Login Here
Turgid symbol of fascism thrusting into the bushes
I’ve pretty much avoided Jonah Goldberg’s A History of Stupid White People: An Autobiography because, well, I refuse to buy it, but I have to say that he has turned his readers into the most observant people on Earth. They see fascism everywhere, from Rockefeller Center to the Hoover Dam to Coit Tower to JFK (the man, not the airport, although…now that you mention it…) to that piece of toast you probably eating right now.
Having opened his readers eyes to the fact that everything is fascist including the fascist nose on your fascist face, a new craze is sweeping the nation:
From a reader:
Jonah, I just finished your book and loved it. I work in the environmental compliance field and I’ve been witness to some of the fascist tendencies among environmentalists. You nailed them.
However, I was struck by one thing that you didn’t go into in your book – no doubt to keep your sanity. I think the Federal government’s policy toward Native Americans in the early 20th century may qualify as the ultimate Progressive experiment. The damage these policies – breaking up reservations, boarding schools, etc. — caused to the tribes is now clear, and post-modern anthropologists categorize the anthropologists and others responsible for the policies at that time as colonial oppressors, racists, hegemonists, capitalist swine, or whatever. But these people were often do-gooders who thought they were helping the Native American assimilate into the national culture and escape cultures that were unsuited to modern life and doomed to extinction.
I’m a far cry from an expert on this period, but some of what the early Progressives were saying (as quoted in your book) sound similar to what the people responsible for Indian policy said at the time.
Is it just a coincident(sic) or were they strongly influenced by Progressive thought. You got me interested, and I’m going to be doing some more research into this.
Me: Sounds interesting, but I know very little about early 20th century policy toward the Indians, and that’s an understatement.
Much like the popularity of break dancing, I don’t necessarily see the appeal of this latest fad, but if it keeps them out of gangs and away from drugs, what can it hurt…
24 Comments
Spotlight
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About TBogg
Advanced search
RSS/XML Feed
I guess Midnight Basketball wasn’t an option for poor Johnah and his friends.
He’s gonna work his way around to Woody Guthrie’s guitar at some point…
Jonah Goldberg saying he knows “very little about” — and fill in the subject here – is shocking. Okay, Jonah also knows very little about women, plain old decency, getting a job without his mommy’s help, being able to resist eating that last donut in the box meant for everyone to share, appearing on TV shows without smirking at his own “jokes,” and generally dressing like an adult. But other than that let’s just remember, Jonah can quote verbatim from episode 5.13-04 of “The Simpsons.” Oh, and he can get a tiny boner when K-Lo does shots of tequila on those fabulous National Review cruises and gives him a lap dance. That he’s good at.
K-lo’s doing tequila body shots off of Johah’s tiny boner???
Oh, the humanity, the humanity.
Hey, Flat earth, flat foot.
Because of course, as per the conservatives, the correct, non-fascist way to help people who live in cultures “unsuited to modern life” and “doomed to extinction” is to rain bombs down upon their heads. That’ll show them your superior commitment to free society!
“Spot the Fascism” will soon supersede “Spot the License Plate” on long car rides.
DennisSGMM
I’m pretty sure Hasbro is coming out with a playing card version.
aimai
Neither of them knows much about Native American policy. What the letter writer suggests is that “Progressive” policies of assimilation hurt the Indians. Bullshit. It was the Dawes Severalty Act that forced assimilation on the Native Americans. It was the Progressive John Collier’s Indian New Deal that recognized the right of tribal identities and the sanctity of Native lands. The Dawes act was good old fashioned Injun hating. The Indian New Deal was Progressive.
Dipshits.
I think I’ve finally got it. It’s a trick of perspective.
When you look at the world on a left-right spectrum you have stuff like communism, socialism, etc, FDR, Eisenhower, J. Edgar Hoover, etc. Hitler, Gengis Khan, and so on.
