Dear Kim Q&A Column ArchiveDecember 2004
When Major Donors Start with the -isms
Dear Kim,
I am 23 years old and just got a job in a social justice organization as
a development associate. I have a portfolio of donors that I am in
charge of, and I have a meeting with one of them soon. He has given
$1,000 for three years and I want to ask him for $1,500. When I called
to set up the meeting, he asked me what our organization was doing to
address the rising fascism of our country. I know what fascism is in
theory, but you can give me any specific ideas that I could incorporate
into what I say to help answer his question? I am not that nervous
about asking, but I do want to sound intelligent.
— Wanting a Winning Portfolio
Dear Wanting,
The first rule of any encounter where you want to appear knowledgeable
in answer to a question is to ask the questioner what they think about
the issue. In this case, you might say to the donor, "How do you see
fascism on the rise?" and "What is the most important thing we can do
about it in our organization?" To answer your question more
specifically, I would suggest looking at the work of Laurence Britt who
researched a number of fascist regimes looking for commonalities.
Besides the obvious Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, he studied Spain
under Franco, Chile under Pinochet, Portugal under Salazar, and so on.
A summary of his work has recently been published on a number of
postcards and even t-shirts. (I have seen them in the Syracuse Cultural
Workers catalog, among other places.) Some specific signs that Britt
describes as the early warning signs of fascism are:
--Powerful and continuing nationalism
--Rampant sexism
--Corporate power is protected
--Labor power is suppressed
--Obsession with crime and punishment
--Controlled mass media
--Obsession with national security
--Religion and government are intertwined.
Good luck with your donor and with your work.
— Kim
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