Ivins on FDR on defining fascism

Ian Murray seamus2001 at home.com
Wed Jul 4 10:15:18 PDT 2001



> Chip better hunt down Molly Ivins, since she's distributing this
definition
> of fascism in her July 4th column.
>
> "Our democracy is, as ever, in a parlous state. Our politics are
corrupted
> by legalized bribery, and the gap between the rich and everybody
else keeps
> getting worse. FDR once said: "The liberty of a democracy is not
safe if
> the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it
becomes
> stronger than their democratic State itself. That, in its essence,
is
> Fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group or
by any
> controlling private power."
>
> Looks like Charles and I are not the only ones influenced by the
Comintern
> class definition of fascism. FDR appears to have suffered the same
malady,
> but then he didn't have the advantages of social science hindsight
:)
>
> Nathan Newman
> nathan at newman.org
> http://www.nathannewman.org
========== Sound like FDR was conflating the 'private government' approach of Brandeis, Hale and other legal realists in their critiques of corporate power. Is there any quotable Brandeis on EuroFascism?

Ian



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