Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 2,431 ratings · 379 reviews

“Fascists,” “Brownshirts,” “jackbooted stormtroopers”—such are the insults typically hurled at conservatives by their liberal opponents. Calling someone a fascist is the fastest way to shut them up, defining their views as beyond the political pale. But who are the real fascists in our midst?

Liberal Fascism offers a startling new perspective on the theories and practices t...more “Fascists,” “Brownshirts,” “jackbooted stormtroopers”—such are the insults typically hurled at conservatives by their liberal opponents. Calling someone a fascist is the fastest way to shut them up, defining their views as beyond the political pale. But who are the real fascists in our midst?

Liberal Fascism offers a startling new perspective on the theories and practices that define fascist politics. Replacing conveniently manufactured myths with surprising and enlightening research, Jonah Goldberg reminds us that the original fascists were really on the left, and that liberals from Woodrow Wilson to FDR to Hillary Clinton have advocated policies and principles remarkably similar to those of Hitler's National Socialism and Mussolini's Fascism.

Contrary to what most people think, 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. They purged the church from public policy, promoted a new form of pagan spirituality, and inserted the authority of the state into every nook and cranny of daily life. The Nazis declared war on smoking, supported abortion, euthanasia, and gun control. They loathed the free market, provided generous pensions for the elderly, and maintained a strict racial quota system in their universities—where campus speech codes were all the rage. The Nazis led the world in organic farming and alternative medicine. Hitler was a strict vegetarian, and Himmler was an animal rights activist.

Do these striking parallels mean that today’s liberals are genocidal maniacs, intent on conquering the world and imposing a new racial order? Not at all. Yet it is hard to deny that modern progressivism and classical fascism shared the same intellectual roots. We often forget, for example, that Mussolini and Hitler had many admirers in the United States. W.E.B. Du Bois was inspired by Hitler's Germany, and Irving Berlin praised Mussolini in song. Many fascist tenets were espoused by American progressives like John Dewey and Woodrow Wilson, and FDR incorporated fascist policies in the New Deal.

Fascism was an international movement that appeared in different forms in different countries, depending on the vagaries of national culture and temperament. In Germany, fascism appeared as genocidal racist nationalism. In America, it took a “friendlier,” more liberal form. The modern heirs of this “friendly fascist” tradition include the New York Times, the Democratic Party, the Ivy League professoriate, and the liberals of Hollywood. The quintessential Liberal Fascist isn't an SS storm trooper; it is a female grade school teacher with an education degree from Brown or Swarthmore.

These assertions may sound strange to modern ears, but that is because we have forgotten what fascism is. In this angry, funny, smart, contentious book, Jonah Goldberg turns our preconceptions inside out and shows us the true meaning of Liberal Fascism.(less)

Hardcover, 405 pages

Published January 8th 2008 by Doubleday (first published January 8th 2007)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Constitution of the United States of America by Founding Fathers

The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the U... by Thomas Jefferson

The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton

Best Books to Become an Informed Voter

32nd out of 568 books — 754 voters

Confessions of a Guidette by Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi

Birth Control Is Sinful in the Christian Marriages and Also R... by Eliyzabeth Yanne Strong-And...

Dealbreakers: If You Like This Book, We Won't Get Along

439th out of 1,349 books — 4,953 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jun 10, 2012 mark monday marked it as unread-forever

here's a little something for the book itself:

and here's something for me, to wash the taste out of my mouth after stumbling upon such extreme stupidity and basically wanting to puke after reading this book's synopsis:

(view spoiler)

32 likes · like · see review

Jan 20, 2008 Varmint rated it 5 of 5 stars

In a way, it reminded me of a book on dog psychology i'd read a few years back. So many behaviors made sense when when you realize that there's still a good bit of wolf hardwired in.

Much of liberalism confused the hell out of me. From F.D.R.'s internment of the japanese, to enviromentalist terrorism, to Sean Penn's almost sexual attraction to Hugo Chavez. It only starts to make sense when you understand the fascist impulse at it's core.

A century ago there was one united progressive movement. Le...more

19 likes · like · see review

May 05, 2008 Jacki rated it 3 of 5 stars

A history of American/European politics.

The main thing I learned from this book: The political spectrum can not easily be divided into Christian vs. atheist or intellectual vs. uneducated or rich vs. poor. Fascism is about using government to create an ideal or evolved state, at the cost of freedom or taxes or what have you vs. than minimizing or restraining government and letting society evolve on it's own. Fascism isn't about racism, or Nazis or military power. So a lot of liberal action and p...more

4 likes · like · see review

Apr 06, 2008 Kenny rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: current-events

In political circles, there is probably no word more misused and misunderstood than "fascism." Goldberg's exhaustive review of the sources and ideology of fascism prove, once again, that popular meanings are often diametrically opposed to the actual facts: that fascism has historically been a malady of the left, not the right, though there have been a few right-wing fascists, though they are nothing compared with the Mussolinis and Hitlers, both statists and corporatists par excellence. The book...more

11 likes · like · see review

Sep 19, 2008 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Total Stars = 3

Entertainment: +.5 Stars
Education: +1 Star
Readability: +.5 star
Innovation: +.5 Stars
Inspiration: +.5 Stars

Good points made by the author.

