The Mythology of Power
With few exceptions,historians have taken a positive view of the New Deal, which was of course formed in the depths of the Great Depression by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Most of them have proclaimed him to be a great "savior of America" as a result. However, a little closer look from another perspective will reveal a different more sinister reality.
Roosevelt was a "born politician",which is to say he was devious, manipulative, and was not beyond stretching the truth when he felt it was necessary.His campaign promises-"to cut federal spending, balance the budget, maintain a sound currency, and rein in the overreaching power of the federal government sound very familiar, which they are, or have been for just about every other president in U.S. history, including the man current. Unfortunately, most Americans have come to believe that the legacy of a great president can be formed only under duress, as a diamond is formed from coal under pressure. In fact I believe that greatness means,in this case, almost exactly the opposite. As a result, we have found ourselves more often than not, having presidents who have felt the need to sensationalize their deeds to the point of exaggeration in respect to their acts, and in so doing, place the nation in unneccessary danger. In many instances these acts have been in violation of the Constitution, the very document that they have sworn to uphold.
F.D.R and the New Deal is a case in point, as is L.B.J's Great Society, as was the war in Vietnam, and presently the war in Iraq. All of these programs have lifted the ego-driven needs of their founders above the needs of the office that they were supposed to be serving to the point of doing damage rather than good to the cause that each swore to serve when elected.
A notable exception would be Grover Cleveland who, when viewed in the proper fashion, may have been one of the best of them all. How's that? What exactly was Cleveland's presidency noted for? There were no wars, no Great Depression, no lengthy periods of domestic, or foreign unrest to be calmed by presidential intervention Quite simply, Cleveland's greatness was found in doing what a president is supposed to do-keep out of the way and leave the business of running the country to the people! That is precisely what made him a great president. He kept the country at peace, respected the Constitution, fought to lower tariffs, and preserved the gold standard. Greatness such as this is rarely seen in a president, and badly needed in a time of super inflated egotism and media coverage to match. Greatness in an American president appears only in those who lead by keeping out of the way, by preserving the peace, by following the Constitution, and by striving to keep government out of the lives of the people as much as possible. In short, a great president is one who leads by following the lead of his people and who supports THEIR endeavors rather than his own!
As an oft used recourse to check the monster egos of these mean spirited little men, citizens can, and often do throw the bastards out at the next election. But getting rid of one set of these bastards isn't enough. We have been flinging them hither and yon for more than two centuries, and what do we have to show for it? What we have to show for it is two revolving factions of a one party dictatorship who masquerade as authentic alternatives to each other, the one specializing in crushing economic freedom, the other concentrating on crushing every other form of freedom. The result is a government for all of its references to freedom, justice, and equality that could be stacked up in fair comparison to any 21st century totalitarian state.
The really scary aspect of this reality is that few people in the United States today have either the vision, or the courage to live as free men and women, and are thus part of the problem instead of part of the solution.
The Revolution will not be televised.
Roosevelt was a "born politician",which is to say he was devious, manipulative, and was not beyond stretching the truth when he felt it was necessary.His campaign promises-"to cut federal spending, balance the budget, maintain a sound currency, and rein in the overreaching power of the federal government sound very familiar, which they are, or have been for just about every other president in U.S. history, including the man current. Unfortunately, most Americans have come to believe that the legacy of a great president can be formed only under duress, as a diamond is formed from coal under pressure. In fact I believe that greatness means,in this case, almost exactly the opposite. As a result, we have found ourselves more often than not, having presidents who have felt the need to sensationalize their deeds to the point of exaggeration in respect to their acts, and in so doing, place the nation in unneccessary danger. In many instances these acts have been in violation of the Constitution, the very document that they have sworn to uphold.
F.D.R and the New Deal is a case in point, as is L.B.J's Great Society, as was the war in Vietnam, and presently the war in Iraq. All of these programs have lifted the ego-driven needs of their founders above the needs of the office that they were supposed to be serving to the point of doing damage rather than good to the cause that each swore to serve when elected.
