Du Bois was inspired by Hitler's Germany, and Irving Berlin praised Mussolini in song. We often forget, for example, that Mussolini and Hitler had many admirers in the United States. Yet it is hard to deny that modern progressivism and classical fascism shared the same intellectual roots. Hitler was a strict vegetarian, and Himmler was an animal rights activist.ĭo 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. The Nazis led the world in organic farming and alternative medicine. 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 declared war on smoking, supported abortion, euthanasia, and gun control. 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. They confiscated inherited wealth and spent vast sums on public education. They believed in free health care and guaranteed jobs. 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.Ĭontrary to what most people think, the Nazis were ardent socialists (hence the term "National socialism"). Liberal Fascism offers a startling new perspective on the theories and practices that define fascist politics. But who are the real fascists in our midst? Calling someone a fascist is the fastest way to shut them up, defining their views as beyond the political pale. "Fascists," "Brownshirts," "jackbooted stormtroopers"-such are the insults typically hurled at conservatives by their liberal opponents. Fierce, funny, and controversial, Jonah Goldberg's #1 New York Times bestseller traces fascism back to its surprising roots-in liberalism. "Liberal Fascism" offers a startling new perspective on the theories and practices that define fascist politics.
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