Letter: Most presidential candidates seem comfortable with current fascist system

Mark Mansperger’s op-ed, “Fascism threatens America” (TCH, Jan. 31), has history, and fascism, wrong.

Fascism is a politico-economic system in which title to property can be in private hands but the government controls all important decisions; such as what gets produced, who may produce it, prices, wages, and employment. Subsidies to favored businesses (ethanol for instance) are another example.

Fascism arose during the 1930s Depression in Italy and Germany. Franklin Roosevelt brought it to America with his New Deal, particularly, the National Industrial Recovery Act that put virtually all industrial activity under federal government control, exercised by a massive bureaucracy, the National Recovery Administration. The Supreme Court declared these elements of the system unconstitutional in 1935. But American fascism has continued.

Don’t believe it? Read these: Amity Shlaes, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression; Jim Powell, FDR’s Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression; and Wolfgang Schivelbusch, Three New Deals: Reflections on Roosevelt’s America, Mussolini’s Italy, and Hitler’s Germany, 1933-1939.

Excepting Rand Paul, all the presidential candidates seem comfortable with the current fascist system. Some even want more, in the form of higher taxes and increased regulation. So it’s crony capitalism or socialism. Good luck!

This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Letter: Most presidential candidates seem comfortable with current fascist system."