gabor@qantel.UUCP (Gabor Fencsik@ex2642) (05/10/85)
DKMcK, with his usual flair for measured understatement, picks up where
Stalin left off in 1936, asserting that Social Democracy in its various
manifestations (New Deal, Fair Deal, etc.) is just a variant of Fascism.
Even if one accepts your claim that the economic policies of Roosevelt and
Hitler were identical (although I, for one, can tell them apart), it still
takes a gigantic leap of faith to arrive at your conclusion. The salient
trait shared by Roosevelt and Hitler is that their economic policies were
subordinated to political objectives. For those of us not cursed with economic
myopia, the contrasts between those political objectives are quite clear.
If your theory cannot detect the difference (or finds only a difference in
degree) between them, then so much the worse for the theory.
Your best bet might be to re-read Hayek's 'Road to Serfdom', but do it slower
this time; maybe it won't come back all garbled. And yes, I agree that a
'semantical change may enhance discussion'. Calling people fascists is OK if
your goal is to intimidate and discredit; if your aim is to persuade, then
other tactics may be more fruitful.
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Gabor Fencsik {dual,nsc,hplabs,intelca,proper}!qantel!gabor