Today, if you like examples of early fascist aesthetics, simply go to the latest Hollywood blockbuster, turn on MTV, or go to a Heavy Metal concert. Contemporary mass politics is very different from the democratic ideals of Madison and Jefferson. Instead of rational analysis of issues and reasoned debate, our political discourse turns on image manipulation through the mass media. The electronic media has created a genuine mass culture. This was Goebbels's dream.
Moral issues are today almost impossible to discuss in objective terms.
Euthanasia is back. People clamor for their right to die. One out of four pregnancies ends in abortion, amounting to millions and millions. In discussing such issues, it becomes evident that perhaps the majority of people today have no concept of an objective morality that transcends the individual and the culture. Morality is reduced to social utility or the assertion of the will.