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Liberal Fascism

Author	Jonah Goldberg
Language	English
Subject	Politics
Publisher	Doubleday
Publication date	January 8 2008
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Pages	496
ISBN	ISBN 0385511841 Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character

Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning is a book by Jonah Goldberg arguing that, contrary to conventional wisdom, fascist movements were and are left-wing. Goldberg argues that both Modern Liberalism (not to be confused with Classical Liberalism) and Fascism descended from Progressivism, and in fact that prior to World War II "fascism was widely viewed as a progressive social movement with many liberal and left-wing adherents in Europe and the United States". Goldberg also argues that over time the term "Fascism" has lost its actual meaning and instead has descended to the level of being "a modern word for 'heretic,' branding an individual worthy of excommunication from the body politic" and that this devolution of the meaning is not new, noting that George Orwell had observed this in 1946 when he described the word as no longer having any meaning except to signify "something not desirable". Goldberg goes to lengths to illustrate that there was more to Fascism than bigotry and genocide and, in fact, that bigotry and genocide were not so much a feature of Fascism itself but rather a feature of Nazism which was forced upon the Italian Fascists "after the Nazis had invaded northern Italy and created a puppet government in Salò".

Goldberg has told interviewers that the title "Liberal Fascism" comes "directly from a speech that H.G. Wells gave to the Young Liberals at Oxford in 1932." Wells stated he wanted to "assist in a kind of phoenix rebirth" of Liberalism as an "enlightened Nazism." Goldberg explains that the smiley face on the cover is a reference to comments made by comedian George Carlin on "HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher" when he said that "when fascism comes to America, it will not be in brown and black shirts. It will not be with jackboots. It will be Nike sneakers and smiley shirts. Smiley-smiley."

Reviews

Publishers Weekly says the "provocative and well-researched" book "probes modern liberalism's spooky origins in early 20th-century fascist politics." PW further says that the book is "seriously argued and funny."

Larry Thornberry of the Washington Times calls the book "a major contribution to understanding the history of political ideas and attitudes over the last two centuries and change" and says that "readers will have to set aside some serious time to read it.... But for anyone wishing to understand the contemporary political scene, it will repay that reading time handsomely."

Liberal blogger and journalist David Neiwert, writing in The American Prospect, called the book "bizarro history" and "classic Newspeak."

Writing in The American Conservative, Austin W. Bramwell panned the book, saying "Not only does Goldberg misunderstand liberalism, but he refuses to see it simply as liberalism" and that "Liberal Fascism reads less like an extended argument than as a catalogue of conservative intellectual clichés, often irrelevant to the supposed point of the book."

David Oshinsky of The New York Times writes "'Liberal Fascism' is less an exposé of left-wing hypocrisy than a chance to exact political revenge. Yet the title of his book aside, what distinguishes Goldberg from the Sean Hannitys and Michael Savages is a witty intelligence that deals in ideas as well as insults - no mean feat in the nasty world of the culture wars."

Michael Tomasky wrote in The New Republic, "I was bored out of my skull. And by the time I made it to the final pages, I was wishing that I had been invited instead to review a multi-volume history of farm subsidies."

Eric Alterman wrote in The Nation that "the book reads like a Google search gone gaga."

The book reached #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list of hardcover nonfiction in its seventh week on the list.

References

• Template:Harvard reference

Notes

1. Goldberg 2008, p. 9 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFGoldberg2008 (help).
2. ^ Goldberg 2008, p. 4 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFGoldberg2008 (help).
3. Politics and the English Language George Orwell, 1946.
4. Goldberg 2008, p. 25 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFGoldberg2008 (help).
5. Glenn Reynolds & Helen Smith (2007-12-27). "The Glenn and Helen Show: Jonah Goldberg on Hillary, Huckabee, and Liberal Fascism". Politics Central (Podcast)..
6. ^ Coupland, Philip (2000). "H.G. Wells's 'Liberal Fascism'". Journal of Contemporary History. 35 (4): 541–558.
7. Goldberg 2008, p. 21 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFGoldberg2008 (help).
8. Fluet, Lisa (2004). "Modernism and Disciplinary History: On H. G. Wells and T. S. Eliot". Twentieth-Century Literature. 50 (3). Hofstra University: 283–316. D.S. Mirsky, participating in a symposium of articles on The Outline that Eliot, as editor of The Criterion, called for in the early 1930s, summed up best the concerned skepticism about authoritarianism that The Outline raised in suggesting its compatibility with Wells's recent, "more explicit pronouncements in favour of a 'liberal fascism' and 'an enlightened Nazism.'"
9. When a conservative and liberal 'talk'South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Jonah Goldberg, January 25, 2008
10. Goldberg 2008, pp. 1–2 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFGoldberg2008 (help).
11. "Nonfiction Reviews: Week of 11/26/2007". Publishers Weekly. 2007-11-26. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
12. What liberal thought has in common with fascism, The Washington Times, Larry Thornberry, February 17, 2008.
13. Jonah Goldberg's Bizarro History, The American Prospect, David Neiwert, January 8, 2008
14. Goldberg's Trivial Pursuit, The American Conservative, Austin W. Bramwell January 27, 2008.
15. "Heil Woodrow!". 2007-12-30. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
16. Michael Tomasky (March 12, 2008). ""Jackboots and Whole Foods"". The New Republic. Retrieved 2008-03-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
17. "Conservative Cannibalism The Nation, Eric Alterman February 21, 2008
18. "Hardcover Nonfiction". New York Times. March 9, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

External Links

• Book discussion blog on National Review Online
• BookBites - Quotes from the book
• What 'The Daily Show' Cut Out by Jonah Goldberg
• Dr. Milt Rosenberg interviews Jonah Goldberg on WGN Radio - Extension 720
• Glenn Reynolds & Dr. Helen Smith radio show interview Jonah Goldberg.
• Hugh Hewitt's Interview with Jonah Goldberg
• Investor's Business Daily's interview with Jonah Goldberg

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