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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy Liberals Need Radicals
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/05/24-9The Nation has an interesting cover story this week by a young radical named Bhaskar Sunkara, an editor at In These Times and a founder of Jacobin, a new neo-Marxist magazine.
Sunkara's basic point is hard to argue with and it boils down to this: liberalism won't get far without a radical movement that presses for more fundamental change:
At the peak of the socialist movement, leftists fed off liberal victories. Radicals, in turn, have added coherence and punch to every key liberal struggle and advance of the past century. Such a mutually beneficial alliance could be in the works again.
One might add that the very existence of a worldwide socialist movement through much of the Twentieth Century deeply alarmed U.S. and other Western elites who embraced liberal welfare policies as a way to take the wind out of radical sails and "manage the poor." Norman Thomas received nearly a million votes when he ran for president in 1932. At the same time, he and other advocates of socialism could point to the industrial successes of the Soviet Union as a plausible alernative to capitalism. Overall, a vibrant radicalism made liberalism seem inherently more moderate -- the lesser of two evils on the left.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)leveymg
(36,418 posts)Last edited Fri May 24, 2013, 09:11 PM - Edit history (1)
silenced.
Nonviolence and rational discourse are only so effective as they are an alternative to something else better avoided.
There's a needle to be threaded however between incentivizing change and suicide by secret policeman.
Gravitycollapse
(8,155 posts)I am a radical. But I do not look to the Soviet Union for inspiration.
starroute
(12,977 posts)Every system tends to become oppressive when there's no alternative. This is as true of economics as it is of cable television networks or computer operating systems. The Soviet Union functioned well enough for long enough to keep the capitalists nervous, and that was really all it had to do.
Gravitycollapse
(8,155 posts)It was hemorrhaging money because, as it turns out, it's difficult to maintain efficient economics with forced labor/death camps.
The products produced were garbage. The workers were fucking miserable. Tens of millions were near death or dead before it was all said and done.
The Soviet Union was never a realistic economic threat to anyone other than the Russian people.
lastlib
(23,216 posts)...or at the very least could be an alternative path; knowing that the "proles" were aware of it and had a vague notion that it might have something to offer them kept the capitalists from making their lives worse. IMHO.......
Gravitycollapse
(8,155 posts)Their arguments for the possible real expansion of communist ideology were merely cover for their greed.
The Cold War was a war of ideologies kind of in the same way that the Iraq War was a search for WMDs. The official narrative is false. We did it for the money.
America had some of it's most economically successful years at the height of Soviet power. They were never a real economic threat. And that is why they were so militarily dangerous. Run by psychopaths with no concept of economics or, more importantly, humanity, the idea of apocalyptic wet dreams was never far from the mind of the Soviet powers-that-be.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)While they attacked it openly, they were well aware that the most attractive pieces of communism *could* spell disaster for them should the workers ever decide it was a better path...so they placated the general working populace with concessions stemming from the 'other' side in order to keep their system of profit. Keeping the workers happy meant the capitalists would never have to worry about the workers deciding the other system was better. It didn't matter if the other system was a disaster (although certainly no one knew what a disaster it was until nearer the end of it) - just its very existence meant that there was an OPTION for workers should capitalists overstep their bounds. No existence of another system, no options for the workers, and capitalists have no boundaries to keep them in check.
kentuck
(111,079 posts)Radicals did not make any demands on the DLC starting in early 1990's. That permitted the moderate to conservative wing to take control of the Party and the agenda.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)radicals tend to focus too much on Democrats and politicians and should instead focus on driving their message to the masses via intensive organization.
cprise
(8,445 posts)So a crucial question is how can identity politics and economics coexist/cooperate on the Left. (They already to on the Right, in spades.)
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)would wind up Marxists. They went into identity politics because their hearts were in the right place (opposing oppression), but they couldn't or wouldn't realize that Marx and Engels were correct in their observations about economics, politics, and society and how interconnected they are. AND how the politics and the social are actually driven by the economic.