1. Fascism is a misused term that is often unfairly applied to conservatives. The word is clearly ill-defined and poorly used. It is not right to call our fellow citizen’s by these terms. There are plenty of other good ones to go around (if you need to resort to name calling). Of course name calling is not going to bring anyone around to your...more

14 likes · like · see review

Apr 15, 2008 Ian rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone interested in the history of Fascism

(Note that the listed title is wrong. It is actually "Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning")

This is a fascinating book. Jonah Goldberg traces the history of "Fascism", from Rousseau through Bismarck, the Progressives, Woodrow Wilson, Mussolini, FDR, the Nazis (remember, "Nazis" is short for "National Socialists" - look at the Nazi party platform: environmentalism, animal rights, organic food (Hitler and many of the top officials were...more (Note that the listed title is wrong. It is actually "Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning")

This is a fascinating book. Jonah Goldberg traces the history of "Fascism", from Rousseau through Bismarck, the Progressives, Woodrow Wilson, Mussolini, FDR, the Nazis (remember, "Nazis" is short for "National Socialists" - look at the Nazi party platform: environmentalism, animal rights, organic food (Hitler and many of the top officials were very strict vegetarians), nationalization of industries, confiscation of business profits, large-scale expansion of "old age welfare", etc. - they were most emphatically left-wingers, *not* right-wingers!), LBJ and the radical Left of the 1960's, and through the Liberal Democrats of today (who insist on calling themselves "Progressives" again).

Despite the fact that today the term "Fascist" has come to mean "anyone the Left doesn't like for any reason", historically, Fascism has actually been a product of the political Left. The "welfare state", so beloved of "Progressives", was originally an invention of Mussolini. As opposed to the explicitly atheist Communism, Fascism itself is a pseudo-religious cult of the state, where the government replaces God as the image of fulfillment. It is through the government that peoples' lives are given meaning, and the government may do anything for the "general good".

In order to continue to fuel the growth of government, fascists require a constant stream of crises. Wilson had WWI, but other fascistic leaders had to use other crises as the "moral equivalent of war", in order to mobilize people and reduce the resistance of the populace to taking commands from the government. FDR used the Great Depression; LBJ had the misfortune of coming to power at a very good time, so he had to invent out of whole cloth the so-called "War on Poverty" to mobilize people to acquiesce to his "Great Society" programs. Modern "Progressives" pretend that everything is "for the children" to attempt to achieve the same effect.

The book is heavily footnoted, providing clear proof of Goldberg's claims. It is hard to deny that the Nazis were left-wing socialists when their party platform (reproduced in the book's Appendix) reads like something that could mostly be printed on a Hillary or Obama campaign website. It is also very clear that, not only did Progressives such as Woodrow Wilson and FDR admire the Fascist governments of Mussolini and Hitler, they did so openly and specifically. Letters, articles, and speeches by Progressives, Wilson, FDR, Hitler, and Mussolini openly stating their mutual admiration for each others' policies are also cited.

Given the rampant historical illiteracy of today, books like this are sorely needed. It is an excellent counter to the revisionist history of the modern Left.
(less)

8 likes · like · see review

Apr 13, 2008 Jake rated it 5 of 5 stars

As Jonah Goldberg says, having heard to many times how blithely Conservatives are equated to fascists, he set out to prove the philosophical, ethical, and historical continuity between the modern liberal who makes such accusations, and concrete fascism. He makes the point that the word itself doesn't mean much except a synonym for evil with a connotation of the Holocaust. His thesis seems to be that liberalism or progressivism, socialism/Bolshevism and Fascism are all intellectual heirs of a few...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 20, 2013 Marvin added it

Shelves: the-good-old-college-try

Sorry, Gave this a try. Complete hogwash written by a alleged intellectual for the purpose of rewriting history into a form of right-wing political correctness. Most liberals are vegetarians (a lie right there). Hitler was a vegetarian. Therefore Liberals are fascists. Think I'm kidding? Read the book. As for me I only got a third of the way through it and won't even bother to rate it.