From Jonah’s perspective, way over on the right, everything to his left is crammed together. He paints “liberals” as “fascists” because Hitler is far, far, to the left of Jonah, so what difference does it make?
So that leads to the question: is there anything to the right of Jonah? That would be like super-duper-über-Über-ÜBER-fascists, or something.
I think Jonah just used up the world’s supply of stupid for the next ten years; but drilling for stupid at the NRO yields a near-infinite supply, so there’s no danger of the Simpson’s being cancelled for lack of material.
Great point. This Land is your Land is a fascist anthem for sure and singing in support of deporting Mexicans after the crops are picked. Damn you, Woody!
Uh, djangone, I think we may have had that wrong.
Now I’m really confused. Was Mussolini a Trotskyite or a Cherokee? Are casinos fascist?
And let’s not even get into all of that USDA 4-4-3-2 business. I mean, four whole servings of fruits or vegetables? Every day?
Doughys juvenile compulsive drive for attention from the “ivory tower” crowd is the most pathetic thing I’ve ever seen. The more they mock him, the more he begs for abuse.
What he refuses to admit is the drivel wouldn’t have got a look without mommy.
Jonah’s no better than that annoying dorm-mate you had at college who had just discovered pot and was seeing amaaaaaazing things everywhere because he had just found the one true perspective man, everyone else is like, so wrong!
Wrong, yes, but he needs a mirror to be shown where that designation truly lies.
Uh-oh! Jonah has figured out my coded messages.
Actually, I suspect this letter may actually be one of the subtler efforts to yank Jonah’s chain, as it were. Some of the “letters” are so blatant as to call Jonah’s cognitive abilities into question. As if the book itself didn’t do that…
Jonarrrrgh is one of those folks who think any lamebrained idea that they think up has merit. He’s somewhat like the guy who during a rhythmic clapping singalong hears someone start to clap on the upbeat in counterpoint. So he employs his amazing powers of whiteboy rhythm and starts clapping at random unintelligible points and calls it “creative” and “free expression”. The rest of us can hear that it’s crap. But there are always a few OTHER whiteboys who use him as an excuse for their own creativity and soon all is cacophony.
Maybe Jonah just has an advanced case of the clap which has led him into this alternate world where donuts are health food and granola is really the diet of devils.
I read it as “If I continue to seek the presidency, the terrorists have won.”
As someone who actually is something of an expert on the topic I would like to point out first, that the General Allotment act was passed in 1887 (a tad before the 20th century), and allotment was ended by the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934. Secondly, allotment emerged out of an unholy alliance between various well meaning, but clueless and hopelessly ethnocentric progressives and various powerful and very regressive corporate interests, including the railroads; timber, mining, and ranching interests; and land speculators.
I prefer the incomprehensible Pantload-style analogy pastime, as in “Barack Obama is the Rudolf Hess of liberal fascism,” “Mike Huckabee is the Chang Kai Shek of liberal fascism,” “Jonah Goldberg is the Max Schmeling of liberal fascism,” “FireDogLake is the Amos ‘n Andy of lib. fasc.” etc. Any number can play.
“I think the Federal government’s policy toward Native Americans in the early 20th century may qualify as the ultimate Progressive experiment.”
Oh dear God, haven’t we suffered enough? First the Trail of Tears, now Goldberg is concern trolling us? Having said that, Senator Henry Dawes actually considered himself a humanitarian who was trying to “civilize” us by teaching us greed and selfishness. No, seriously; he actually said, after touring the Cherokee Nation, that it was a utopia and the people there knew nothing about greed, so therefore we weren’t white enough. we also got the “benefit” of “faith based programs” as different churches were given government contracts to kidnap Indian children and indoctrinate them in boarding schools. But Dr. Dick is absolutely right in that most federal Indian policy in the late 19th and 20th Centuries (and 21st Century, right up until today) is designed to destroy tribal sovereignty to benefit corporate interests.