Of course, there's not much doubt about all of that now that the curtain has been ripped down to show the Wizards of capitalism manipulating the politicians and through them, society at large. Marx and Engels WERE right in their observation and analysis of the system. The only argument now is in their prescriptions for the cure.
cprise
(8,445 posts)The examples of China and USSR (Stalin's "non-left" communism) leave tons to be desired. And though Marx practically had capitalism pegged, his prescribed remedies don't hold up to scrutiny IMHO.
In an age where people have increasing access to knowledge, commitment to democracy becomes ever more the important ingredient. On the whole, having socialists compete with capitalists within democratic domains has yielded very good results. This is what I consider to be social democracy.
There is also the tiny problem of radicals, once they gain some scrap of power, becoming a target-practice pastime in this hemisphere at least. MLK was moving toward radical views in the weeks before he was murdered; I won't even get into what goes on to this day in our "great abroad".
Finally, false-flag terrorism is a recurring tactic of the modern Right. That one will take a lot of savvy communication and understanding to overcome.
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)capitalist restoration DO leave tons to be desired for the people. I will defend the original October Revolution, but not what it became after Lenin died and then Trotsky's exile.
Bolshevik-Leninism IS a bottom up, (small "d" democracy with the power residing in local workplace and neighborhood councils which elect immediately recallable representatives for local, state, regional, and national councils that would democratically plan a new system that benefits all and not just a few. It's a true bottom up, yet still organized, way of changing life for the majority of people for the better.
Unfortunately, since capitalism and the capitalists OWNS not only our economy, but also our political system, Marx's prescription for a revolutionary rather than a reformist change is the only thing that will bring this about.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)were created to stop. At some point we will figure that out, I just hope it happens before it's too late.
colsohlibgal
(5,275 posts)It's radical to want everyone to get the same shot and not see the playing field so uneven it's ridiculous?
There is nothing radical about democratic socialism - most people in nations like Denmark seem to like it. It can be voted out anytime but why would they?
I think it's radical that a fraudster Wall Street executive can waltz away with a 600 million dollar golden parachute instead of taking up an address in the Big House.
The problem is that people view socialism as a totalitarian political system when it's really only an economic term. It can co exist with democracy and limited capitalism very nicely.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)to make it seem undesirable.
It's the same thing they have done with liberal, socialist, communist, etc. It is no coincidence that Noam Chomsky is a linguist.
Socialism is humanity's natural state and it served us well for over 40,000 years.
cprise
(8,445 posts)But they are lacking nowhere near to the extent we do here. European radicals have a marked effect on the political economy and overall culture there. They have major newpapers that publish radical opinion on a regular basis.
Liberals will never overtly defend socialism, in fact quite the opposite: They think that supporting unions and rooting for welfare programs (tax based, corporate administered, faith- and charity-based...whatever) is sufficient and that they must crush anyone else to the left of them who might cause uncomfortable associations (or unfortunate comparisons) in people's minds.
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)It's true and the reason is that liberals have a vested interest in preserving the system itself. While socialists and, especially, communists want to change the system. This leads to the inevitable conclusion that a liberal would support a fascist that kept the system in place before they would support a communist that would overthrow the system and replace it with economic democracy.
Liberals are NOT the friend to radicals, ALTHOUGH they do in the current setup benefit from the changes forced by the radicals. They are given the credit for changes that they only reluctantly supported WHILE the struggle was ongoing. And indeed, not just reluctantly supported, but actually tried to slow. The liberal is the one saying, "We can't do too much, too quickly. It's too disruptive."
Personally, I'm a revolutionary. I bypass radical entirely. And I'm CERTAINLY not a liberal.
cprise
(8,445 posts)I have strong Liberal leanings myself, at least toward their mid-century mythology. But since 2000 I've also opened my eyes to the nefarious aspects, and to where they cannot take us.
