We need to call the current system of corporate/USG collusion what it is--Fascism. I agree getting caught up in definitional arguments is a waste of time, but it is necessary to call things by their proper names and Megascandal is correct, "The merger of state and corporate power under ideology and party is fascism." The ideology is neo-Marxism and for the time being the Fascist party in the US is the Democratic Party. Confusing the matter further is the fact that for at least 60 years here in the US "Fascist" has been the go-to epithet used by the left against the right, so much so that most people believe Fascism is a "right-wing" ideology.

Orwell's point is that "Fascism" had been a term used so promiscuously it came to refer to any political ideology one dislikes. This is still true and unfortunately this confusion makes people more comfortable with our current form of Fascism. The Citizens United SC decision cleared the field for American Fascism, and when you look at the relationship between corporate lobbyists and our "representatives" it's apparent that our republican democracy is bought and sold by corporations. In fact, Eisenhower's "military-industrial complex" is a synonym for "Fascism."