Good reading; even though I mostly disagree with the author...

books:


	• Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning Jonah Goldberg Doubleday, 2008 - 496 pages average customer review:based on 289 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The Little Hitler In Me

The title alone makes the book, which catches an impulse in the contemporary liberal spirit which is often ignored. Liberalism has always meant something opposite to fascism, but as liberalism has hardened it has indeed taken on some of the temptations of the totalitarians of the 20th century. I have known many liberals who talk about killing their enemies. There is a strong puritanical streak in many liberal causes, curiously fought most strongly by Californians where cult enthusiasm often develops into fascism. All the famous cults have had this tendency. Liberalism has become a kind of cult. One often feels that the punishment for disagreeing with a liberal is exclusion and shunning. Liberals introduced the idea of laughing at all opponents. In my lifetime all Republicans have been dismissed as stupid which is the ultimate catch phrase used by liberals. Knocking cigarettes out of smokers mouths became big in southern California. Now the big thing is shouting opponents down, so that no opponents can be heard. Liberals know it all. This is key, running right back to the Bolsheviks. Mao practiced this sort of fascism; today it is found in all university classes, where one doesn't dare disagree with liberal dogma. Today self-appointed fascistic students sit in anthropology classes waiting to hear their professor say "primitive" or some other taboo word that violates the PC vocabulary banned list. Next thing, that Prof is being brought before some panel for disciplinary action - in a scene out of Mao 's cultural revolution. Only liberals could think of such tactics. The left set the tactics for the 20th century. They now are looking for a stage to play out their next move, which is to annihilate all their opponents.

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Good reading; even though I mostly disagree with the author...

I borrowed this book from the library. A politically ultra-conservative work associate read the book and praised it immensely. The book seemed to be well-researched and well written. Anyone who likes history would find it interesting. If you're already a conservative and despise liberals to begin with, you'll probably love this book as it will affirm your views. If you're a liberal, it might give you a few things to think about.

I thought the chapter on Woodrow Wilson was interesting in that the author actually sees the "progressive" Wilson as fascistic, especially in regard to the socialist movement of his times. Yes, the author sees early twentieth century socialist and labor leaders as victims of "liberal fascism". Amazingly, this view kind of agrees with the socialist/pacifist thinker Howard Zinn (History of the Twentieth Century).

All-in-all, however, I think that the author made a few connections that were far too much of a stretch.

My biggest disagreement is the author's constant association of liberalism with communism and admiration for the Soviet Union. I grew up in a family of liberal-leaning Democrats and nobody was ever an admirer or fan of the Soviet Union, Communist China or any other communist country. I believe that the author is making an assumption that is unqualified. Lyndon Johnson was the most liberal president we ever had, yet he escalted the war in Vietnam to win a fight against communism.

To associate libearlism with fascism also fails to address the fascist love for militarism. After all, Walter Mondale and George McGovern are liberals. These two sons of Methodist ministers wouldn't hurt a fly; on the other hand a true fascist such as Hitler or Mussolini is something very different.

One thing that I did learn from the book is that we have to be careful how we throw around the word "fascist". The author rightly calls out liberals for the way they sometimes apply this label to anyone they who disagrees with them. As a liberal, I may have disgreed with Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich, but essentially American liberals and conservatives share the same ideology and faith in the constitution, democracy and republican form of government (though they disgree on the level of government involvement).

I think that this book is wrong to associate we liberals with the perverted and evil Nazis; although, if I am to be honest with myself, we liberals are also often guilty of doing the same thing to our conservative adversaries.

I don't agree with most of what the author says, but I give the book four stars for good organization, clarity, and making for interesting historical discussions.

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Not what I expected

I read Jonah's columns, and he seems to twinkle as he gently pokes fun of the left's sacred cows. His humor shows up self-important fools for who they are. His irreverance horrifies the left, some of whom seem unable to defend their beliefs with reason and logic, but believe their passion justifies their policies. They resort to name-calling, floundering helplessly. It's a hoot.

I expected the book to be full of tweaking. I was ready for Ann Coulter-style archness and snark.

In fact, it was off to a good start with the title! To determine the impact, read the negative reviews of this book, many of which respond solely to the title.

But I didn't get much of the rollicking good fun I expected. I wanted a book to puncture that smug self-righteousness that surrounds leftists, as if being liberal equals being virtuous. We did eventually get there, but not till page 317. Instead, what I got was a factual, thorough history of the Progressive movement. Which I needed, as my education failed me in this area (surprise!). The book shows how the term "fascism" has been hijacked by the left, virtually meaning "anything that leftists don't like." It is used as an attack term, not an argument.