Its particularly problematic with the American variety of Liberal since the 1980s: They shifted a lot of their philosophical underpinnings to a bastardized form of postmodern thought. When its convenient they will trumpet the old line about Truth always winning out in the end (as anodyne for their refusal to grapple with issues), and otherwise they will denounce the very idea of truth (in any provisional form) to refute that issues even exist. Like conservatives, they have become schizophrenic about truth and proper use of facts, and adept at copping-out. Liberals far and away give too much lip service to irrational forces like mysticism, religion and consumerism.
And then there is the question of whether we even have many Liberals left... It doesn't seem possible with recent incarceration trends.
What we have are a lot of relatively poor people waking up from Fascism 2.0 (being controlled by consumer passions) just before getting sucked into Fascism 3.0 (Facebook mainframe edition) and grasping for a "reality-based" politics and lifestyle that is progressive more than is it Liberal.
(BTW, cprise just posted something about you on Facebook. Please sign up with us so you can see what it is...)
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)Now the tactics used to defend itself will change and morph and postmodernism is the latest tactic, but from a Marxist perspective, liberalism has ALWAYS been about supporting the system in the crunch of class struggle. SDS had a saying about liberals that I always look to:
The fascists will shoot you.
The conservatives will cheer them on.
Moderates will watch your execution on TV.
And the liberals will cry over your grave. In the dark, when no one's looking after turning you in to the fascists.
Liberals are not to be trusted in the heat of the class war. They can be occasional allies, but they are never to be relied on. The best thing about a liberal is that they occasionally make the change to radical or revolutionary.
BTW, what did you say about me on FB? Do I really want to know?
cprise
(8,445 posts)BTW, what did you say about me on FB? Do I really want to know?
Nothing-- I don't even have an account. I was mimicking the pushy appeals of Facebook to underscore my point.
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)from the family.
Excellent.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)Has THIS become "Radical"?
In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can [font size=3]be established for allregardless of station, race, or creed.[/font]
Among these are:
*The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
*The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
*The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
*The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
*The right of every family to a decent home;
*The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
*The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
*The right to a good education.
All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.
America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens.---FDR, SOTU, 1944
Is the above now "Radical",
because I can remember when these values were Mainstream/Center Democratic Party Values.
I can remember when voting FOR "The Democrat"
was voting FOR the above Values.
Sadly, this is no longer true,
and the "New Democrat Centrist Party" now occupies the spot on the Political Spectrum that was formerly reserved for Conservative Republicans.
So does THAT make the above values "Radical"?
At one time, I was a Mainstream-Center, FDR/LBJ Pro-Working Class, loyal Democrat.
Am I now a "Radical", or "Fringe Leftist" as some of our "Centrists" are fond of labeling me?
I haven't changed.
---bvar22
[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center]
[center][/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]
You will know them by their WORKS.
cprise
(8,445 posts)I think its fair to say that FDR was a radical, and that having such a president was possible while the socialist party was still a recent memory as a force to be reckoned-with.
Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)BobbyBoring
(1,965 posts)The Millennials are the largest population group in the US today. To most of them, the way things are now is the way they are.
They have no memory of the time when we felt a commitment to our country and fellow citizens. I was lucky enough to grow up in a small VA town not far from D.C. A person owned a business and payed their employees a "living wage". The business owner made the lions share of the dough but the employees got by fairly well. At that time, $50.00 a week was about average but a family could eat and pay rent and provide clothing. Cokes were a nickle!
Speaking of clothing, at that time, 95% of our clothes were made in the USA. You were scoffed at if you owned something that was "Made in Japan".
Don't get me wrong. I'm not blaming Millenials for our problem. It's just there are so many in the country that think this is how things are~
Politicub
(12,165 posts)and plausible bolsters the assertion that president Obama has shifted the center to the left.
And I agree with this video. That the radical movement needs to happen in other countries across the world.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)Has THIS become "Radical"?
In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can [font size=3]be established for allregardless of station, race, or creed.[/font]
Among these are:
*The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
*The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
*The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
*The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
*The right of every family to a decent home;
*The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
*The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
*The right to a good education.