4 likes · like · see review

May 11, 2012 Owen rated it 1 of 5 stars

From Roger Griffin:

Even if it purports to be (i.e. masquerades as) a thoroughly researched ‘alternative’ or ‘secret’ analysis and history of fascism, Liberal Fascism is to the trained eye a patent exercise in propaganda. Even ‘polemics’ is a euphemism here, implying a provocation to heated debate rather than the attempt to pass off an Ersatz for the real thing. An example of such propagandistic ‘substitution’ is the Nazi attempt to popularize an anti-Semitic variant of jazz to counter the appeal...more

11 likes · like · see review

Aug 03, 2008 Vincent rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: current

In short, Goldberg convincingly demonstrates that fascism is a leftist ideology.

Way back in high school government class, I was taught that communism was on the extreme left of "the political spectrum," whereas fascism was on the extreme right. This always threw me for a loop; if Hitler was fascist, and fascism was an extreme right ideology, then why did his party have such a leftist-sounding name--the "National Socialist German Workers' Party"?

Goldberg's Liberal Fascism answers that and many o...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 18, 2008 Sean rated it 5 of 5 stars

First off, goodreads' got the subtitle wrong, it's "The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning."
This is an incredible book. Some people will be turned off by the provocative title and cover, but don't be fooled: this isn't some Ann Coulterish tome of cleverness, shock value, and name-calling. This is a history book. Goldberg underlines his points with sound research and analysis, and digs up many surprising ideological commonalities between the modern Ameri...more

4 likes · like · see review

May 15, 2008 Anthony rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone who EVER plans to vote, or presumes to voice an opinion on current political events.

Shelves: politics-political-thought, favorites, history, non-fiction

This book is brilliant. It is a look at many aspects of U.S. and World history you THOUGHT you knew. You may be surprised. You will certainly be educated. This isn’t a book you read casually. You will find yourself underlining, cross-referencing, and annotating this book as you go. I was frequently cross-referencing other sources, both for varying perspectives, and to review people and events for which the author presumed background knowledge. Even so, I did not find the process cumbersome or te...more This book is brilliant. It is a look at many aspects of U.S. and World history you THOUGHT you knew. You may be surprised. You will certainly be educated. This isn’t a book you read casually. You will find yourself underlining, cross-referencing, and annotating this book as you go. I was frequently cross-referencing other sources, both for varying perspectives, and to review people and events for which the author presumed background knowledge. Even so, I did not find the process cumbersome or tedious. You may actually find yourself reading late into the night. The insights and revelations just keep coming. You will see correlations with historical events and current political trends and attitudes that will keep you awake at night. No one should be allowed to register to vote in any election until they have read this book.

Addendum, 05/15/08;

I've been going back through this book again, reviewing my notes and highlights (I know, I'm neurotic...). And, at the risk of being accused of engaging in hyperbole, I have to say that Jonah Goldberg is a genius, and this is one of the most important books I have ever read. Many books are llike popping Junior Mints and swigging Diet Coke at the movie, compared to Goldberg’s candle lit gourmet meal, served in an elegant private suite with a view of the ocean and a warm fire, with your one true love and a live string quartet providing ambiance, where course after course inexplicably exceeds the last and you never feel too full. When I first read the book, I was a little impatient to get to current issues as the author was establishing historical perspective, Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler, in the first chapters. However, as he continues to make his case, and to relate more contemporary events and issues with these historical precedents, the staggering realities just jump off page after page, grab you by the collar, and shout, “do you not see what this is and where it’s going?!” Since reading this book I can’t watch the news, read the paper, or listen to political commentary without seeing parallels with the socialist and/or fascist agenda so clearly illuminated in it’s pages. Please, please, please read this book. It will change your understanding of our world.
(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Mar 07, 2009 Robert rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is a whole section of history you've never known. Some of the things I once believed have been turned on their head. Mussolini has long been attributed to being the first fascist, but he actually followed in the footsteps of our very own Woodrow Wilson. Wilson was a progressive. As Wilson put it, The essence of Progressivism was that the individual "marry his interests to the state." Totalitarianism in other words. If that isn't fascism I don't know what it is. And guess who actually c...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 11, 2008 Skylar Burris marked it as sampled-abandoned

Shelves: history, politics

So-called fascists such as Hitler and Mussolini were socialists. This is hardly a revelation. It's quite obvious, even down to the very name of Hitler's party. If this does come as a shock and a revelation to the reader, I can only imagine the reader probably isn't going to be convinced of the obvious truth by this book either. I think it's good someone finally made a book-length effort to try to lay to rest the complete misuse of the term fascism and the myth that Hitler was some kind of "right...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 08, 2008 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

