Like I said, I'm starting to come to the conclusion that perhaps fascism has less to do with politics or economics than we think. Perhaps Robert's insights into these matters has helped guide my thinking. 8) Fascism is a psychological dysfunction in a diseased individual that can spread as a form of mass hysteria throughout an entire society. And I believe some demagogues are able to deliberately manipulate it for that very purpose.

Severe sexual restriction, or puritanism, can often manifest or channel itself as social hatred and political aggression. Orwell pointed this out; no one feels like hating anybody right after they've just gotten laid. Its why the Party deliberately suppressed sexual desire, and why in 1984, Smith's affair with Julia was so dangerous. And it has been noted that societies that are peculiarly violent and tyrannical are often associated with restrictive sexual policies. The Communists were terrible prudes, and so were the Nazis, although they were quite ready to suspend their morality to breed more cannon fodder. You get teenagers whose hormones are raging, deny them what they want, and you can replace it with religious fanaticism, extreme nationalism, world conquest, genocide, 72 virgins, racial or religious bigotry, suicide bombing, kamikaze aviation, etc.

And who can deny high school sports and varsity athletic competition are but a thinly disguised substitute for, and diversion from, sex. Even during my high school days, I knew exactly how they were messing with my head; cheerleaders, majorettes, pep rallies, it kept our mind off what our mind was really on. It helped control and pacify the student bodies... In spite of that, and all the Fundamentalist Protestant religious anti-sex propaganda and efforts to conceal it, the out-of-wedlock pregnancy rate in my rural, Anglo high school was through the roof, much higher than in the more Latin, Catholic school scene in urban Tampa. Sure, I'm over-simplifying some complex social issues here, but you can sense the trends under the surface. I did back then, long before I was politically aware. I was hip to what was going on.

I remember my family was shocked and outraged by majorettes and dancerettes (yes, there was a definite class distinction there) in high school band parades, the skimpy costumes, the provocative gestures, the blatantly sexual and erotically charged aspect of the spectacle. And it certainly wasn't because Cubans are prudes (have you ever seen Latins dancing?). But a dance is a controlled and chaperoned public arena where symbolic courting is allowed, even encouraged. Putting a young girl in a T&A-enhancing sequin-covered bathing suit and cowboy boots deftly manipulating a phallic baton as part of a sporting event was scandalous! From the point of view of a contrasting culture, some behaviors may appear very different.

As for me, I wasn't upset by the majorettes lewd prancing and saucy bumps and grinds at all. I really got off on the parades! This is what was under those long dresses in class! But I cared very little for the sports and "school spirit" they supposedly embodied. I knew better.

You don't need to show direct causality to demonstrate correlation and connection.