So, from its roots in Rousseau and Robespierre, Progressivism has been a system dedicated to a rebellion against the existing traditions: church, aristocracy, family, authority. Progressivism lauds experimentation over policies -- it is a movement propounding "change" and "action". It is a youth-oriented revolt, an appeal to community, an ideal of "bettering mankind". As if, given the right people in control, all society's problems could be solved.

For Progressives, individuality *contravenes* the public interest. Individualism is not in the best interests of society -- only collective interests are valued. If society is to move forward, then some people are going to have to sacrifice their selfish individuality for the common good. Where have you heard that recently? Who said it? It is a cardinal rule of fascism.

Progressivism exploits popular resentment against "fat cats", international bankers, global outsourcing, and economic inequality and seeks to redress those wrongs through government tinkering. Believing in the authority of experts, they want to hand the economy over to these experts in order to fix the problems. Putting the economy under the direction of experts who have the best interests of "society" in mind is... fascism.

Progressivism values unity (conformity) over debate, because REASON IS A TOOL OF OPPRESSION. Have you ever heard that? Who said it, and what were they wanting to accomplish? It is a fascist argument.

By page 120, the book had (using REASON -- beware! You might become oppressed) made a tight case that Progressivism is fascism and fascism is from the left.

Finally, after we work through 350 pages of history, some classic Jonah starts to emerge. Now we get the crackle of a finger well-pointed. His chapters on the Clintons have lots of tweaks and chuckles. I thought the last section on the dangers to libertarian-style conservatism was excellent. Modern republicans are just democrats -- albeit with *slightly* better reason and accountability. Increasingly, the goals of both parties are the same: to make Americans comfortable and mitigate life's pain. Not the government's job! The government's job is to get out of the way so people can be free.

The book is well worth the price. I learned a ton and thought through the arguments in new ways. While I wanted more sizzle, I got an excellent steak. Excellent.

Finally, there is joy in reading a book well-written and rational. Disagree with the arguments and debate them using logic if you will, but if you must stoop to calling names to discredit the argument, you lose.

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A most necessary book

If you learn nothing else from this book, just remember that the Nazis and the Communists were not at the opposite ends of the spectrum from one another. They were both Socialists; the Nazis practiced a Nationalist version, while the Communists were Internationalists.

Properly understood at the opposite end of the spectrum from the Socialists are the believers in individual liberty and limited government power. This latter group is becoming an endangered species in the United States in our crush to adopt Socialism.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

?Fascists,? ?Brownshirts,? ?jackbooted stormtroopers??such are the insults typically hurled at conservatives by their liberal opponents. Calling someone a fascist is the fastest way to shut them up, defining their views as beyond the political pale. But who are the real fascists in our midst?

Liberal Fascism offers a startling new perspective on the theories and practices that define fascist politics. Replacing conveniently manufactured myths with surprising and enlightening research, Jonah Goldberg reminds us that the original fascists were really on the left, and that liberals from Woodrow Wilson to FDR to Hillary Clinton have advocated policies and principles remarkably similar to those of Hitler's National Socialism and Mussolini's Fascism.

Contrary to what most people think, the Nazis were ardent socialists (hence the term ?National socialism?). They believed in free health care and guaranteed jobs. They confiscated inherited wealth and spent vast sums on public education. They purged the church from public policy, promoted a new form of pagan spirituality, and inserted the authority of the state into every nook and cranny of daily life. The Nazis declared war on smoking, supported abortion, euthanasia, and gun control. They loathed the free market, provided generous pensions for the elderly, and maintained a strict racial quota system in their universities?where campus speech codes were all the rage. The Nazis led the world in organic farming and alternative medicine. Hitler was a strict vegetarian, and Himmler was an animal rights activist.

Do these striking parallels mean that today?s liberals are genocidal maniacs, intent on conquering the world and imposing a new racial order? Not at all. Yet it is hard to deny that modern progressivism and classical fascism shared the same intellectual roots. We often forget, for example, that Mussolini and Hitler had many admirers in the United States. W.E.B. Du Bois was inspired by Hitler's Germany, and Irving Berlin praised Mussolini in song. Many fascist tenets were espoused by American progressives like John Dewey and Woodrow Wilson, and FDR incorporated fascist policies in the New Deal.

Fascism was an international movement that appeared in different forms in different countries, depending on the vagaries of national culture and temperament. In Germany, fascism appeared as genocidal racist nationalism. In America, it took a ?friendlier,? more liberal form. The modern heirs of this ?friendly fascist? tradition include the New York Times, the Democratic Party, the Ivy League professoriate, and the liberals of Hollywood. The quintessential Liberal Fascist isn't an SS storm trooper; it is a female grade school teacher with an education degree from Brown or Swarthmore.

These assertions may sound strange to modern ears, but that is because we have forgotten what fascism is. In this angry, funny, smart, contentious book, Jonah Goldberg turns our preconceptions inside out and shows us the true meaning of Liberal Fascism.