So you argue that a new Gleichschaltung is in?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleichschaltung
I doubt. The ruling class does not face an string opposition for the labor movement as 1930 Germany did. They are already getting anything they want through legislative means. They merely used the Christian fundamentalists the same way Hitler uses the SA (the infamous "brown battalions") - to disrupt the opposition and deliver electoral victory to Hitler. After that, their usefulness expired, their leaders (Ernst Roehm) were promptly gotten rid of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_long_knives and the whole movement was "switched off."
Michael Dawson:
> Meanwhile, what makes the New Deal dinosauric? It was the one moment of
> truly decent politics in American history, and it sets all kinds of good
> precedents. If we could form a movement to renew and update and complete
it
> (recall it involved FDR's four freedoms and was aborted by WWII), the
> country and the world would become far, far better in short order.
Autre temps autre moeurs. It was a great thing in the 1930s but it did not break the backbone of the American business class. And it reinforced the notion of populism and mass mobilization as a viable political strategy instead of reconfiguring the institutional structure of the US state (e.g. introduction of the parliamentary system). So the business class is back with vengeance, tearing the remnants of the New Deal apart, while the lefties are still dreaming of mobilizing the masses. That is dinosauric.
As far as the New Deal itself is concerned - it is for all practical purposes kaput. After Bush raided and gutted the federal budget, the dismantling of it last vestige - social security - is just a formality and a matter of time. That is perhaps the only thing that really pisses me off about Bush re-election, although I think that at this time it was already too late, and electing Kerry would merely prolong the agony. I really counted on that social security check. Everything else - falling wages, jobs going overseas, abortion being restricted in some states, - it will certainly bite Americans in the ass, but they kinda asked for it. I have European citizenship, so if things get nasty, I will be on a one way transatlantic flight. It is just that damn social security check - I would really miss it.
Wojtek