Sunday, October 13, 2013

Similarities Between the Rise of Fascism following the Great Depression of the 1930's and Today

Scared people lead to desperate decisions and that is exactly what happened following the great depression of the 30’s. As president Franklin Delano Roosevelt came into office in January of 1982 he brought forth the “New Deal” which was a series of domestic economic programs. The New Deal went along with the growing sentiment of the time that a strong leader leading a strong government could right many of the wrongs in a country and its economy. The New Deal had many strong ties to fascism in its structure by providing a plan for industries to follow as opposed to having a free form market system.
These changes were a direct result of the fear of a market economy that the great depression brought forth.  Fascism was a way of countering the fear of the untamable beast that was the market economy. It promised a fantasy of having a government holding the power to secure a firm foothold in the magnitude and direction of the economy as well as the nation as a whole. Today the setup for a similar fear is eerily similar to that following the great depression of the 1930’s. The United States is once again teetering in the welcoming arms of fascism.
After the stock market crash the government began a huge bailout of some major corporations that were crippled by the crash. As Mussolini put it “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of State and corporate power.” The government’s direct involvement in keeping these industrial giants in play was fighting against the will of the market and its desire to put stiff lumbering giants to rest. This merging of power between the government and corporations can also be seen in the newest health care reforms going in pushing the country towards more socialist and fascist tendencies. I’m interested in seeing the direction that all these new policies bring us in the coming years but I believe that the influences of fascist ideals are undeniably present.

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