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Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the P olitics of Meaning By Jonah Goldberg

* * * * * * Publisher: Tantor Media Number Of Pages: Publication Date: 2008-03-31 ISBN-10 / ASIN: 1400107040 ISBN-13 / EAN: 9781400107049 Binding: Audio CD

Product Description: In this angry, funny, smart, contentious book, Jonah Goldberg offers a startling new perspective on the theories and practices that define fascist politics.

Summary: Alternate Title: How to De-Program a Liberal Arts Graduate Rating: 5 I suspect that the ivory tower elites will despise this book. University acadami a and the media always equate conservative governments such as the USA under Dub ya and Canada under Prime Minister Harper as being the equivalent to Nazis Germa ny under Hitler. Jonah Goldberg deftly exposes the fact the the Liberal Left hav e more in common with the National Socialists than just the term "socialist". It all boils down to individual rights ie the true conservative view that each p erson is of infinite value vs the socialist view that the worth of the individua l must be sacrificed for the "good" of the State. Which is a paradox unto itself , considering that Liberalism/Socialism does not recognize the concepts of good and evil, only moral equivalence.

Summary: Two Sides Of The Same Coin Rating: 5 The truth of the matter is that in terms of ideology the differences between Com munism and Fascism are very, very small. Fascists are often mislabeled as "right -wing" because during the rise of Stalin all ideology that deviated from the Mos cow approved line of Communism was dubbed "right-wing". Leon Trotsky, who was by no means a Nazi or right-wing conservative, was accused of trying to stage a Na zi coup and was labeled a "right-winger" by Stalin after his fall from favor. Wh ile in Germany the term "right-wing" usually referred to the different elements of the Weimar Republic of the time. An example of Fascist programs enacted by th e Nazi party and Fascisti in Italy were: guaranteed employment for all citizens, confiscation of WWI profits, shared profits of labor, expanded old age pensions , communalization of department stores, outlawing of child labor, universal heal th care, and anti-smoking programs to name just a few. None of these programs ca n be called "right-wing" or Anti-Communist. Communism is an international strugg le and as Karl Marx put it: "Working men have no country." Fascists believed tha t the dreams of Communism can be made INSIDE a country, and did not need to be p art of an international struggle or subservient to Moscow. Fascism has strong corporatist elements without completely subjugating industry under state ownership. While Communism, on the other hand, advocates the collect

ive ownership of property and the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members. Fascist governments do maintain a significant control over priv ate enterprise, but do not entirely co-opt it (as in, say, Communism). The Germa n NAZI party, for example, considered themselves a "Third Way" between laissez-f aire capitalism and socialism, in that rather than completely nationalizing indu stry and taking over the means of production, the government had a very powerful influence over it. That was the principle difference, as all Communist regimes have embraced corporatism in some aspect in their history. Hitler and Mussolini both wanted to create Volksgemeinschaft or "peoples (workers) communities." Comm unism and Fascism are two sides of the same coin, extreme but separate visions o f the same ideology, with Fascism not being as controlling to private business a s Communism but still very totalitarian. Keep in mind the Nazi (NSDAP) party was called the National SOCIALIST party, if that is any indication of their true le anings.