All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.
America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens.---FDR, SOTU, 1944
Is the above now "Radical",
because I can remember when these values were Mainstream/Center Democratic Party Values.
I can remember when voting FOR "The Democrat"
was voting FOR the above Values.
Sadly, this is no longer true,
and the "New Democrat Centrist Party" now occupies the spot on the Political Spectrum that was formerly reserved for Conservative Republicans.
So does THAT make the above values "Radical"?
At one time, I was a Mainstream-Center, FDR/LBJ Pro-Working Class, loyal Democrat.
Am I now a "Radical", or "Fringe Leftist" as some of our "Centrists" are fond of labeling me?
I haven't changed.
---bvar22
[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center]
[center][/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]
You will know them by their WORKS.
Dyedinthewoolliberal
(15,568 posts)what I would offer is the idea that 'radicals' are people advocating making change happen. As opposed to waiting for the Powers That Be to change what they do.
They will never do that and truth be told, if I was one of them I probably wouldn't either. I think Chairman Mao was correct when he said 'political power springs from the barrel of a gun '
Of course we know what that represents, and that is the fly in the ointment.
Therefore when people are labeled 'radical', left or right, it is implied there will be violence and destruction. And who wants that?
craigmatic
(4,510 posts)the presence of the USSR as a counterweight to the US is what motivated politicians to make conditions better for working people and since the fall of communism conditions have only gotten worse.
From the May 13th analog version of The New Yorker. (Critic at Large: Paint Bombs, by Kelefa Sanneh)
David Graeber, former prof. at Yale, now at Goldsmith's College in London is the author of the recent title "Debt: The First 5000 Years." Graeber, a left anarchist, was involved in the Occupy movement. Anyway, the article had this great quote from Graeber that I thought was worth sharing. (fwiw, what makes him a "left" anarchist is his support for and belief in collectives as self-organizing entities rather than right-wing "private capital" as the self-organizing principle...akin to Chomsky's anarcho-socialism, vs. Randomite libertarians.)
"What reformers have to understand is that they're never going to get anywhere without radicals and revolutionaries to betray. I've never understood why 'progressives' don't understand this. The mainstream right understands it, that's why they go crazy when it looks like someone might be cracking down on far-right militia groups, and so forth. they know it's totally to their political advantage to have people even further to the right than they so they can seem moderate. If only the mainstream left acted the same way."
If we want to change the conversation from responding to the latest right wing demand, he's just indicated how you do it.
cprise
(8,445 posts)Radicals have to elevate the discourse at the same time they change it. Massive civil disobedience (peaceful protest & obstruction, general strikes / consumer boycotts)...otherwise we will have a hot civil war on our hands.
Then there is the question of real power: To what extent does the technostructure empower elites to detach from, neglect and abuse the rest of us? Buying into organic food and solar panels (and not spending anything on unneeded stuff, esp. cars) are probably the best means a consumer has today to take their power down a notch or three.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)From the OP link:
The "American left" during the Great Depression:
http://www.rooseveltinstitute.org/policy-and-ideasroosevelt-historyfdr/new-deal
<...>
http://books.google.com/books?id=vC5HJloBWugC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA159#v=onepage&q&f=false
by bobswern
Just a few days plus a year after approximately 100 supporters of the former Occupy Wall Street (OWS) working group, the now-autonomous Occupy the SEC (OSEC), peacefully marched on Wall Street carrying signs stating, We dont make demands so this is a suggestion: Enforce the Volcker Rule, were now learning via a concise and inspiring post by Naked Capitalism Publisher Yves Smith that Occupy the SEC, Frustrated With Regulatory Defiance of Volcker Rule Implementation Requirements, Sues Fed, SEC, CFTC, FDIC and Treasury.
First, heres the link to Wednesdays story, directly from the OSEC blog: Occupy the SEC Sues Federal Reserve, SEC, CFTC, OCC, FDIC and U.S. Treasury Over Volcker Rule Delays.
