...George Carlin, who explained on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher 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.”I've heard Jonah interviewed a few times now; and I read a lot of the criticism. And I don't feel badly that he has sat in front of some very hostile audiences because we all know that it only helps fuel the sales figures of the book. But I think even he is missing a point here:
I’m persuaded that Carlin was right — to the extent that fascism of any kind will come to America, it will do so in the guise of something “progressive.” Indeed, American progressives, particularly before Hitler arrived on the scene in the 1930s, were openly sympathetic to Italian fascism. This isn’t to say they copied it (or the fascism of Soviet Russia), as many claim. But rather that the ideas that gave birth to and fueled American progressivism — philosophical pragmatism, Bismarckian “top-down socialism,” Marxism, eugenics and more — share common intellectual sources and impulses with those that gave us both socialism and fascism.
Anyone who considers themselves even a moderate liberal gets no greater pleasure in the world than calling anyone more than a silly millimeter right of them a "Nazi" or a "fascist". It is, perhaps, the single most important slur in their vocabulary (other than, maybe George Bush); and poor Jonah, in trying to put a factual historical perspective on the phrase, is trying to take their toy away. Plain and simple.
The ever infantile Mr. Carlin being a perfect example; or, if you like, check out the "Comments" sections of Matt Yglesias blog or for Jonah's book on Amazon. Much of what you will read is simply the adolescent rage of those who will not condone the turning of their own insult on them. It's tough teaching history to a kindergarten class....
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