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Entry: Springtime for Fascism Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/springtime_for_fascism#18658 Post contents: Some observations FDR was closer to fascism than to bolcheviquism. If nothing else he lacked a coherent central doctrine and kind of muddled through ("try something, if it works, repeat it, if not try something else, but for God's sake, keep trying"). In times of crisis, it made more sense than to hold on to an ideology that said that some things should not be done, because of later bad consequences (as the English did during the Irish famine, when they refused to grant relief, because it would go against the free market. One million dead is a small price to pay for ideological purity...) It is no surprise that FDR would be the one to go to war with fascism. For one thing, foreign allies and enemies are not chosen on the basis of ideology but on geopolitical reasons - actually such choices are kind of an abnormality in the power politics game - it reminds me of the observation of Charles V "Of course, King Francis (of France) want the same things. We both want Italy". So, in this FDR reverted to older pre-ideological considerations. Even in WWII, the fact that both Greece and Italy were fascists dictatorships did not keep Mussolini from invading Greece. And it is not surprising on any that FRD would go down in history as having vanquished fascism, even if he was one himself. It is as surprising as finding out that the dog who protects the flock is a close relative of the wolf who savages it. The fact is that the more things are oppositne, the less likely they will meet, much less influecne each other, so if something has to be opposed it has to be by something close enough in powers and mental processes to figure out what to do. Sent at: 2008 11 22