American is a fascist nation

Evidently, DDO has decided we're skipping round 2. "Take freedom of speech for example, and freedom of thought. Sure, people have freedom of speech, but any views they might have are HEAVILY influenced by the government." Actually, on quite the contrary, the government's views are heavily influenced by the people. A few years back, the U.S government made an attempt to limit piracy online through a couple bills called S.O.P.A and P.I.P.A. Through pure outrage and backlash against the two bills, both were failed in their respective legislative chambers. The U.S government is elected by the people meaning they represent our viewpoints. We elect them because a majority of the people feel that that specific person is a great representative of the general mindset of the country. " Look at the media! Your average news network is owned by some corporate giant. And in America, the government and corporations are VERY intertwined. The government can control and manipulate the public, but through the media." Again, this is simply not true. While yes, there is a huge area in which corporations and government are intertwined, the government is not the one controlling the corporations. If we really wish to look at it from the outside, it's the corporations that are controlling the government through campaign funds and Super-PACs. But that, my friend, is a debate for a different time. " They can pit different groups of people against each other, which makes it that more easy to step in and take control. This is a lot more insidious than traditional fascism. I consider it neo-fascism. This is an indirect form of mind control! And the saddest part, most Americans are convinced that they are "free." This in particular is reminiscent of fascism (a brainwashed public)." This is potentially the most baseless assertion, considering my previous arguments. If we step back and look from the view that I presented above, there is no mind control or brainwashing going on. Corporations control the government and the government represents our views. They aren't controlling our minds nor washing our brains if they are us. We are one. We are all. Our government represents us and we represent our government. It is a mutual representation. 1.) NATIONALISM. Yes, we are incredibly nationalistic and we love to brag about our freedom here in America. Of course our national flag would be hung around the country. This is no different than any other country with a sense of nationalism. Granted, I can't speak for other schools as I do not attend them, but in my school, saying the Pledge of Allegiance is a very optional thing. In fact, many students choose not to stand for "The Pledge" at the beginning of the day. 2.) HUMAN RIGHTS. To touch upon your examples of privacy violations through NSA spying and other such things, I must make a note the note that, upon being revealed to the general public, the government put itself back in line and listened to us once again as we told them to knock it off. 3.) SCAPEGOATS. I will gladly concede to this and point to history to show that scapegoating has forever existed. Look to one of the most famous historical conflicts between Great Britain and France. Over hundreds of years, these two countries consistently fought and one country always scapegoated the other. Nazi Germany scapegoated Jewish people as the root of their problems. The people of the Soviet Union originally scapegoated their government before the Communist Revolution took its foothold. Heck, hundreds of children scapegoat their dog for eating their homework. The fact of the matter is, scapegoating does not automatically mean you are a fascist. I look forward to the rest of your "criteria."