A notable exception would be Grover Cleveland who, when viewed in the proper fashion, may have been one of the best of them all. How's that? What exactly was Cleveland's presidency noted for? There were no wars, no Great Depression, no lengthy periods of domestic, or foreign unrest to be calmed by presidential intervention Quite simply, Cleveland's greatness was found in doing what a president is supposed to do-keep out of the way and leave the business of running the country to the people! That is precisely what made him a great president. He kept the country at peace, respected the Constitution, fought to lower tariffs, and preserved the gold standard. Greatness such as this is rarely seen in a president, and badly needed in a time of super inflated egotism and media coverage to match. Greatness in an American president appears only in those who lead by keeping out of the way, by preserving the peace, by following the Constitution, and by striving to keep government out of the lives of the people as much as possible. In short, a great president is one who leads by following the lead of his people and who supports THEIR endeavors rather than his own!
As an oft used recourse to check the monster egos of these mean spirited little men, citizens can, and often do throw the bastards out at the next election. But getting rid of one set of these bastards isn't enough. We have been flinging them hither and yon for more than two centuries, and what do we have to show for it? What we have to show for it is two revolving factions of a one party dictatorship who masquerade as authentic alternatives to each other, the one specializing in crushing economic freedom, the other concentrating on crushing every other form of freedom. The result is a government for all of its references to freedom, justice, and equality that could be stacked up in fair comparison to any 21st century totalitarian state.
The really scary aspect of this reality is that few people in the United States today have either the vision, or the courage to live as free men and women, and are thus part of the problem instead of part of the solution.
The Revolution will not be televised.
posted by theoldsage @ 8:41 AM
4 Comments:
At 8:05 AM ,
RightWingRocker said...
So here I check out this post, which starts out looking like a proper analysis of the Raw Deal, and I start thinking, "at what point is Sage gonna start bashing the President."
It comes in a more indirect fashion than usual, more in a commercial for the Libertarian Party.
I agree with most of this, though, except the parts having to do with war. I would contend that any greatness FDR enjoyed came as a result of the war he fought, as would have been the case with the presidents involved in Vietnam had they let their generals fight the war instead of the protesters on Pennsylvania Avenue. Despite the media's portrayal of Iraq, it happens to be going quite well, and will continue to do so as long as the president maintains his composure.
To this end, I would have to disagree with you, Sage, in that duress is the real test of a president. FDR is an interesting case, as he handled foreign duress masterfully, while faced with domestic duress, resorted to instituting the worst blight the world has known - socialism.
President Bush has done some great things as our President, most importantly his nomiations to the Supreme Court. Roberts seems pretty solid so far, and Alito will be an absolute gem.
The Canadians have moved to the right (read that less socialism rather than eliminating it, but it's a step in the right direction) with a promise to help more on the Northern border. This should make the President's job easier along the Southern Border. A mere speech would do the trick rather nicely. The speech I wrote for him would also bring more conservatives to his cause and TOTALLY piss off the ACLU.
By the way, just for the record, etc. President Reagan is a more recent example of the "great president" that you cited. There were no wars, no Great Depression, no lengthy periods of domestic, or foreign unrest to be calmed by presidential intervention.
President Reagan was able to avoid a major war by fighting communism at its sprouting and building superior firepower to fend off the major communist powers. Reagan's economy carried two presidents after him, and reinstating its basic tenets has brought on a huge economic recovery for our current President, and there were no lengthy periods of domestic, or foreign unrest to be calmed by presidential intervention.
Not that presidential intervention in domestic matters helps much, anyway, especially in economic and "social" matters.
RWR
At 9:11 AM ,
Mike said...
Why does anybody view the New Deal in a positive light? It did nothing to end the Great Depression, because it did not address the root cause of the Great Depression.
At 10:08 PM ,
RightWingRocker said...
Statsman,
The people who view the Raw Deal in a positive light are those who view socialism in a positive light.
After all, what exactly is the "New Deal" anyway, if not socialism?
RWR
At 12:07 PM ,
theoldsage said...
I thought seriously about Reagan as an example here but I feel he did not do a very good job at preserving the Constitution, nor did he do a good job of controlling spending, both of which he said he would do.
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