Thursday, January 10, 2008

Liberalism is 'great grand niece once removed' of Nazism

Liberal Fascism is a recently written book by Jonah Goldberg, a columnist for the LA Times and a contributing editor to the National Review.


I will stray from an introduction to the book and the author. If you're curious visit the following links: [1] [2] [3]

An excerpt from his book:

"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.

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. "

From what I've read so far of his book, to say the least, has been interesting.

Jonah Goldberg on YouTube

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