A few weeks ago, Jason Pye, the Libertarian, and I were swapping observations about politics. I don’t remember the details but he asked me to read a book: “FDR’s Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression” by Jim Powell. I think I asked him to read Al Gore’s “The Assault on Reason.” Well, Jason, it was a great read!
I think it pretty clear that Powell did not write the book as an objective history. He had an agenda. Some people think he is right on, and others biased. I can’t resolve that debate, but I think the book makes a lot of valid points (assuming Powell did not just make the stuff up), but the overall point of the book is this (seems to me): Ideology produces bad governments.
I wonder if Jason wanted me to read the book to dampen my hopes of a Democratic majority in Congress accomplishing anything. Failed there Jason. All I have to do is remember that the alternative party is, in my opinion, the worst at governing of any party at any time in American history. In fact, the book absolutely, positively, reinforced my beliefs about the end course of Republican policies: catastrophe for the American economy, less freedom for the American people and more and more money, control and power in the hands of the lobbyists and the special interests they represent.
I have to admit that I tend to be naive, sometimes just plain stupid. I have a natural tendency to believe people tell the truth. (I mean it took a dozen years of practicing law to realize that most clients were lying when they told me they had no idea why their spouse wanted a divorce.) My point is that reading this book persuaded me that FDR and his administration were not the saviors of America with innovative and controversial ideas and programs to get America back to work, to recover economically, and provide ordinary people with the opportunity to attain the Amercian dream, whatever they thought that meant to them.
The books makes a convincing case for the proposition that during FDR’s 13 years in power, he and his cronies had an agenda that would surprise most Americans, particularly today’s Americans. According to the book (and I believe it true) FDR and his advisors used the Depression, the Great Depression, as a watershed event to justify an attack on free enterprise, big business, small business, all business and expand the idea of government control and regulation to unbelievable heights (or is it depths!).
According to the book, these Democrats adopted policies which achieved the opposite of the desired results. In an effort to put people back to work, they raised taxes on businesses, and decreased incentives to make money which resulted in less business expansion and fewer people being hired.
They did crazy things. Like forbidding businesses from cutting prices, ordering excess agricultural produce (milk, for example) destroyed even though people (children) were going to bed hungry. Bloggers would have had a wonderful time back in those days.
Why did they do these things? I know that can be debated but the book makes a convincing argument that it was because the men that created and operated these “recovery” programs, Roosevelt’s advisors, believed that Big Business was the primary cause of the depression, that business as a whole was bad, that the American economy needed to be planned and regulated to bring about a redistrubution of money from the rich to the less than rich. I could go on and on.
The point is that ideology prevailed, while certain freedoms and individual initiative took a back seat to regulation. The views and sympathies of a small group of people took over the legislative and executive branches of government. They were able to do so because everyone believed the Depression was no less a national emergency than war. They played on American’s fears, while offering deceptive consolation. Dissent was un-American. People were prosecuted for lowering the price of washing clothes! Nuts!!
And they did it all right in front of Americans. Fireside chats mesmerized our minds. I think FDR invented sound bites. FDR was loved by the commnon man because the common man did not know what he was doing. Americans believed what they were told, hook, line and sinker. They believed that there was no way their leaders would lie to them, deceive them or promote agendas detrimental to Amercian principles.
Enter 911, George Bush and the Republicans. Does this sound familiar? Hello!!!!!!
Read the book. If anyone has any information that the factual assertions in the book are not accurate, let me know.
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