Ivins on FDR on defining fascism

Brenda Rosser shelter at tassie.net.au
Wed Jul 4 18:05:16 PDT 2001


Can't help thinking that evil in government etc is much like the concept 'disease'. That is that a divergence from physical 'homeostasis' in the body leads to death - and we need to find a parallel concept (perhaps) with society in general. Brenda Rosser

----- Original Message ----- From: "Ian Murray" <seamus2001 at home.com> To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2001 3:15 AM Subject: Re: Ivins on FDR on defining fascism


>
>
>
> > 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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