Summary: Historical Reminders Apparently Needed Rating: 5 Americans, you need to read this book and consider the pattern in politics that Goldberg's laid out for you with his fine research! You might find yourself as s hocked as I was to realize that we haven't been as independent, individualistic and non-European as we may have thought (I did). Beginning with Woodrow Wilson, our leaders and intellectuals SHARED ALOT of ideas with the likes of Hitler (Soc ialism) and Mussolini (Italian Fascism)! The scary tactics of the French Revolut ion, the ideas of Hegel, Nietzsche, Bismarck and others - American leaders bough t into them too. (Even W.E.B. DuBois was fascinated by Hitlerism.) A desire for CONTROL and UTOPIA fed our politicians just as much as many dictators in the pas t. As I read this book and watched our Presidential campaigning, I recognized so me of the tactics/beliefs from the past are still present! Goldberg is right - c oercion remains present, but with a smile and nicer manners! Elites who think th ey know what's "best" for the "masses" remain in play. I guess if you "trust" th at "security" and "regulation of enterprise" are good trade-offs; that humans re quire "experts" and "herders" to guide them in proper living and attitudes, then you will continue in your rose-tinted "hope" and choose to avoid this book. But like the layers of an onion, or the rings seen in a cut tree stump (as my 19-yr -old son offered as another analogy) we must look back to the past and be CONSCI OUS of HOW WE GOT HERE to this present time in our history, and acknowledge that the battle has been ongoing for decades - between those in America who believe in laissez-faire economic policies, individuality (WE the PEOPLE) and free marke t innovation/problem-solving VERSUS statism and social behavior engineering and redistribution of wealth and elitism. Wilson and both Roosevelts and Kennedy and Johnson - made a lot of mistakes based on similar beliefs to people we claim to loathe! And those same IDEAS still motivate today's politicians. All the EXPERI MENTATION - with no stopping to think whether it's flawed - continues to be enco uraged - Just keep on trying to make a Utopia, till you get it right! When we re ally need to admit mistaken paths taken, and admit we "listened to" the wrong id eas, and say ENOUGH! Aren't we on the brink of REAL destruction in America? If o ur leaders would return to the wisdom of our Founding Fathers - who saw civil du ty as a SHORT-TERM obligation and the Best Interest of ALL Americans as the goal instead of self-aggrandizement, power-hunger, and CONTROL, maybe we could resto re our country to the Shining Example to the rest of the world we once were. We need OUR PEOPLE to take responsibility once again for their own self-education a nd stop being so TRUSTING and GULLIBLE before it's too late! READ THIS BOOK!

Summary: A History Lesson and a Warning for the Future Rating: 5

I have always been interested in history and remember reading many articles and books about FDR and the Depression. The opposition to the New Deal was usually p ainted as "those rich guys just don't want to share." Packing the Supreme Court I knew about, but not the realy reason for FDR's attempting to do this. How fitt ing that we are now living in the era of an "environmental crisis" where the peo ple have to band to together and fight a new war. Hmmmmmmm, isn't this a basic p remise of facisim? The need to rally the people, herd them like sheep to the pen s where they will stand docile waiting for the elites to command them? What a ti mely book!!!

Summary: The left has a lot to answer for Rating: 4 I stopped reading Jonah Goldberg a few years back because what's happened to NR prejudiced me against any book by this author. I heard a friend was reading it a nd I wanted to join her. Goldberg has redeemed himself in my eyes, much to his r elief I'm sure. This book connected the following truisms for me: Truism #1: everyone wants a meaningful existence. Truism #2: all government power comes out of the end of a gun. The age-old struggle begins when people think #2 (coercion) is a good way to get all of us to #1 (a meaningful life). But just like there's a world of differenc e between a wink and a blink, there's all the difference there is between decidi ng for yourself what to do and someone else deciding for you and making you do i t, even if the outcomes are prit' near the same. From the Progressives, through the New Deal, the New Frontier, the Great Society and yes, even compassionate co nservatism, generation after generation of Americans forget our power-skeptic he ritage and are seduced by the Big Plans of Experts. Visualize the following scenario: I want a clean house. It's better for me to tr ain my kids how to clean a toilet and then stand over them while they do it. For someone else, it's better to hire a cleaning lady. I say, vive la difference. H owever, the government could see fit to hire (at taxpayer expense) an efficiency expert to find THE BEST way to clean houses (which no doubt will not be the way eleven-year-olds with tyrannical mothers do it). There will be a public "Clean! Don't be mean!" campaign encouraging full employment of cleaning ladies and dis couraging ruining children's childhoods with Saturday-morning drudgery. There wi ll be studies linking Ty-Dee-Bowl fumes and ADHD. As a result of studies, I will be provided a government cleaning lady. Of course my taxes will rise in order t o pay for this wonderful entitlement. Then I will have to go get a job to cover my family's increased tax burden, but hey, at least someone else will be cleanin g my toilets. And that makes me happy, doesn't it? My example may be silly, but Goldberg is saying that like the devil, tyranny mus t appear attractive because otherwise nobody would go for it. Totalitarianism wi ll arrive wearing a smile on its face. Query: on p. 30 Goldberg mentions "Ernest Hemingway was skeptical of Mussolini a lmost from the start." Good old Papa! But that's it, and I want to hear more. Co uld someone point me in the right direction? Backup: http://rapidshare.com/files/125751303/Liberal_Fascism.part1.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/125754428/Liberal_Fascism.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/125754497/Liberal_Fascism.part3.rar

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