Roger’s Rules

March 26th, 2009 6:49 am

“Planned Economy or Planned Destruction,” Or, plus ça change . . .

As we contemplate the obscene spectacle of economic profligacy emanating from Washington, it is worth reminding ourselves that we’ve been down this road before. That act of what Plato called anamnesis has two salutary effects: 1) it admonishes us about the dangers we face from the collectivists at the helm in Washington and 2) it gives us the confidence to resist, because we know from experience that our resistance, though arduous, can be successful.

Whence the reminders? Well, one can turn to the disabused literature on the Great Depression — to Amity Shlaes’s brilliant book The Forgotten Man, for example. One may also avail oneself of some past reflections on the subject–for example, this educational cartoon from the April 21, 1934 issue of The Chicago Tribune:

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11 Comments

1. Spinoneone:

The dangers from the collectivists include H.R. 1388, the reauthorization of the Americorps Act. It may be the vehicle for the formation of a corps of young “green shirts” marching around singing o’s praises, monitoring their folks, and more or less, probably more, acting like “Young Pioneers” or “Hitler Youth Groups.” Of course, they morph into “Brown Shirts” or party apparatchiks. That leads to the nomenclatura for the best and brightest and a life of ease. Oh well, we voted for this, didn’t we???………….

Mar 26, 2009 - 9:36 am 2. jerry:

nice tie

Mar 26, 2009 - 9:53 am 3. Free-range Oyster:

That comic is eerie in its applicability. Everything old is new again, those who do not study history, etc. etc. We weathered it once; maybe we can do a little better this time around and roll back some of the damage already done. I’ve little faith left, but the possibility is there if we can find the will and means. Oyster out.

Mar 26, 2009 - 12:40 pm 4. David Thomson:

“Young Pinkies from Harvard and Columbia”

One of them was Alger Hiss. Another useful book is The New Deal Lawyers by radical activist Peter H. Irons. It indeed is fair to assert that the law school graduates of Harvard, Columbia, and Yale took full advantage of the opportunity to enact a very left-wing agenda. These highly credentialed and arrogant elites spearheaded Franklin D. Roosevelt’s relentless attacks on the independency of the U.S. Supreme Court and the business community. The same thing is essentially happening today.

Mar 26, 2009 - 3:53 pm 5. e:

Ha! The note on the side of the cart says, “Young Pinkies from Colombia and Harvard.” Priceless.

Mar 26, 2009 - 5:02 pm 6. Gaffe Prices:

“We know from experience that our resistance, though arduous, can be successful.”

Thanks for saying that: Perspective must be first priority, otherwise we don’t originate from the proper premise.

Mar 26, 2009 - 5:40 pm 7. srlucado:

That’s “Columbia”–I almost think I’d trust government by Colombians more than Columbians.

Mar 27, 2009 - 12:18 pm 8. MainStreet:

We weathered it once, but if I remember, it took over 10 years and a World War to really bring us back. Here’s hoping that the next election will turn conservative and bring back some balance in the Congress so that the really destructive policies can be headed off at the pass.

Mar 27, 2009 - 1:24 pm 9. e:

7. srlucado: That’s “Columbia”

Doh!

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