndicates') of workers, employers and the professions; only one syndicate was allowed in each branch of industry, and all officials were either fascist politicians or else loyal to the fascist cause. According to law the syndicates were autonomous, but in fact they were run by the state. The 'corporations' united the syndicates in a given industry, but made no pretence at autonomy from the state. That is nothing at all like what is happening with Western economies, so it is not "corporatism", so it is not "textbook fascism". You can read the various definitions of fascism at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitions_of_fascism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitions_of_fascism and verify that none align with 'marriage of corporations and government'. FWIW, surely the Dutch East Indies company was a marriage of corporation and government, yes?
notnmeyer 2mo ago
doesn’t id.me predate trump? i could totally be wrong about that, but it’s not new.
- greyface- 2mo ago
  Trump didn't invent fascism.
  - notnmeyer 2mo ago
    i understand that, but i also didn’t feel facism taking hold before trump. probably a bad lumping of things, but my experience with id.me has been largely positive.
    - KetoManx64 2mo ago
      Fascism only exists if you feel it yourself and not if other people get ground down by it?
snootypoot 2mo ago
[dead]