With a Hitler-esque smiley face and the title "Liberal Fascism" gracing the cover, a casual political observer might view Jonah Goldberg's new tome as a work of contradictory hyperbole. But after reading the introduction, it becomes clear that Goldberg is laying out a serious and somewhat-scholarly argument that modern American liberalism is a sibling of the Fascist movements that swept Italy and Germany prior to World War II. His central thesis is that, while "fascism" is a political movement w...more With a Hitler-esque smiley face and the title "Liberal Fascism" gracing the cover, a casual political observer might view Jonah Goldberg's new tome as a work of contradictory hyperbole. But after reading the introduction, it becomes clear that Goldberg is laying out a serious and somewhat-scholarly argument that modern American liberalism is a sibling of the Fascist movements that swept Italy and Germany prior to World War II. His central thesis is that, while "fascism" is a political movement with no agreed-to definition, it can best be summarized as "the religion of the state." The book's title comes from a speech by socialist author H.G. Wells, and the cover illustration was suggested by George Carlin during the course of an anti-Bush tirade.

Part partisan-polemic and part historical exposition, Liberal Fascism looks at the philosophies that fed into American progressivism (from the French Revolution to the writings of Georges Sorel) and argues that the same beliefs underpinned the European fascists. Jonah Goldberg does not argue that fascism is inherently evil; he asserts that it is similar to the economic planning and government interventionism that are advocated by progressives and modern liberals. He also tries to dispel the belief that fascism and communism are polar opposites; fascism is a nationalist-socialism while Leninist communism takes more of an internationalist flavor, but Goldberg argues that both are populist and leftist movements.

In response to Sinclair Lewis's anti-fascist "It Can't Happen Here," Jonah Goldberg points out that it HAS happened here. Whether you call it Wilsonian war socialism, the New Deal, the Great Society, or Compassionate Conservatism, America has often strayed from its founding principles of limited government in the form of "smiley-face, nice fascism."

The book's strongest suit is the fascinating history it dredges up, exposing historical facts that have been swept under the rug (such as Nazi animal-rights laws, or Rexford Tugwell's admission that the New Deal was a logical extension of Hoover Administration policies.) But the demands of brevity and the need to selectively choose historical facts to fit the thesis often erode the historical discussion. Goldberg often speaks in generalities and omits concrete examples when making his points. His chapter on "Liberal Racism" and eugenics could have benefited by talking about America's flirtations with imperialism at the turn of the last century, particularly in regards to the Philippines.

In spite of its partisan pretenses, Liberal Fascism is an entertaining and educational read. The hyperbole suggested by the cover is kept in check repeatedly throughout the text with sober assessments and monologues on the points the author wants the reader to take away. I give it four of five stars, but I'd only recommend it to libertarians and conservative believers in small government. Jonah Goldberg argues very effectively that the Italian and German fascist movements sprang from the same progressive ideals that were active in America, albeit with a twist imposed by the cultural conditions that existed in Italy and Germany between the World Wars. While he attempts to label fascism as a movement of the political left, he inadvertently demonstrates how the labels of "left" and "right" are utterly devoid of meaning in our society.(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Aug 15, 2008 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: reference-books

I really don't know what I think of this. I liked at least the first half of it a lot; it's written in an engaging style, and it contains a lot of whitewashed history and things I just flat didn't know. It also really turns the way you view the world on its head; or rights it, depending on how you look at it. On the other hand, the second half is more uneven and starts to get a little repetitive. I also found it kind of poorly organized; we'd be trucking along talking about JFK and LBJ and then...more

3 likes · like · see review

Aug 06, 2008 Peter rated it 4 of 5 stars

Goldberg is an American conservative author and commentator. He claims to be America's most widely-read political columnist under the age of 40 (Ann Coulter's nearly 50!).

A few years ago, Goldberg's got into a tizzy about left-wing (read: liberal) writers calling G.W. Bush a "fascist." By the liberal definition, fascism refers to aspects of the Bush administration including:

a) Obsession with national security
b) Religion and government being intertwined
c) Powerful and continuing nationalism
d) The...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 15, 2008 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Paul by: pmanat@gmail.com

Shelves: politics

Convincing demonstration that facism has its roots in liberalism, progressivism, and socialism; and the popular reliance facists had on pragmatist philosophy is invoked to explain differences between facists and some of the non-liberal ideas (or debates with socialists) found in some facists (at times). Ties to Social Darwinism are explored and demonstrated to be logical outworkings of facist and liberal ideology. Religious issues such as the "social gospel" heresy are rightly linked to the abov...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 09, 2008 Jeremy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Fantastic look at the history of liberal thought in this country. Liberal philosophy is, as Goldberg masterfully argues, happy fascism. Extensive outline and history of this movement. Very well documented and supported. If your favorite enlightenment thinkers are John Locke and Adam Smith and your political mantra is maximum individual freedom under the benign protection of a minimalist state, then you have been handed a gift with this treatise. Goldberg shines a light (a lot of light) on the tr...more

