Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Change
Liberal Fascism was the subject of the third Voxiversity. I read through this book as I have during the other courses. I learned a lot which is par for the course during this experience. There were a few major questions of mine that this book cleared up:
- What is fascism?
- How are Stalinists, Nazis, and liberals are related?
- Why do Americans love the government so much?
1. What is fascism?
Basically, fascism is a state religion. The state plays god and everything is directed by it to achieve some great goal. Every culture is different, so each country's goal is different. Each society has different faults which politicians can use to stir up national fervor. For Germany, it was utopia as a master race and with restored national greatness. For America, it's "leaving no child behind," letting no knee be skinned, and letting no one go without health care.
2. How are Stalinists, Nazis, and liberals related?
I knew that fascism and communism being opposite ends of the spectrum was poppycock before reading this book, but I was unclear about their connections. The Nazis are National-Socialists; the Communists are International-Socialists. The Nazis realized nationalism was a great motivator, so they added this into their socialist routine; in fact many of the Nazis were actually converted communists. The communists would send thugs to start fights at Nazi rallies, but all the thugs would be converted to Nazism before they could get the brawl started. Fascists are pragmatic socialists, so they simply took the nationalism and incorporated it into their socialist ideas.
The ideas which fermented in pre-World War II Italy and Germany were also popular in the US. They were also popular in England as well but this was not the topic of the book. American intelligentsia and politicians were enamored with and fawned over Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin. Wilson hatched many of fascist ideas which were incorporated by Mussolini and Hitler. Roosevelt permanently reinstated Wilson' s ideas into American governance.
3. Why do Americans love the government so much?
For a nation which claims to love liberty, Americans seem sycophantically in love with the government. An American's only complaint is that the government should redistribute wealth to different people or that the army is being sent to invade the wrong country. I have long thought that this was almost a religious fervor, but now I realize that it is actually a real religion. Americans worship the government in the same way that ancients worshiped god: they sacrifice to it (taxes), pray that it gives them a good economy (economic stimuli), consider it the true source of knowledge (public schools), and entrust it with their health (medical regulations).
The Germans and Italians during the Second World War were not "bad people." They were normal people just like you and me who happened to be serving a government that did abominable things. Americans have swallowed the same clap-trap as the Germans. Modern Americans will follow their dear leader (whether it be Obama or Bush) into whatever calamity he leads them.
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