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Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Change |  | Author: Jonah Goldberg
Publisher: Broadway
Category: Book
List Price: $17.00
Buy New: $8.99
as of 3/11/2010 09:58 MST details
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New (46) Used (25) from $6.49
Rating:  520 reviews
Sales Rank: 3928
Media: Paperback
Pages: 512
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 0767917189
Dewey Decimal Number: 320.533
EAN: 9780767917186
ASIN: 0767917189
Publication Date: June 2, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
“Fascists,” “Brownshirts,” “jackbooted stormtroopers”—such are the insults typically hurled at conservatives by their liberal opponents. Calling someone a fascist is the fastest way to shut them up, defining their views as beyond the political pale. But who are the real fascists in our midst?
Liberal Fascism offers a startling new perspective on the theories and practices that define fascist politics. Replacing conveniently manufactured myths with surprising and enlightening research, Jonah Goldberg reminds us that the original fascists were really on the left, and that liberals from Woodrow Wilson to FDR to Hillary Clinton have advocated policies and principles remarkably similar to those of Hitler's National Socialism and Mussolini's Fascism.
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. We often forget, for example, that Mussolini and Hitler had many admirers in the United States. W.E.B. Du Bois was inspired by Hitler's Germany, and Irving Berlin praised Mussolini in song. Many fascist tenets were espoused by American progressives like John Dewey and Woodrow Wilson, and FDR incorporated fascist policies in the New Deal.
Fascism was an international movement that appeared in different forms in different countries, depending on the vagaries of national culture and temperament. 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. The quintessential Liberal Fascist isn't an SS storm trooper; it is a female grade school teacher with an education degree from Brown or Swarthmore.
These assertions may sound strange to modern ears, but that is because we have forgotten what fascism is. In this angry, funny, smart, contentious book, Jonah Goldberg turns our preconceptions inside out and shows us the true meaning of Liberal Fascism.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 520
 Wow, out of my league ... March 11, 2010
KM (NH, USA)
Wow, I wanted to read this book to get specific info to better argue with my son - who is getting further and further to the left as he continues to hang around in Manhattan, at work. Given Jonah's columns, which I read often, and the cover art on the book, I had assumed this would be right up my alley, since he is usually so concise and well thought out, expressing my thoughts well, without being dry or preachy. Boy, was I wrong.
Jonah is a really smart guy, and I like him a lot, but this is not at all in the style of his columns. This is a textbook, and if you're looking for some easy talking points, you won't find them here.
I tried to read this book, even when I discovered it to be so dry, because like a bad movie, I kept waiting for the good part. 4 months later, I'm only a third of the way through. I just can't make myself read it. It is genuinely a text book, and not at all written for the casual reader. There are plenty of good points in there, and if you were giving a lecture on the subject, this would be a handy reference guide, but nothing presented (at least in the first 3rd of the book) is usable in conversation with a non-believer.
I already knew the basic premise of the book, and long ago had the same beliefs, but without proof, my son is not willing to listen to my "beliefs". I thought this would be the perfect gift for him, to help him see the light. Unfortunately, I can't give him a book I can't even get through - and I already care.
I'm no dummy, and it's not that I can't grasp what he's saying, but frankly, I don't care that much. For those already in agreement, this is too much like work, and for those who don't believe the premise, they won't do this much work only to prove themselves wrong. Absent a school assignment, I don't really see how this scholarly a book is of any value to the general public.
Sorry, Jonah. Love you, Love your columns, but this is not a good read. Fair warning to casual fans.
 A Wonderful Example of How Not to Write a Book March 8, 2010
M. Fiala
I read this book for a book club, and I was disappointed. Since I like to say something positive about everything, I decided that this book is good at showing how not to write an intelligent book, and instead it shows you how to write persuasive arguments with little intellectual merit.
You have examples of:
1. How to use an overabundance of adverbs which are meant to sell you on an idea instead of having an actual merit. (Tech writers like myself call it marketing speak).
2. Randomly throw out beliefs to persuade the reader, even though the points have little or no relevance to the topic that you are discussing.
3. Use the same word repeatedly in every chapter title to make it seem like you are actually proving a point.
In summary...
If I wanted somebody to sell a used car for me, I would hire Jonah Goldberg. He knows how to manipulate for persuasive purposes.
For an intelligent discussion on the link between progressives, liberals, and fascists, I would go elsewhere. This book was a waste of time.
Changed My Life March 1, 2010
Lao T. Sue (Virginia)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I read Jamie Glazov's "United in Hate." Then came "Liberal Fascism." These two books changed my thinking and my life. Don't bother with the detailed reviews pro and con. Read the book(s) for yourself, and try to be open to the writer's point of view -- not blanket acquiescence, but a curiousity to understand his arguments. I won't try to predict whether or not you'll agree with Goldberg -- just that you'll feel better about your political positon either way after reading his book.
 This is for Stevie February 20, 2010
Speak! Memory (Cambridge)
4 out of 16 found this review helpful
Yes, I have perused Jonah's wail.
Bill Buckley's eternally rolling eyes would roll right outta his head if he could but read 20 wds. of this tragically stupid laughing-stock. Much as Goldwater would nuke the party he once loved, so would Bill puke at what has become of the TNR he once graced with his principled,, INTELLECTUAL prosody.(Sure, I most-strongly may have disagreed w him 90% of the time-but I understood the historical roots from which he sprang-and knew that his principles were REAL)
Goldberg has neither principles, intellect nor scruples(as though that were news!) Do you wingers actually believe that this shallow clown did more than 5 min of research into the complexity of the ginned-up "subject"??? Some poor interns threw him some stuff, and he(well, someone) cobbled together this anti-history.......red-meat for the true-believers.Oh, eat your fill....and tomorrow another huckster will gladly-and profitably-feed your fire.
Hell, enuf! Dust in the wind.
paradigm shifter February 12, 2010
Andrew H. Jobson (Gainesville, GA)
4 out of 9 found this review helpful
As a history teacher, I've always struggled to explain fascism to my students, and I have been guilty of the old "liberal = left, fascism = right" mantra, even though it seemed to be a strange fit. Goldberg's book made everything click and provides an excellent overview of the twentieth century to boot. I liked it enough to ask all of the history teachers at my school to read it. Highly recommended for anyone interested in politics or history.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 520
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