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 06, 2009 Bianca rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book inherently changed the way I see the world. I was always taught to see FDR and his New Deal as heroic, but I was never told that the ideology of the Roosevelt administration was to "create a religion of government, to liberate the people from their beliefs in individualism and the free market." Nor did I realize that Roosevelt himself admitted "what we are doing in this country were some of the things being done in Russia and even some of the things done under Hitler in Germany, but we...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 22, 2009 Gary rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jonah Goldberg's book "Liberal Fascism" is long overdue. This should be evident to anyone who rejects the party line of the reigning collectivist orthodoxy in America. Such a person will have had the experience of being labeled a "reactionary" or an "ultra-conservative" and of being informed that his opinions, if taken a bit further, would make him a fascist.

This charge, as inevitable as death and taxes in a debate with a hard-core Leftist, leaves its victim stunned and confused, like the prover...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 16, 2009 Michael David Cobb rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am about halfway through Jonah Goldberg's 'Liberal Fascism', and it's truly a fascinating set of ideas. Goldberg has given me quite a bit to think about considering what I did and did not know about American history. But in many ways this is exactly the book I have been needing to know.

As I mentioned before, or probably never said it this way before, the most difficult think about being a black conservative is that you haven't inherited it. Which means, like any bounder on the ascent, you know...more I am about halfway through Jonah Goldberg's 'Liberal Fascism', and it's truly a fascinating set of ideas. Goldberg has given me quite a bit to think about considering what I did and did not know about American history. But in many ways this is exactly the book I have been needing to know.

As I mentioned before, or probably never said it this way before, the most difficult think about being a black conservative is that you haven't inherited it. Which means, like any bounder on the ascent, you know very well what you don't like but you're not sure exactly if getting what you do like gets you into. We are all aware of the rhetorical catfights that certain conservatives like to get into and there is a great risk of falling into blatant demogoguery. It is difficult to unlearn progressivism without being slavish.

What is not said often enough is that blackfolks who bother to do battle as conservative specifically with progressive blackfolks are often motivated by the same premises as progressives - that some intellectual vanguard pointing in the proper direction is going to lift all boats. I think that in divesting myself of the prerogatives of the Talented Tenth, that I have avoided that trap - but it does consequently leave me wondering why I talk to or about blackfolks at all.

These are some of the interesting consequences of transcribing my journey as I get through towards more contemporary histories in Goldberg, especially with regard to the role of the Black Panthers and the Black Power Movement. You see in assigning the dichotomy necessary to make his point clear, there is no question but that black politics in significant components lie directly in the scheme of fascism. For what it's worth, a great deal of American politics does, but I suppose that I will have some responsibility to deal with the black part. In some ways that will be quite easy as my record on the Fifty Page Book Men and the Coalition of the Damned is fairly clear. But the premises of unity and collectivism, very deeply imbedded in Progressivism and in black identity itself - well, smacking that with a stick is going to be costly in terms of the noise I will have to suffer for doing so.

Be all that as it may, this book is the antidote to Howard Zinn. It is absolute required reading for anyone who cares to understand what conservatives are NOT. That is because it makes for the first honest accounting of how exactly to view that period in world history when the context of the evil of the 20th century can be explained in American terms.

Goldberg does a damning good job, but perhaps not as persuasive as possible (yet the first time I've heard it) accounting for the intellectual tenor of the 20th century with regard to the reconception of government. Although his book is complete with a fairly robust accounting of the intellectual leaders and concepts of the century, he decides rather to concentrate his focus on the great men. That is the single weakness of the book aside from some variously scattershot factoids that are often thrown in for effect. (For example, Malcolm X is only mentioned once for 'by any means necessary') which he paints as nihilist, and then left alone. I suspect that as he loads down his book with such references it becomes overwrought with nitpicky and debatable talking points rather than tracing a smooth inevitable arc and consequences of the philosophical ends of Progressivism. The difficulty is thus with justifications of cramming everything under fascism which is not the sum of all evils that in my view totalitarianism actually is. The question I think would be better answered is how to rescue the world from dictatorship through the application of classic liberalism and the separation of powers inherent in the American system. But maybe that's just me.

But what remains the unquestionable strength of the book is how Goldberg illustrates what the Left has done to spin treachery of its own design onto the shoulders of the Right. He demonstrates case after case of how liberalisms of the 'third way' are drawn to fascistic themes.

