however, FDR was anything but a benevolent reformer. he did bail out capitalism after it completely failed in 1929 and the early 30's. FDR did what he did for political purposes only -- call it cynical if you wish. he was a consummate politician and a coalition builder. the left was a much stronger force in his day so it looks like he did "left" things which were actually done solely from political and economic necessity. FDR did not exclude the left.
when the domestic economy improved, it didn't take congress long to terminate any "left" social programs apart from a very few, like social security, despite the fact these programs were still needed.
he acted in keeping with the 20th century tradition of the democratic party to co-opt and destroy the left by taking over, watering down and subverting its issues. (a tradition which died with, among other things, the creation of the DLC when the dems decided to ignore their own left wing)
what saddens me most about the death of FDR is that i believe he would have gone after the US MNCs that traded with the Nazis before and *during* WW II. he was a patriot. had he acted to put these traitors in prison, today's MNC dominated world would look very different.
the true social reformer in the roosevelt family was eleanor roosevelt, who on more than one occasion influenced FDR and the nation in various ways for the better!
R
----- Original Message ----- From: "paul childs" <npchilds at shaw.ca> To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Sent: Monday, July 19, 2004 2:24 PM Subject: [lbo-talk] Re: What the Ruling Class Want to Get: A Green Light
: > Yeah, they did that in the 30s, when capitalism looked to be imploding,
the
: > USSR was a mighty rival and the CP was organizing from Harlem to
Alabama.
: > Now, where's the crisis? Where's the troublesome rabble?
:
: >This kind of talk drives me batty. The business class fought the New
Deal tooth
: >and nail. They've been trying to get rid of it for the past 70 or so
years.
: >Earnest reformers like FDR do not cynically try to "save capitalism from
: >itself." They see problems with the system and try to fix them, simple
as
: >that. Their efforts are nearly always opposed by ardent capitalists who
like
: >the system as it is, thank you very much (i.e. the business class is
oddly
: >unappreciative of efforts to "save capitalism from itself").
:
: While generally I'd agree with Luke's conclusion (see comments on this
list from business 'leaders' who opposed Clinton in '96 because of minor tax
increases, dispute the wild, ongoing boom) I think on the New Deal he's a
bit off.
:
: I think there always was a fringe of the business community that opposed
the New Deal in toto, they were held in check by those who could point to an
external threat of the USSR, international communism, whatever they wanted
to call it and give the mythical options; some dulling of the more rapacious
edges of capitalism or a commissar in every factory. Not being a debate
amongst