Simple. It's because most of those who rule us were, and continue to be, fellow travelers to socialism.
The Soviets survived as long as they did because of "information", confiscation, and the fear instilled in the sheeple by the sight of frequent SWAT-equivalent violence against innocent civilians.
In his wildest dreams, Dzerzhinsky might not have imagined the current control of the serfs that is imposed by today's technology.
The main difference between fascism and communism is the location of "title of ownership" for industry/economy. Control of production, one way or another, is in government hands. Everything else, for these two forms of socialism, are more or less the same.
So, what we have here in the U.S. is a growing fascist form of socialism. This time around, the tyranny will last, as predicted in 1964, for at least a thousand years...not just 70 or 10.
Within a few years, when a few more of the sheeple wake up to the real terrorist threat, it will be too late.
WW1 (e.g. emergency war powers acts) and WW2 (e.g. payroll deduction of taxes) were used by those in power to impose "temporary" unConstitutional rules and regulations on the Nation or to simply throw out/sidestep "temporarily" Constitutional guarantees, all in the name of some "external threat". None of these "temporary" abrogations of the former Constitution were ever undone!
What can be done? Nothing. This past election was the last and only chance to restore the Republic and the freedom and liberty it used to protect.
For a while, it seemed, with perceived Constitutionalists like Ashcroft in place, that something might be done. It was similar to the hopes held when the Republcans re-gained control of congress.
However, we were rewarded, for 1994, at the hands of the Republocrats, with the greatest loss of Constitutional guarantees in our history. Now, once again, we see that it isn't known enemies (demoncruds) that we really have to fear. It is those we assume are our friends/allies.
This administration is on the verge of finalizing Ronald Reagan's prophecy.
Many of the Nazi's initiatives seem absolutely progressive today:
Environmental protection regulations.
Family leave for new parents.
Occupational health & safety regulations.
Full employment as an economic goal.
Massive public works projects.
Breast cancer self-examination awareness programs.
Anti-drinking & anti-smoking campaigns aimed at youth.
Preferential treatment for oppressed ethnic groups.
I'm not quite that pessimistic. I think you might be overestimated the power and competence of the government (or whoever's really running things). Remember, all of their plans have holes in them, and the more complex the technology the more often it malfunctions. "They" may want to impose a global fascist new world order, but I don't see it succeeding. For every totalitarian measure, there's a countermeasure. For example, a highly centralized computer network is vulnerable to hackers. The future may be chaotic, but I can't see how a fascist plan is going to impose itself on everybody. The centralized media gives you the illusion that there's a consensus, but this is extremely misleading. All it takes is a minority of resisters, combined with the facts of government corruption and incompetence to ensure the failure of any grand scheme.