Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning is a bestselling book by Jonah Goldberg, a conservative syndicated columnist and the editor-at-large of National Review Online. The book reached #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list of hardcover nonfiction in its seventh week on the list.
In the book, Goldberg argues that contrary to conventional wisdom, fascist movements were and are left-wing. He states that both modern liberalism and fascism descended from progressivism, and that prior to World War II, "fascism was widely viewed as a progressive social movement with many liberal and left-wing adherents in Europe and the United States". Goldberg has told interviewers that the title Liberal Fascism comes "directly from a speech that H.G. Wells gave to the Young Liberals at Oxford in 1932." Goldberg claims that Wells had stated that he wanted to "assist in a kind of phoenix rebirth" of liberalism as an "enlightened Nazism."
Goldberg writes that there was more to fascism than bigotry and genocide and, in fact, that bigotry and genocide were not so much a feature of fascism itself, but rather a feature of Nazism, which was forced upon the Italian fascists "after the Nazis had invaded northern Italy and created a puppet government in Salò."
Goldberg argues that over time, the term fascism has lost its actual meaning and instead has descended to the level of being "a modern word for 'heretic,' branding an individual worthy of excommunication from the body politic" and that this devolution of the meaning is not new, noting that George Orwell (a democratic socialist) had observed this in 1946 when he described the word as no longer having any meaning except to signify "something not desirable".
Goldberg explains that the smiley face on the cover is a reference to comments made by comedian George Carlin on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher when he said 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."
In the book, Goldberg argues that contrary to conventional wisdom, fascist movements were and are left-wing. He states that both modern liberalism and fascism descended from progressivism, and that prior to World War II, "fascism was widely viewed as a progressive social movement with many liberal and left-wing adherents in Europe and the United States". Goldberg has told interviewers that the title Liberal Fascism comes "directly from a speech that H.G. Wells gave to the Young Liberals at Oxford in 1932." Goldberg claims that Wells had stated that he wanted to "assist in a kind of phoenix rebirth" of liberalism as an "enlightened Nazism."
Goldberg writes that there was more to fascism than bigotry and genocide and, in fact, that bigotry and genocide were not so much a feature of fascism itself, but rather a feature of Nazism, which was forced upon the Italian fascists "after the Nazis had invaded northern Italy and created a puppet government in Salò."
Goldberg argues that over time, the term fascism has lost its actual meaning and instead has descended to the level of being "a modern word for 'heretic,' branding an individual worthy of excommunication from the body politic" and that this devolution of the meaning is not new, noting that George Orwell (a democratic socialist) had observed this in 1946 when he described the word as no longer having any meaning except to signify "something not desirable".
Goldberg explains that the smiley face on the cover is a reference to comments made by comedian George Carlin on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher when he said 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."
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