In commenting on what the mainstream media are calling the “civility feud” recently manifest in the confrontations of Trump administration members and supporters in public venues and on college campuses by progressive protesters, Daniel Henninger has suggested that the political question of this moment is something more, which is: can the Democratic Party control its hard left wing? Probably not, we’ll see more of it, and it’s important to call it what it is–21st century fascism at work.
My friend Greg Stachura sent around a 50-year old quote from Ayn Rand, probably best known for her novels, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, that is particularly appropriate for these times. It is from an article entitled The Presidential Candidates 1968 published in The Objectivist magazine, which was focused on Rand’s philosophy of objectivism:
It is obvious what the fraudulent issue of fascism versus communism accomplishes: it sets up, as opposites, two variants of the same political system; it eliminates the possibility of considering capitalism; it switches the choice of ‘freedom or dictatorship?’ into “which kind of dictatorship?’–thus establishing dictatorship as an inevitable fact and offering only a choice of rulers. The choice–according to the proponents of that fraud–is: a dictatorship of the rich (fascism) or a dictatorship of the poor (communism). That fraud collapsed in the 1940s, in the aftermath of World War II. It is too obvious, too easily demonstrable that fascism and communism are not two opposites, but two rival gangs fighting over the same territory–that both are variants of statism, based on the collectivist principle that man is the rightless slave of the state–that both are socialistic, in theory, in practice, and in the explicit statements of their leaders–that under both systems, the poor are enslaved and the rich are expropriated in favor of a ruling clique–that fascism is not the product of the political “right”, but of the “left”–that the basic issue is not ‘rich vs. poor’, but man versus the state, or: individual rights versus totalitarian government–which means capitalism vs. socialism.
Both Jonah Goldberg and Dinesh D’Souza have made this point very well with extensive documentation in their respective books, Liberal Fascism and The Big Lie. It’s a good idea to revisit these points as we listen to Congresswoman Maxine Waters as she addresses and exhorts her troops of the 21st century version of the “brownshirts” in their fascist tactics on the streets, in restaurants and other public places, and on university campuses.
Steve Tredennick says
Jerry Clower once noted that these east and west coast progressives have been educated beyond their intelligence! Could say more but I think that says it pretty well.
Dicki alston says
As always , you add a perspective of history that, if addressed at all in public schools, is simplistic at best and eliminated usually. I continue to internalize your info as a former teacher and supervisor of social studies curriculum. I so wish our k-12 and college students received solid facts and higher level instruction concerning economic and government systems. Thank u for the PILGRIM!