Jimmy Dore
made an interesting remark recently in his show about Franklin Delano
Roosevelt (FDR), one of the most successful presidents in the US
history. As he pointed:
When the
market crashed and Barack Obama came president, none of the Democrats
mentioned FDR. Why? Because the Democrats were busy dismantling the
New Deal for the prior two decades. Bill Clinton repealed the banking
New Deal regulations, he crushed the poor people by gutting welfare
at the same time exploding the prison population. [...] tried to
privatize social security, passed NAFTA screwing over union workers.
A lot of bad things that the Democrats did, and that's why they never
and still don't mention FDR. Barack Obama mentions Reagan all the
time, I never, ever heard him mention FDR. [...] Republicans still
mention Lincoln, all the time, the party of Lincoln. We are the party
of Roosevelt and they never mention it. And that's why they are not
really Democrats, that's why they are just corporatist tools who are
selling out their country, and the way they do it, is by defeating
the agenda of the worker.
Dore's
remark shows the degree that the Democrats have been occupied by the
neoliberal doctrine which serves the banking and corporate interests
at the expense of the ordinary people.
The US
plutocracy would erase Franklin Roosevelt from the collective memory
if it could really do it. That's because Roosevelt is one of the most
successful presidents in the history of the US, since he managed to
restart the economy against the corporate interests after the big
crash of 1929. Roosevelt did it through public investments, something
that is considered almost a sin by the fascist neoliberal priesthood,
worldwide.
Back in
1933, when FDR got elected, he had to face the attack of the
corporate establishment, which was trying to fight his initiatives to
put the state in the front line for the restart of the US economy.
FDR was aware of this type of propaganda by the corporate
establishment and the associated political elite. A quote from a
Roosevelt's speech is characteristic: “A few timid people, who
fear progress, will try to give you new and strange names for what we
are doing. Sometimes they will call it 'Fascism,' sometimes
'Communism,' sometimes 'Regimentation,' sometimes 'Socialism.' But,
in so doing, they are trying to make very complex and theoretical
something that is really very simple and very practical.”
Despite its
imperfections, Roosevelt's "New Deal" created millions of
new jobs and new infrastructure for the benefit of all American
citizens, boosted some sectors such as agriculture, strengthened
social security and boosted the economy in general. The response of
Roosevelt, "of course we spend money", to his opponents,
captures the perception of his government, giving importance to the
prosperity and relief of people and not to the strict austerity for
the sake of economic indexes. Indeed, while in 1933 the national debt
was 20% of GDP, by 1936 this figure almost doubled, but what mattered
for Roosevelt was to relieve American citizens and give them hope and
perspective.
That's why
the Democratic party today, which has been occupied by the banking
and corporate lobbyists, has almost renounced Franklin Delano
Roosevelt.
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