Occupy the SEC (OSEC) has filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York against six federal agencies, over those agencies delay in promulgating a Final Rulemaking in connection with the Volcker Rule (Section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010).- more -
Congress passed the Volcker Rule in July 2010 in order to re-orient deposit-taking banks towards safe, traditional activities (like offering checking accounts and loans to individuals and businesses), and away from the speculative proprietary trading that has imperiled deposited funds as well as the global economy at large in recent years. Simply put, the Volcker Rule seeks to limit the ability of banks to gamble with the average persons checking account, or with public money offered by the Federal Reserve.
Almost three years since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, these agencies have yet to finalize regulations implementing the Volcker Rule. Section 619(b)(2)(A) of the Dodd-Frank Act set a mandatory deadline for the finalization of the Volcker regulations. That deadline passed over a year. Despite this fact, the federal agencies charged with finalizing the Rule have yet to do so. In fact, senior officials at the agencies have indicated that they do not intend to finalize the Volcker Rule anytime soon.
The longer the agencies delay in finalizing the Rule, the longer that banks can continue to gamble with depositors money and virtually interest-free loans from the Federal Reserves discount window. The financial crisis of 2008 has taught us that the global economy can no longer tolerate such unrestrained speculative activity. Consequently, OSEC has filed a lawsuit against the agencies, seeking declaratory, injunctive and mandamus relief in the form of a court order compelling them to finalize the Volcker Rule within a timeframe specified by the court
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/28/1190410/-Occupy-the-SEC-Sues-Fed-SEC-OCC-CFTC-FDIC-Treasury-Due-To-Failure-To-Implement-Volcker-Rule
Occupy Movement Files Lawsuit Against Every Federal Regulator of Wall Street
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022444086
Bedrock Consumer Protections Once Were Flogged as Exceedingly Dangerous, Monstrous Systems That Would Cripple the Economy
WASHINGTON, D.C. As the nation approaches the first anniversary of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, opponents are claiming that the new measure is extraordinarily damaging, especially to Main Street. But industrys alarmist rhetoric bears striking resemblance to the last time it faced sweeping new safeguards: during the New Deal reforms. The parallels between the language used both then and now are detailed in a report released today by Public Citizen and the Cry Wolf Project.
In the decades since the Great Depression, Americans acknowledged the necessity of having safeguards in place to prevent another crash of the financial markets, including the creation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and laws requiring public companies to accurately disclose their financial affairs. Although these are now seen as bedrock protections when they were first introduced, Wall Street cried foul, the new report, Industry Repeats Itself: The Financial Reform Fight, found.
The business communitys wildly inaccurate forecasts about the New Deal reforms devalue the credibility of the ominous predictions they are making today, said Taylor Lincoln, research director of Public Citizens Congress Watch division and author of the report. If history comes close to repeating itself, industry is going to look very silly for its hand-wringing over Dodd-Frank when people look back.
<...>
In fact, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is designed to prevent another Wall Street crash, which really made it tough on everyone by causing massive job loss and severely hurting corner butchers and bakers, as well as retirees, families with mortgages and others. The Dodd-Frank law increases transparency (particularly in derivatives markets); creates a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to ensure that consumers receive straightforward information about financial products and to police abusive practices; improves corporate governance; increases capital requirements for banks; deters particularly large financial institutions from providing incentives for employees to take undue risks; and gives the government the ability to take failed investment institutions into receivership, similar to the FDICs authority regarding commercial banks. Much of it has yet to be implemented.
- more -
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/07/12-0
Constructive criticism is good. The hyperbole isn't new, but the ultimate goal of constructive criticism should be progress, even when it doesn't go far enough in the eyes of the critics, it's still progress. The forces for positive change should never join with those who seek to reverse or stand in the way of progress.
