Liberal fascism
by Jonah Goldberg · first published 2007
13mentions
4recommended by
12HN commenters
2014–2022first – last mentioned
33% recommend42% neutral25% critical
A startling new perspective on the theories and practices that define fascist politics. Replacing myths with research, journalist Goldberg reminds us that the original fascists were really on the left. The Nazis were ardent socialists (hence the term "National socialism"). They believed in free health care and guaranteed jobs. They confiscated inherited wealth and spent vast sums on public education. The Nazis declared war on smoking, supported abortion, euthanasia, and gun control. They loathed the free market, provided generous pensions for the elderly, and campus speech codes were all the r
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1. Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning by Jonah Goldberg 2. The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich A. Hayek 3. Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy…
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗…seemed the majority of folks on the internets felt they were obligated to let their freak flag fly. So color me confused. http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html Or at least give Jonah Goldberg credit for Liberal Fascism, written over a decade ago.
on “Politically-correct witch-hunt is killing free speech” ↗Agreed. In fact the authoritarian tendencies of the left actually go back even further. I recommend reading Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg.
on “Clarifying the structure and nature of left-wing authoritarianism” ↗If you're interested in developing that line of thought, I suggest reading Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning which is well researched and deeply insightful.
I'm continually astonished at the ultraconservative meme that Hitler was left-wing (which seems to originate with a book called 'Liberal Fascism' by Jonah Goldberg, although it has doubtless been floating around for much longer). Point out that one of the very first things that Hitler did on attaining power was have all the trade unionists arrested,…
on “George Orwell's review of Mein Kampf (1940)” ↗So the author of this piece appears on a panel to defend a book by an author who had published another book called, Liberal Fascism [0]. This piece is supposed to make me feel sorry for her? Well I don't fully understand the entire context of this person's story but I do know something about being publicly shamed. When I was a kid…
on “Shame Storm” ↗…holding leftist political beliefs has been the social norm since the 1950's in this country. I wish people would quit acting like some 13 year old liberals on Tumblr started this shit. Suggested Reading: Liberal Fascism, by Jonah Goldberg Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism, by Sean Hannity The Crucible, by Arthur Miller Literally any post on Breitbart, ever.
on “Oculus founder Palmer Luckey is developing border surveillance technology” ↗Have you read Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism? Did you like it? Agree? Disagree? I ask because I'm hoping someone can explain the mental gymnastics required to believe such nonsense.
on “Intel CEO leaves American Manufacturing Council” ↗…extremists. But as to left-wing extremists, he does also talk about that quite often, usually in rebuttal to accusations from the right. See, for instance, his extensive responses to Jonah Goldberg's book Liberal Fascism: Summary: http://prospect.org/article/jonah-goldbergs-bizarro-history-... More recent posts: http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/historians-stand-lib... http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/jonah-goldbergs-libe...…
on “The Cultural Axis” ↗…for decades. Rush Limbaugh is famous for popularizing the term 'Feminazi' and has been using it regularly since ~1995. Jonah Goldberg wrote a book a decade ago that conservatives love citing, called 'Liberal Fascism' and whose cover depicts a smiley-face button with a Hitler moustache. I could cite numerous other examples. It is simply false to suggest that this problem originates with the left, but it does (however…
…(For a good summary see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHXL00wY3nY). Among the people who have written about how the National Socialists were socialists is Jonah Goldberg (see https://www.amazon.com/Liberal-Fascism-American-Mussolini-Po...), whom you might not like, but is not alt-right, in that he disagrees with the alt-right on almost everything.
on “China Is Waging a Disinformation War Against Hong Kong Protesters” ↗…decided that their existing pejorative labels were losing their sting and they needed to label everything they disagreed with “fascism” and seriously try to sell the connections; Jonah Goldberg's book Liberal Fascism was a notable point in this trend.
…ideologies like racism, fascism, white-supremacy, etc, then you should oppose groups who try to combat moderate ideas by conflating them with the aforementioned dangerous ideologies. NOTE: The author of "Liberal Fascism" is a moderate conservative, by the way, and trying to associate him with extreme right-wing views is exactly the problem (and we can acknowledge as much without endorsing his ideas).
on “Shame Storm” ↗