Action Kit

fascism — Not a synonym for Nazism, although similar; political ideology, often authoritarian, concentrated on the needs of the state rather than individual citizens; exact terms of fascism differ worldwide; started in Italy with Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, who coined the term (but in Italian, of course).

federalist — Back in the days of wooden teeth, the Federalists were supporters of ratifying the Constitution; modernly, it's done a complete turnaround and usually represents the idea of weakening the national government in favor of strong states.

FBI — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is more or less the top dog of law enforcement in the U.S.; they investigate federal crime and quite possibly alien activity; the truth may or may not be out there. (The FBI's official Web site)

FCC — The Federal Communications Commission is another arm of national government regulation; created by Congress, the FCC creates rules that control what is broadcast over the public airwaves (i.e. radio, network TV, wire communication); not following the rules on what you can and cannot show or say leads to fines or revoked licenses; there is debate over what is 'decent' for public airwaves; the FCC does not regulate satellite radio or TV, cable TV, or the Internet - yet. (The FCC's official Web site)

Federal Reserve — Also called The Fed sometimes just to confuse you by overusing the word fed; one of the most complicated parts of government regulation, the Federal Reserve System is the central banking system for the country; most often, you hear that it is changing interest rates - this is done in a complex, indirect way, of course - but the effect is that higher interest rates make money less valuable and prices higher while low interest rates make money go further and can help development; however, too much of either one is bad news. (The Federal Reserve's official Web site)

feminism — Feminism is huge; there are many different ideals incorporated into this -ism at large and many feminists don't even agree with each other; in general, it focuses on equal rights socially and economically for women; and no, they aren't all bra-burning lesbians (many men consider themselves to be feminists); see NOW.

free enterprise — Nothing more than a synonym for capitalism that politicians often use to slip the word 'free' into whatever they are talking about.

free speech — Direct from the First Amendment: 'Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech'; the general idea was that the founders got a lot of heat for trash talking England and wanted to protect the possibility that citizens would need or want to trash talk the new government; there has never been a distinct line drawn to indicate what speech is protected, but that would be nearly impossible; some people have argued that all speech (as well as other forms of expression) should be protected regardless of its affect, but that is not true in practice; luckily, free speech does extend to discussing how to define free speech. (Text of the Bill of Rights)