Friday, June 13, 2008

Welcome to the Jungle

From Paul Krugman

How did America find itself back in The Jungle?

It started with ideology. Hard-core American conservatives have long idealized the Gilded Age, regarding everything that followed — not just the New Deal, but even the Progressive Era — as a great diversion from the true path of capitalism.

Thus, when Grover Norquist, the anti-tax advocate, was asked about his ultimate goal, he replied that he wanted a restoration of the way America was “up until Teddy Roosevelt, when the socialists took over. The income tax, the death tax, regulation, all that.”
Teddy Roosevelt, Socialist. Everytime I read something like that I can't help remembering this quote. I guess the Roaring Twenties were the highpoint of unchecked socialism?

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