It should be instructive to understand the very basics of fascism which have basically everything to do with the origin of the word from the Roman fasces in which a set of slim, individually weak sticks, are bound tightly together to form a weapon. The premises of fascism always subordinate the individual towards a nationalist scheme of group identity and meaning. Goldberg sees fascism as essentially an organizing methodology with consistent themes in Nazi Germany, Mussolini's Italy and Wilson's warsocialist America. He then traces these themes through FDR's New Deal, and Progressives on the Left from Dewey to current thinkers and politicians on the Left from Hillary Clinton to Michael Lerner.

The book is an armory of ammo showing the excesses of the Left and their efforts to conceal their errors, and it essentially breaks the stranglehold liberals claim to the moral high ground. Extraordinary book.(less)

1 like · like · see review

May 25, 2013 Ayame Sohma rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: politics

Jonah begins his book by equating fascism with totalitarianism, of the kind warned against in Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World. What he appears to be railing against is paternalism on a grand scale, where the government controls everything "for our own good." And yet, despite railing against liberal paternalism, he ignores the socially conservative paternalistic fascism that is the result of extreme right-wing Christianity.

He decries college students who can see "nothing wrong" with th...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 07, 2013 Silvio rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: quitters, non-fiction, 2011

Revisionist and hypocritical. I quit early into the second chapter.

A friend of mine had me borrow this book not long after it came out (probably early 2009). I put it on the shelf and neglected it all these years, and finally decided to go through it.

I'm not a fan of books by people who self-identify as "conservative" or "liberal", and who write with the intent of making "the other" into a villain. To Goldberg's credit, he goes through pains (at least in the parts I read) to state clearly that...more Revisionist and hypocritical. I quit early into the second chapter.

A friend of mine had me borrow this book not long after it came out (probably early 2009). I put it on the shelf and neglected it all these years, and finally decided to go through it.

I'm not a fan of books by people who self-identify as "conservative" or "liberal", and who write with the intent of making "the other" into a villain. To Goldberg's credit, he goes through pains (at least in the parts I read) to state clearly that so-called liberals are not Fascists or Nazis, however the modern American Liberal ideology may borrow from those verboten strands. And honestly, I appreciated this. Neoliberals and neoconservatives aren't all that different to me, and when I see one camp telling the other camp that they don't practice authoritarianism correctly, I lose interest.

However, he is less ecumenical when it comes to the things that I have strong opinions on and care about deeply. I'll share one example of such a thing, and it will also double as an example of my claim of the author's hypocrisy. In making the point that totalitarianism and fascism were products of the early- to mid-20th century European left, and how those ideas have informed the modern American left, the author points to health and organic foods as the products of liberals, and connects them to interest in the same by the Nazis. So what I'm reading is that the author, a conservative, shares Mussolini's totalitarian philosophy of "everything within the State", as he is linking health choices to politics (health choices which, by the way, I also choose).

For me, the book worked best as a historical indictment of American neoliberalism, and floundered when it became a defense of American neoconservatism. Therefore, I decided to ignore the things that I didn't care for and just read the book for the history. After all, I couldn't give my friend his book back after four years with an "eh, didn't get around to it".

Then came the revisionism. Early in the second chapter, the author takes for granted the utter lunacy of the idea that the Bush family had any dealings with Nazi Germany in the 1930s and '40s, despite evidence that they absolutely did. I re-read the section to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding, then referred to the glossary for any other references to the Bush family. Sure enough, the author goes on several more times throughout the book to further state that George Herbert Walker and Prescott Bush had nothing to do with the Nazis or Nazi financiers, and then went on to call anyone who claims such to be a "crank".

That's when I was done. I can't really read a revisionist book "for the history", now can I?(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 07, 2012 Tim Pendry rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: cultural-studies, economics, feminism, history, nineteenth-century, north-american, popular-culture, pr-propaganda, public-policy, twentieth-century

This is an insightful but ultimately flawed polemic from a traditional American conservative who identifies, with some justification, the 'fascistic' tendencies within American progressivism.

Unfortunately, he over-eggs his pudding, is highly selective in his evidence and he clearly does not understand the European philosophical tradition very well.

The book is not going to be of enormous use outside America except in one respect - his criticisms of the third way progressive mentality do hold up...more

2 likes · like · see review

Sep 03, 2012 Sam Emsley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: politics

