It Can't Happen Here
by Lewis, Sinclair, Sinclair · first published 2018
36% recommend64% neutral
It Can't Happen Here is a semi-satirical American political novel published in 1935. It's Plot centers around newspaperman Doremus Jessup's struggle against the fascist regime of America' new president, Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip. Windripis elected on a platform promising to restore prosperity and $5,000 a year for all citizens. Once in office, however, he becomes a dictator, among other things, putting his enemies in concentration camps.
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More people need to read Sinclair Lewis' "It Can't Happen Here" (1935) which I didn't take so seriously when I first read it in high school.
on “George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon” ↗There's also "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis, from 1935. It envisions a totalitarian dictatorship taking over the US. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Can%27t_Happen_Here
on “War Is a Racket by General Smedley D. Butler (1933)” ↗>The danger here is that we might be lulling ourselves in a complacent state "it can't happen to us" this is the perfect chance to plug one of my favorite books, sinclair lewis' "it can't happen here." the content is predictable, but the implementation of the idea is fantastically detailed and-- in the wake of the US' current political situation-- outrageously predictive for being written decades…
on “George Soros: Facebook and Google are a menace to society” ↗Perhaps there should be a more modern marketing effort to push copies of Sinclair Lewis' "It Can't Happen Here"? It was written in 1935 but is stunningly modern. Empowerment of every dim-witted nibshit and mean-spirited person looking for the cover of "for the good of the country" or "for your safety" was a…
on “The TSA has a watch list of people who present “challenges” to screening” ↗…investigative reporting on (and published books on this as well). His "The Rise of Pseudo Fascism"[3] and "Rush, Newspeak, and Fascism"[4] are good summaries of his work. Also related are Sinclair Lewis' 1935 "It Can't Happen Here"[5] and Jack London's 1908 "The Iron Heel"[6]. [1] - https://interglacial.com/pub/text/Umberto_Eco_-_Eternal_Fasc... [2] - http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/ [3] - https://dneiwert.blogspot.com/The%20Rise%20Of%20Pseudo%20Fas...…
on “Umberto Eco: Ur-Fascism (1995) [pdf]” ↗In the same vein, his It Can't Happen Here is also well worth reading, as is Jack London's The Iron Heel. The more things change the more they stay the same.
on “America, 1926: What a Forgotten 100-Year-Old Report Says About Who We Are” ↗Another good bit of reading material is the book 'It Can't Happen Here' by Sinclair Lewis. Bit of a warning, though, it might hit way too close to home for comfort for American readers. It was written in 1935 but still quite relevant if not prescient. I think it is good…
on “Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across the US” ↗…years. You can find clear bias through sources such as I.F. Stone (active 1950s -- 1970s), or George Seldes (1930s -- 1960s, lived to 1995). Earlier muckrakers included Upton Sinclair (The Jungle and It Can't Happen Here, 1910s -- 1950s), Ida M. Tarbell (The History of Standard Oil, 1890s -- 1920s), and Lincoln Steffans and Ray Stannard Baker (both late 19th century / early 20th). There's a phenomenal interview with…
on “The Push for a “PBS for the Internet”” ↗This reads like Buzz Windrip's list from It Can't Happen Here. It can happen here.
on “Donald Trump’s Contract with the American Voter [pdf]” ↗"It Can't Happen Here", a novel by Sinclair Lewis. It was written in 1935 during the rise of totalitarian regimes in Italy and Germany, but before WW2. The prevailing wisdom at the time was that the American democracy was…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗“Huey Long” by T. Harry Williams. The politician who very well could have defeated Roosevelt and the loose inspiration behind Upton Sinclair’s “It Can’t Happen Here”. “Reminisces of a Stock Operator” by Edwin Lefevre. Thinly veiled autobiography of Jesse Livermore, a 1920/30’s trader and his experiences, including foreseeing the crash of 1929.
on “Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?” ↗…years ago watched it with the SO, she loved it. It's hilarious how the entity who looks most like a lizard in the whole thing is our hero, played by Marc Singer. Interestingly, the plot was based on It Can't Happen Here, "a 1935 dystopian political novel by American author Sinclair Lewis. It describes the rise of a US dictator similar to how Adolf Hitler gained power." "director–producer Kenneth Johnson wrote an adaptation…
on “V (1983 Miniseries)” ↗…Reagan is misquoting there.[1] Something like that is often attributed to either Huey Long or Sinclair Lewis, but neither actually wrote that. Or even close. The closest match is from Sinclair Lewis' book "It Can't Happen Here": "He was afraid that the world struggle today was not of Communism against Fascism, but of tolerance against the bigotry that was preached equally by Communism and Fascism. But he saw too that in America…
on “Rights, Laws, and Google” ↗…it’s directly relevant to this post. It is overly verbose and the characters are pretty flat, but the core idea seems pretty interesting to me. The writing is very different but has a similar feel to It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair. Even if they aren’t completely realistic it’s good to question the US’s exceptionalism and think about how things could go wrong here. I’ve never quite understood the hostility towards Atlas…
on “What happens when the competent opt out” ↗Fun fact: the creators of V wanted to make a version of the classic novel warning about Fascism coming to America, "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis, but it was deemed too cerebral for American audiences by networks. So they swapped the fascists for aliens in disguise.
on “Pentagon Has Been Pushing Americans to Believe in UFOs for Decades, New Report” ↗