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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 bestselling book by Jonah Goldberg.

In the book, Goldberg argues that, contrary to conventional wisdom, fascist movements were and are left-wing. He states 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."

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

Reviews

In The Nation, Eric Alterman complained that Goldberg's grouping of left-wing politics with fascism is based less on solid connections than on weak, tenuous associations: "Some fascists were vegetarians; some liberals are vegetarians; ergo... Some fascists were gay; some liberals are gay... Fascists cared about educating children; Hillary Clinton cares about educating children. Aha! . . . This is a book that argues that Woodrow Wilson 'was the twentieth century's first fascist dictator' and that it is 'impossible to deny that the New Deal was objectively fascistic.'"

Author David Pryce-Jones said "Jonah Goldberg argues that liberals today have doctrinal and emotional roots in twentieth-century European fascism. Many people will be shocked just by the thought that long discredited fascism could mutate into the spirit of another age. It's always exhilarating when someone takes on received opinion, but this is not a work of pamphleteering. Goldberg's insight, supported by a great deal of learning, happens to be right."

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

Larry Thornberry of the Washington Times called the book "a major contribution to understanding the history of political ideas and attitudes over the last two centuries and change" and said 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."

Blogger and journalist David Neiwert, writing in The American Prospect, called the book "bizarro history" and "classic Newspeak." Neiwert wrote that "he title alone is enough to indicate its thoroughgoing incoherence: Of all the things we know about fascism and the traits that comprise it, one of the few things that historians will readily agree upon is its overwhelming anti-liberalism."

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 wrote "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 can report with a clear conscience that Liberal Fascism is one of the most tedious and inane--and ultimately self-negating--books that I have ever read. . . . Liberal Fascism is a document of a deeply frivolous culture, or sub-culture."

John Tabin wrote in The American Spectator that "Scholars have never quite come to a consensus on how to define fascism. Goldberg's approach is to let the record speak for itself."

Ron Radosh of The New York Sun praised the book, saying that "He (Goldberg) has read widely and thoroughly, not only in the primary sources of fascism, but in the political and intellectual history written by the major historians of the subject." and in closing said "Disagree if you must, but go out and read this brilliant, insightful, and important book."

Marvin Olasky of World Magazine wrote, "Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism is a flawed but useful attempt to redraw the political map. Goldberg shows how Woodrow Wilson began and Franklin Roosevelt amplified an almost-fascist concentration of power in Washington. FDR boasted of his 'wholesome and proper' buildup of power because he was leading 'a people's government.' Goldberg shows how liberals came to believe that authoritarian government is fine as long as representatives of 'the people'—themselves—are in charge."

When author Jonah Goldberg went on a episode of The Daily Show to promote his book, the interview with host Jon Stewart went into overtime, with Jon Stewart taking issue with many of the charges Goldberg made in his book, and had to be cut down to just highlights of the interview when it aired. Jon Stewart commenting at the end "Can we air any of this?"

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. doi:10.2307/4149260. 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. "Hardcover Nonfiction". New York Times. March 9, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
12. "Conservative Cannibalism The Nation, Eric Alterman February 21, 2008
13. "Nonfiction Reviews: Week of 11/26/2007". Publishers Weekly. 2007-11-26. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
14. What liberal thought has in common with fascism, The Washington Times, Larry Thornberry, February 17, 2008.
15. Jonah Goldberg's Bizarro History, The American Prospect, David Neiwert, January 8, 2008
16. Goldberg's Trivial Pursuit, The American Conservative, Austin W. Bramwell January 27, 2008.
17. "Heil Woodrow!". 2007-12-30. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
18. 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)
19. "Fun with Fascism" The American Spectator, John Tabin March 20, 2008
20. "America's 'Fascist Moment" The New York Sun, Ron Radosh January 4, 2008
21. "Fascists on the left" World Magazine, Marvin Olasky July 12, 2008

External Links

• Book discussion blog on National Review Online
• BookBites - Quotes from the book
• 'The Daily Show' Interview with Jonah Goldberg
• 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
• video on Book TV

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