This book is incredibly enlightening. Members of the right have long been hounded with cries 'Nazi', and 'Fascist' every time they suggest anything counter to liberal dogma, and I, for one, am tired of the two being associated together in spite of their inherent ideological contradictions. The author expresses this same sentiment, and has written a well researched, somewhat polemical book detailing what should be common knowledge, but isn't.
I felt as if the author didn't undertake this book to p...more

like · see review

Jul 12, 2012 Bryan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Important to read the Preface and the Afterword, in fact it's my low opinion that you could skip everything between and be left with the very best parts. In the preface, Goldberg's definition of fascism is laid out in order to present a working definition. However, he is wise to note that the word doesn't really have a consistent meaning, is used in all sorts of different ways, and sometimes just becomes a word that means "something not desirable." In the Afterword, he reminds me of all the thin...more

like · see review

Jun 18, 2012 Rowan Lock rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is primarily a response to mudslinging by the left, and as a result it's mainly mudslinging itself. Fascism is an idea in itself, that's how people should see it. However, the nature of modern politics and the scapegoating of Fascism have turned it into a universal term of abuse, most of which is defined not by what Fascism itself offered forward, but what other ideologies think it is. Fascism's essentially contradictory nature has made it confusing to other ideologies, but this has al...more This book is primarily a response to mudslinging by the left, and as a result it's mainly mudslinging itself. Fascism is an idea in itself, that's how people should see it. However, the nature of modern politics and the scapegoating of Fascism have turned it into a universal term of abuse, most of which is defined not by what Fascism itself offered forward, but what other ideologies think it is. Fascism's essentially contradictory nature has made it confusing to other ideologies, but this has also allowed both left and right to claim the sum and total of Fascism is it's right-wing elements or it's left-wing elements, and the ideology as a coherent whole is lost.

If you want proof that Fascists were statists, not inspired by the American Founding Fathers (though one Ezra Pound claimed they were in his rambling Jefferson and/or Mussolini!) and drew inspiration from some left-wing sources, by all means read this book, but if you really want to understand what Fascism all was about and why Churchill, the Pope and the Italian establishment tolerated and even admired Fascism look elsewhere. The versions of Fascist history offered in the opening chapters are without meaningful context. Mussolini writes a programme of left-wing policies, says a load of left-wing sounding stuff and sweeps into power! The struggle with the Italian Socialists, how the Blackshirts played a vital role in stopping Italian agriculture becoming collectivised, broke the back of the (non-Fascist) Unions and eventually convinced the Monarchy to accept them as the protectors of the Kingdom from Bolshevism is almost entirely absent. Likewise, the account of German National Socialism likewise misses out vital elements, like the origin of the Swastika as a symbol of right-wing militias who helped end the German Revolution, the fact that the National Socialists came to power in coalition with right-wing parties (whom they as "Socialists" of course despised, but they still worked with them) and the nature of the Weimar Republic (it was run by Social Democratic Liberals!)

Another error (or deliberate lie, I can't decide which) is when he incorrectly invokes Orwell's Essay "Hitler, Wells and the World State" as proof of Well's supposed Fascism. Now, I happen to have read that essay and know it says nothing of the kind, in fact it says nearly the opposite. In it Orwell criticises Wells for being too-blindly anti-Nazi and not understanding the attraction or strength of National Socialist ideology. Effectively, says Orwell, Wells is a unerringly progressive optimist who doesn't have a Patriotic bone in his body, and therefore has not the slightest comprehension of Fascism's meaning.

And it's here that the crux of the matter lies, leaves out the vital element which divides left-wing utopian statism and the radical integralism of the right. Fascism emerged from essentially conservative principles, not as in the US constitution but as they are consistent with the Conservative philosophical tradition (it's notable here that William Joyce, the Anglo-Irish Nazi who delivered Nazi broadcasts to the British people during WWII considered Edmund Burke a National-Socialist prototype). Fascists did not believe in Utopia, they believed in tradition, endless struggle and opposed the ideas of the Enlightenment, the very ideas which Jonah claims are the origins of Fascism. This not make them Ron Paul, but it doesn't disqualify them from the right-wing. Most Fascists your likely to talk are going to hate Liberals, despise the left, lament the decline of western civilisation and happily label themselves as being of the right. Most of the pre-eminent historians of Fascism, including many cited by Goldberg, believe Fascism is of the radical right. This doesn't mean they are capitalists, indeed, from a Fascist perspective capitalism is left-wing.(less)

like · see review

May 18, 2012 Chris rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this book. The first bit, comparing the dinki-di fascists of Europe with the stated aims and documented actions of Woodrow Wilson and the early 20th century Progressives that shared his ideology, makes a good case. There are some excellent quotes of mutual admiration back and forth across the Atlantic, and Goldberg lifts the rock on a nasty squirming mass of human rights infringments and creepy propaganda from Wilson's war administration.

The section dealing with FDR is le...more I really wanted to like this book. The first bit, comparing the dinki-di fascists of Europe with the stated aims and documented actions of Woodrow Wilson and the early 20th century Progressives that shared his ideology, makes a good case. There are some excellent quotes of mutual admiration back and forth across the Atlantic, and Goldberg lifts the rock on a nasty squirming mass of human rights infringments and creepy propaganda from Wilson's war administration.

