ConfirmThem

By AndrewHyman Posted in Circuit Courts — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

The New York Times and others have been denouncing California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown for a comment she made once in a speech (rather than in a judicial opinion). She said that the New Deal was a "socialist revolution." But wouldn't Franklin Delano Roosevelt have agreed with Justice Brown?

The famous futurist and author H. G. Wells (who wrote "War of the Worlds" among other things) was a renowned, self-avowed socialist, and a friend of FDR. Wells wrote of FDR's New Deal as follows:

"The New Deal is plainly an attempt to achieve a working socialism and avert a social collapse in America; it is extraordinarily parallel to the successive 'policies' and 'Plans' of the Russian experiment. Americans shirk the word 'socialism', but what else can one call it?"

I'm not saying socialism is good or bad, but am simply saying that the New Deal had many qualities of socialism, as does modern liberalism in America. It's just a fact. The New York Times and others should stop clubbing Janice Rogers Brown for merely saying that the New Deal was a "socialist revolution." After all, fans of the New Deal, like Wells, acknowledged it was. Many modern American liberals shun the word "socialist." It's fine for them to shun that word if they want to, but they should look for real things to criticize about Justice Brown, rather than criticizing Brown's New Deal characterization, with which FDR and/or his friends would have heartily agreed (and liberals should also stop criticizing Brown's use of the word "kleptocracy").