By Travis Waldron
A week after a bipartisan group of lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee overwhelmingly approved a rollback of certain financial reforms contained in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, one of the Senates biggest consumer advocates is pushing back.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) came out swinging against the repeal of new rules meant to regulate derivatives, the complex financial instruments that were at the center of the storm that caused the financial crisis. The rules shouldnt be weakened or repealed just because big banks want to see them eliminated, Warren argued Thursday, The Hill reports:
The big banks won some battles and lost some battles during the financial regulatory debate in 2009 and 2010, but their tune never changed and their lobbying never let up, she said. It is dangerous for Congress to amend the derivatives provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act without at the same time taking accompanying steps to strengthen reform and maintain the laws equilibrium.
One rule the package of legislation advanced by the House committee would eliminate is a push out provision that would limit derivatives trading at banks that receive federal backing. Similar to the Volcker Rule, another provision Wall Street largely opposes, it is aimed at making taxpayer-backed banks safer to avoid crises similar to the one that thrust the United States into a recession and led to a bailout of major banks in 2008.
Warren isnt alone in her opposition to the rollback. The Obama administration has long opposed the repeal of the derivatives rules, and former Federal Deposit Insurance Commission chair Sheila Bair has said the swaps and derivatives rules need to be strengthened rather than weakened. Whether the rules will face a repeal vote in the Senate isnt clear: the House passed similar legislation in 2012, only to see it die in the Senate without a vote.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/05/17/2029651/elizabeth-warren-slams-dangerous-legislation-that-would-weaken-wall-street-reform/
by Richard Kirsch
Its not just about expanded care. Its about proving our government can be a force for the common good.
Why are John Boehner, Eric Cantor and Mitch McConnell so intent on stopping health care reform from ever taking hold? For the same reason that Republicans and the corporate Right spent more than $200 million in the last year to demonize health care in swing Congressional districts. It wasnt just about trying to stop the bill from becoming law or taking over Congress. It is because health reform, if it takes hold, will create a bond between the American people and government, just as Social Security and Medicare have done. Democrats, and all those who believe that government has a positive place in our lives, should remember how much is at stake as Republicans and corporate elites try to use their electoral victory to dismantle the new health care law.
My enjoyment of the MLB playoffs last month was interrupted by ads run by Karl Roves Crossroads front group against upstate New York Rep. Scott Murphy, who was defeated last Tuesday. Roves ads rained accusations on Murphy, including the charge of a government takeover of health care. Some might have thought that once the public option was removed from the health care legislation, Republicans couldnt make that charge. But it was never tied to the public option or any other specific reform. Republicans and their allies, following the advice of message guru Frank Luntz, were going to call whatever Democrats proposed a government takeover.
Theres nothing new here. Throughout American history, health care reform has been attacked as socialist. An editorial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in December 1932, just after FDRs election, claimed that proposals for compulsory insurance were socialism and communism inciting to revolution. The PR firm that the American Medical Association hired to fight Trumans push for national health insurance succeeded in popularizing a completely concocted quote that it attributed to Vladimir Lenin: Socialized medicine is the keystone to the arch of the Socialist State.
<...>
President Obama and Democrats in Congress understood the historical importance and profound moral underpinnings of the new health care law when they enacted it earlier this year. And they knew that the right-wing attack had soured the public in swing Congressional districts and states on reform. They stood up then. They will have to stand up again, understanding that if they give way to Republicans, they lose more than the expansion of health coverage. They lose the best opportunity in half a century to prove to Americans that government can be a force for the common good.
http://www.nextnewdeal.net/why-republicans-are-so-intent-killing-health-care-reform
Progressive dog
(6,900 posts)to this guy. I generally like articles from the nation.
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)My take on it is that the reason liberal POLICIES were enacted is because communism existed. Liberalism was the happy medium that saved capitalism from itself in the 30s. There was a REAL threat of a popular socialist revolution which allowed the reforms of FDR.
Progressive dog
(6,900 posts)So my take is close to yours.
What I don't agree with is that the liberal policies were enacted because communism existed. There was no real threat of a socialist revolution in the USA. In fact FDR ran on cutting the Hoover deficit. It was not until he took office that he moved his economic policies in a liberal direction.