The section dealing with FDR is less convincing - Goldberg is a bad tendency to pile on brief quotes out of context that reminded me uncomfortably of Evangelical 'Bible Study' programs I was exposed to in high school. For example, this quote of JBS Haldane's is introduced into a discussion of the Progressive attitude to eugenics: "The dogma of human equality is no part of Communism ... the formula of Communism 'from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs' would be nonsense if abilities are equal." Only someone steeped in the race-obsessed society of the rebel North American colonies would leap to the conclusion that this quote has anything to do with eugenics at all.

Somewhere in his discussion of LBJ's Great Society Goldberg jumps the shark. The brush of 'liberal fascism' is applied more and more broadly until it nearly mirrors the use of 'fascism' by the Left to mean 'anything I don't like'. This section reminded me the treatment of the same period in Allan Bloom's "Closing of the American Mind" - which is not a good thing. The problem is that *some* of the aspects of fascism so clearly shared by Wilson and Roosevelt with Mussolini are also shared by the postwar progressive enterprise; some are not. The missing aspects are illustrated with reference to groups that thought LBJ was the devil incarnate. It doesn't make sense. It is like saying you have seen a tiger when you have really seen a tabby cat *and* a zebra.

A problem I had at the end was that Goldberg does not seem to recognise anything as 'conservative' except a narrow 'classical liberalism' which does not have any characteristics distinguishing it from libertarianism. Not that I could see, anyhow. The idea of a social conservativism that might validly be interested in using the power of the state to provide a minimal level of support for the disadvantaged and enforce traditional social norms, in the absence of an established Church and class structure to do those things, is to him a chimera; it is 'statolatry' and just another manifestation of fascism.

This blind spot might not be his fault. He comes from a country where conservatives were expelled or driven underground in a utopian revolution (to such an extent that William Marina, writing in 1975, can say that it is a "widespread, persistent, and dangerous myth" that they ever comprised a significant part of the population!) leaving libertarians and progressive idealists holding the fort. Goldberg briefly draws a distinction between a 'good, conservative' American revolution and a 'bad, radical' French revolution, but this is untenable. If you violently sever your connections with a country that is universally considered to be the most free, the most classically liberal, currently in existence, in order to make a polity that is more free and classically liberal, is that conservative? Is it not instead utopian, an example of the perfect being the enemy of the good? If, instead of forming the political institutions of your new polity on incremental modifications in the directions of freedom and classical liberalism of the existing ones, you create de novo an experimental system modelled most closely on republican Rome, is that conservative? Is it not instead wildly radical and utopian? The American revolution let the genie out of the bottle and began all this trouble. IMHO.

I found the wit and sparkle of Goldberg's briefer works in National Review almost wholly absent from this book. Which was a great pity.

Finally, Goldberg doesn't like "Dead Poets Society". This tragic discovery will haunt my dreams forever. :((less)

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 06, 2012 Dale rated it 5 of 5 stars

An Impressive Amount of Research

The traditional left-right concept of political beliefs is incorrect. Understanding this is key to understanding Goldberg's thesis that modern liberalism is the intellectual heir to Rousseau's ideas, the French Revolution and is, at the very least, the intellectual cousin to both fascism (especially Italian Fascism) and Soviet Communism.

To fully understand this you have to understand that measuring political philosophy with a one-dimensional left-right line lack t...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (11)

More editions...

Genres

Politics

146 users

History

96 users

Non Fiction

66 users

Philosophy

15 users

Politics > Political Science

7 users

Economics

7 users

Culture

4 users

History And Politics

4 users

Science

3 users

Literature > American

3 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Jonah Goldberg

Jonah Jacob Goldberg is an American conservative syndicated columnist and author. Goldberg is known for his contributions on politics and culture to National Review Online, where he is the editor-at-large. He is the author of Liberal Fascism, which reached #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list.

More about Jonah Goldberg...

Books by Jonah Goldberg

The Tyranny of Clichés: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas

Proud to Be Right: Voices of the Next Conservative Generation

Goldberg Variations: Jonah Goldberg's Best Cover Stories from National Review (On Dead Tree)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Liberal Fascism: ...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Liberal Fascism: The S...

“If there is ever a fascist takeover in America, it will come not in the form of storm troopers kicking down doors but with lawyers and social workers saying. "I'm from the government and I'm here to help.” — 52 people liked it

“America's political system used to be about the pursuit of happiness. Now More and more of us want to stop chasing it and have it delivered.” — 15 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning
avg rating	preview: Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning Goodreads rating: 3.95 (2431 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://gr-assets.com/book/show/88634.Liberal_Fascism?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320426921l/88634.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://gr-assets.com/book/show/88634.Liberal_Fascism?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning by Jonah Goldberg[/url]

Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website