Surrendering to the State the power to kill its citizens in cold blood, or politicians and bureaucrats seizing control of wombs, may be the most egregious examples of rabid, creeping statism, but those who are hellbent upon ceding our freedoms to Big Mother are intent upon pervasive State control. Currently, a large majority of countries have either abolished or discontinued the primitive practice of capital punishment, but pariah nations - China, Iran, North Korea, Yemen and United States - persist in snuffing out the lives of the poor who are convicted of capital offenses. The State - whose power over life and death is absolute - is infallible! States goose-stepping toward totalitarianism dictate to local communities in public health matters, suppress the free speech of free market entities and educators, ban books, and strive to give absolute authority over personal, private matters such as reproduction to impersonal, faceless state lackeys. Typically, democratic elections are not respected by autocratic despots, of course. The autocratic metastasis spreads, but is encountering resistance, both patriotic and practical: Texas stumbles in its effort to punish green financial firms FASCISM: a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society and the economy, typically facilitated by a cult of personality.
