1 Feb 2024 7:06 am
(PART II OF IV)
Cannonpointer: "About the greater body of your post, Mao saw tabula rasa as his goal - as Emperor Qin did before him. Qin gave birth to a juggernaut through that method - as did Mao, WHATEVER people may say."
That's an exaggeration. But, yes, whatever. I wrote: "Germany's capitalist class was confronted with the genuine possibility of losing everything by way of a socialist revolution or losing a little by allowing for reforms that would quash the desire for a socialist society. It chose the former and prevailed in the process. And the same can be said of the American capitalist class during the interwar period of 1918-1939."
Cannonpointer's response: "... it seems you agree FDR's METHODS (not motives) were socialist - which is where we took issue. That's twice that you've confirmed it."
Not once have I confirmed any such thing. So, I will reiterate what I wrote before the abovementioned quote. It first appeared in this thread's post #259 and read:
"A better way for me to have explained it would have been to write, Although the American capitalist state didn't wish to allow for reforms concerning homeownership, desegregation, investments in education, public healthcare, etc., it was compelled to do so in the face of the success of the Bolshevik Revolution that American workers took notice of.
"As I previously stated, these capitalist "reforms" were likened to defensive fortifications erected by an army in response to an advancing enemy army. Although the US government/capitalist state would have preferred not to give an inch, it was forced to in light of that battle for hearts and minds and because of the strong demand for socialism by American workers at the time.
"Toward a more complete understanding of that phenomenon, it's vital to understand the derivation of such "reforms." Germany, under Otto Von Bismark during the 1880s, was the first capitalist state to foster social reforms. In the 1870s, the German state passed several anti-socialist laws to thwart the then-burgeoning demand for socialism within Germany's working class. But those laws failed their intent. So, during the 1880s, the German capitalist state enacted social "reforms," e.g., unemployment insurance and old age pensions, intended to appease German workers, thereby lessening the demand for socialism. It worked like a proverbial charm. Within a few years, once-vibrant socialist parties were dissolved or rendered irrelevant."
In brief, and to restate again, FDR's methods had nothing to do with socialism. They were capitalist reforms intended to thwart the then-popular demand for establishing a socialist society in the US, and they worked like a proverbial charm. Like Otto Von Bismark's social reforms, they served as defensive fortifications against socialism. Toward the end of his life, FDR stated that his greatest accomplishment was "saving capitalism," and he was correct.
Cannonpointer: "Socialism is not an opinion, a doctrine, a feeling about the equality of all men. or a religion. It's an ECONOMIC MODEL - and if it cannot work for a country, then it isn't worth spit. If the only possible way it can work is for me to join a polity with Mongolians and Peruvians, it won't succeed except through force - and then it isn't an economic model at all. It's just another **** dictatorship - with SOMEONE at the top dictating to the glorious peasants." (To be continued in PART III)
(END OF PART II)
http://www.slp.org/pdf/statements/siu_chart.pdf