FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT AND SOCIALISM
(Much of the information comes from The Big Lie, D’Souza, 2017)
My grandmother didn’t have much interest in government or politics but she did think that Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt was a great president; so, I write this with some trepidation because I too, for a long time, was fooled by the propaganda of the liberal left to cover the socialistic aspects of FDR’s terms. I am not writing this to besmirch FDR or diminish the fact that “some” people were helped by his programs; but to help pull the curtain of deception back from his administration and reveal, not only truth about him, but also the present Democratic Party and the so-called “progressive” left.
In his State of the Union address, President Trump was entirely right to reject “new calls to adopt socialism in our country.” He was right to add that “America was founded on liberty and independence — not government coercion,” and to “renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.”
Unfortunately, most Democrats have had a favorable attitude toward socialism and that can be seen in AOC, Rashida Tlaib, Bernie Sanders, and Julie Gonzales of Colorado. Recently, 57 percent of Democrats reported such a favorable attitude, well above the 47 percent who said they have a positive attitude toward capitalism. By contrast, 71 percent of Republicans are upbeat about capitalism, and only 16 percent feel positively about socialism.
In his State of the Union address, President Trump was entirely right to reject “new calls to adopt socialism in our country.” He was right to add that “America was founded on liberty and independence — not government coercion,” and to “renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.”
Unfortunately, most Democrats have had a favorable attitude toward socialism and that can be seen in AOC, Rashida Tlaib, Bernie Sanders, and Julie Gonzales of Colorado. Recently, 57 percent of Democrats reported such a favorable attitude, well above the 47 percent who said they have a positive attitude toward capitalism. By contrast, 71 percent of Republicans are upbeat about capitalism, and only 16 percent feel positively about socialism.
In order to answer the question of whether FDR was socialist, we need to take a quick look at his predecessor, Pres. Woodrow Wilson, who was a progressive as was FDR. Many of today’s progressives believe that progressivism is in the middle between socialism and capitalism, but that is a deception to validate progressivism. In all reality, socialism, fascism, and progressivism are three similar, though not identical, forms of leftism. Wilson was the first president to ridicule the American founders. He called their ideas of individual rights, decentralized power, and checks and balances, simple-minded and outdated. Wilson preferred centralized power and him at the helm and society in obedience to progressive leftist dictates. Wilson implemented racist policies throughout federal government. Wilson was a racist, as most of his Democratic predecessors going back to Andrew Jackson were. He enforced segregation and was responsible for the rise of the KKK because he allowed the screening of “The Birth of a Nation” in the White House with his cabinet and influential friends. His praise of the racist movie made the KKK popular. |
Wilson also created a propaganda ministry similar to ministries created by Hitler and Mussolini. This ministry bullied the press and opposition. They encouraged vigilantes to threaten and even beat up ideological nonconformists. They encouraged children to spy on their parents and neighbors. More people were arrested or jailed under Wilson’s administration than under Mussolini during all of the 1920’s.
FDR was navy secretary under Wilson and never did he disagree with Wilson’s actions. FDR and his team openly spoke of the New Deal as a continuation of Wilson’s policies. Both Hitler and Mussolini praised FDR and saw the progressive New Deal as a partial realization of the ideals of both fascism and National Socialism. FDR had great admiration for Mussolini and encouraged his cabinet to visit Italy and study Mussolini’s fascist policies to see if they would work for the US. A study of writers, editors, economists of FDR’s time show their praise for Mussolini and praise for FDR whose New Deal represented “Fabian Fascism” which was a hybrid of socialism and fascism. Even Mussolini commented the FDR’s New Deal “resembles that of fascism.” A Nazi newspaper said that while maintaining a “fictional appearance of democracy,” in reality FDR’s political course is “a strong national socialism.” |
FDR’s New Deal included the NRA, National Recovery Act which spelled the death of the free market in US. It empowered the federal government to establish coalitions of labor and management in every industry to set production targets, wages, prices, and even minimum and maximum working hours. The NRA legislature raised income taxes, corporation taxes and expanded the government’s power of eminent domain to confiscate private land for public use. FDR adviser, Rexford Tugwell said NRA was designed to eliminate the anarchy of the competitive system. The director of the NRA was a fascist and published a NRA pamphlet entitled “Capitalism and Labor Under Fascism”.
Unfortunately for FDR, the Supreme Court struck down NRA. To get what he wanted, FDR threatened to increase the number of judges from 9 to 15. This is the fascist contempt for the role of the Supreme Court as the conservator of minority rights and the system of checks and balances. The Supreme Court, in panic, turned around and gave FDR what he wanted.
Unfortunately for FDR, the Supreme Court struck down NRA. To get what he wanted, FDR threatened to increase the number of judges from 9 to 15. This is the fascist contempt for the role of the Supreme Court as the conservator of minority rights and the system of checks and balances. The Supreme Court, in panic, turned around and gave FDR what he wanted.
FDR gave us the welfare state and the Left have further expanded it. FDR convinced the Democratic congress to give him unchecked control over the economy. In effect, by invoking “economic emergency” during the Great Depression and “national emergency” during WWII, FDR was able to assume quasi-dictatorial powers. (Sound familiar?)
FDR intimidated private companies and private people to submit to his initiatives. The best example of this is the Blue Eagle program. If you approved FDR’s programs you got a Blue Eagle sign to put up in your business and people were encouraged not to shop at stores without it. Same thing as using the “swastika” or “Heil Hitler salute” to designate “who is for us and who is against us”. The FCC was established to require radio stations to have transcripts dealing with public affairs submitted to them for approval. CBS and NBC both banned critics of the New Deal from their stations. (Sound familiar?) |
FDR cozied up to and made deals with the worst racists in America. This draws FDR closer to Nazism than to fascism. FDR appointed Hugo Black, a former KKK member, to the Supreme Court. FDR supported an effort to block Republican anti-lynching bills. FDR cut blacks out of most New Deal programs including Social Security and unemployment benefits. Republicans and blacks called for desegregation in the military and promotion by merit. FDR refused. The FHA segregated housing, the CCC was segregated, atomic bomb research segregated and black journalists were excluded from the president’s press conferences. And let’s not forget the 120,000 Japanese that were put into, what FDR call “concentration camps”. You judge if FDR and his progressives were fascists. People will argue that he brought the US out of the Depression and WWII, but at what price? Was it really worth decades of blacks being lynched and systematically discriminated against in order to push through a handful of New Deal programs? FDR certainly was able to expand centralized power and that is why we are in the situation we are now. The Democratic Party controls the FBI, IRS, Dept of Justice, Department of Education, FCC, the Department of Defense and all major media for their policies. |
Is our country run by socialists and fascists or is our country democratic, fair, and just? Is Trump a dictator or is the Democrat Party and its president guilty of trying to control every area of our lives: public education, our health, our ability to express our opinions, our culture, our Christian faith, and our right for justice? Was Franklin D. Roosevelt a progressive fascist? Is the Democratic Party today progressive fascists?
KLN
KLN