During the late 1920s and early 1930s, many influential progressives, including members of FDR's Brain Trust and other close advisers like Rexford Tugwell, Harold Ickes, and Stuart Chase couldn't wait to implement the economic planning of Russia, Germany, Italy, and Japan in America. Later, when knowledge of those nations' derogation of basic human rights, concentration camps, and the Gulag reached the light of day, progressives immediately began distancing themselves from their previous positions, at least, publicly. Those members of the general public that bought into the idea of government control of the economy fell into 2 groups: 1) the desperate, the poor, and the hungry who benefited from New Deal programs; and 2) those who may not have been the direct recipients of government handouts, but, nevertheless, believed that government provided the only path out of the Depression - in short, those who fed on a steady diet of pro-New Deal, pro-FDR propaganda. Both groups failed to comprehend the overwhelming weight of history: no government has been able to control the economy without exerting political control on its citizens. Freedom cannot be neatly compartmentalized into economic freedom and all other types of freedom - the concepts must go in hand. After all, what is more important than a man being able to work hard in a trade that he has chosen, being fairly compensated for his efforts, holding on to as much of those hard earned wages as possible, and spending it in the manner that he chooses? Economic freedom opens doorways to a better life. The head of the household does not have to worry about the fear of being unable to maintain a roof over his family's head and put food on the table. He can send his children to better schools, take family trips with them, enroll them in summer camp and pay for them to play sports. He can save for their education and his and his spouse's retirement.
If you take away economic freedom, then you become a slave to the whims of the state unless, of course, you belong to the ranks of the politically privileged. That concept, more than anything, has led to the economic ruin in which the world finds itself.
Although patronage has been a part of the American political landscape since the days of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, it was FDR who transformed it into a science. FDR understood that, once Americans realized the ineffectiveness of his policies and the sad state in which the economy wallowed, there was no way that he could win in an open and fair election. FDR's strategy was to create as many special interest groups as possible, ensure their loyalty by distributing taxpayer money to them, and then rely upon them to return the favor by re-electing him in perpetuity and donating to his campaign. How did he do it? He created agencies like the TVA which provided cheap electricity to certain areas of the country. The fact that the electricity was supported by taxes paid by people in other parts of the country was never really mentioned nor would it have mattered to the recipients of such largesse. FDR signed the Wagner Act into law which, by tilting the balance of power in favor of unions, led to 1000% growth in the number of Union workers - all of whom showed their appreciation by voting for FDR in national elections. FDR counted among his fans farmers, whom his programs subsidized (in fact, farmers were paid not to produce in order to drive up prices which further benefited them), academics (since he gave them jobs and a say in government), and the elderly and the retired (by creating Social Security). Everyone else, the so-called "Forgotten Man" of the 1940s, who did not benefit from government handouts, was left out on the cold. [Note: See William Sumner's quote - not the one that Roosevelt twisted for his own purposes].
The parallels with the Obama Administration are astounding. The members of his cabinet and the heads of the various government agencies with which he implements his policies are a microcosm of the broader group of special interest groups that form his core supporters: Wall Street bankers and hedge fund managers, academics, the unions, the youth, trial lawyers, and government employees. The stimulus was specifically designed to funnel taxpayer money into the coffers of those groups. Of course, those groups then turn around and repay Obama's magnanimity by donating to the DNC and to the President's reelection campaign (which, as of the date of this post, amounts to approximately $1 billion).
This is not how a republic functions. Instead, we are witnessing some bastardized form of direct democracy: the special interest groups elect their man who represents them exclusively - the rest of the nation be damned. Moreover, not only has our political system been transformed, our economy has experienced the same perversion: the stimulus bill, Obamacare, etc. are all redistributionist actions designed to only help the privileged few. It is as if the US has a two-tiered economy: on one level we find the special interest groups willing to play ball with the regime for financial gain and a second level of the virtually ignored who just happen to pay the tax dollars that support the other group. If we do not correct this imbalance of power and return to the principles of economics and government that created the greatest nation in the history of the world, then we will be doomed to an inferior existence, a mere extension of the economically weak and morally bankrupt Europe.
Lastly, as I mentioned above, the intelligentsia and social engineers have engaged in an enormous act of self-deception. In their blind pursuit of "change," whatever that term means, they have completely ignored the clear lessons of history. Those four (4) nations I listed at the beginning of my post all had planned economies. We fought a war against 3 of them and a cold war against the remaining one. The evidence is overwhelming that all 4 engaged in horrific acts of inhumanity, primarily against dissidents or those who were different. Eventually, the social planners will realize that they must firmly place their black boots on the necks of the opposition if they are ever going to realize their dreams of a socialist Utopia. Unfortunately for them, that fantasy never materializes and never will so long as the price is the end of human freedom.
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