VIDAL CALLS IT "MILITARIZED KEYNESIANISM"

Reading in Gore Vidal's novel, THE GOLDEN AGE, pp. 365-368, I find Vidal does a wonderful exposition that unravels how socialism became state capitalism from the time of Truman to the time of Bush, through the finagling of the military/industrial complex with a judicious dose of fear mongering. Even the good guys are complicit. I've included a long passage from the novel, but I hope you'll find it interesting. Two of his characters, Peter Sanford and Billy Thorne are summing up their views of history. We're meant to dislike the Thorne character and sympathize with Peter in the book. Billy Thorne is squirming his way through the McCarthy era by metamorphosing from being a communist to being a capitalist, meanwhile betraying all his old comrades as he does. Peter remains true to his beliefs which had allowed him to vote for the Communist Norman Thomas in a past election:

[Open quote.]
“Of course, it [arms race with Russia] will cost us a lot, but it will bankrupt the Russians. So maybe the average American couple may be reduced to only one and a half Chryslers per year, but that’s only for a decade or two. A mere generation at the outside. Meanwhile, our defense industries will grow richer and richer as they pay more and more people more and more money to build weapons of every sort while, thanks to the withholding tax, Roosevelt’s one stroke of genius when it came to financing all-out war for all-out peace, the newly rich working class will gratefully finance through their humble little taxes the federal machine that hires them to build these weapons that we need to defend freedom and democracy, forever. What Truman’s people learned from Roosevelt’s act of necessity in wartime is how to use, in peacetime, the same methods to finance an ever-expanding federal apparatus to save us from a savage adversary, longing to destroy us. Oh, they have the nation by the balls, which is why they are grateful for Senator Joe McCarthy’s demented ravings.” Out of breath, Billy lit a cigar.

“I had not believed,” said Peter, gulping the last bit of cheesecake, “that you were so sincere an employee of the Wall Street Journal. You have actually come full circle from communism to capitalism.”

“The scales have fallen from your eyes at last.” Billy blew smoke across the table. “Taken to their logical conclusion, the two are nearly identical. Where the ideal communist’s socialist state would use the national wealth for the good of the citizens, strictly regulated, of course, by a centralized money power, we are now, in the interest of defending ourselves against an enemy both Satanic and godless—very important point, ‘godless,’ in selling high taxes to simple Americans of deep religious faith—we are creating a totally militarized socialist state by ignoring such frills as the welfare of the people themselves. After all, the true American likes to stand on his own two ruggedly independent feet, which our nuclear state will encourage him to do. He is also free to go to the church of his choice, unlike the communist Russian slaves. I must say the accidental brilliance of our leadership still astonishes me. Haberdasher Truman and Lawyer Acheson and Soldier Marshall are creating a militarized economy and state that leaves those two bumblers Stalin and Mao far behind in the dust, staring skyward at our B-29s soon to start darkening their red skies. Peter, you have made me poetic.”

Save it for the Journal.”

“They would never use a word of it. We’re not supposed to give the game away, ever. But, to be fair to my editors, they believe what they write even though it’s always wrong, as the masters of our new nation intend it should be.”

“Militarized Keynesianism,” Peter said, as the change for five dollars was brought him.

“Not a bad phrase.” Billy was in a good mood.

“So you don’t think that in this new world order there is room for World War Three?”

“Who knows? We do keep pushing the Russians. And it’s possible that one day they’ll really push back. But I doubt it. They had their chance over Berlin only to discover that our airlift worked. Next month they’ll accept our terms. No more airlift and we win again, for now Then Congress will start implementing National Security Council order number twenty-something-or-other and you’ll see every last Republican—penny-pinchers to a man—voting in the name of national defense for the biggest amount of government spending the world has ever seen. We are now inventing mega-socialism in order to protect the free world.”

“It sounds more like reinventing fascism.”

“Mussolini wasn’t from Missouri.” Billy put out his cigar. “Not only is industry going to be supported by the federal government but the universities, too.”

“How?”

“Huge federal grants to higher learning to find new scientific ways of defending freedom. Also, new ways to silence the so-called humanities. We’re even planning to set up independent journals and newspapers all around the world to counteract reactionary, un—American papers like yours. Our periodicals will be known as ‘liberal,’ of course, in the Americans for Demonic Action sense. At last true benign socialism.”

“What was wrong with socialism before?”

“It was Russian and they were far too poor and dim-witted to do anything with so noble a concept. They also wanted to look after the education and so on of their people. That’s not for us. Ever. What’s good for General Motors….”

“Is good for General Electric. Yes. I understand you, Billy.” And Peter thought that now, finally, he did.

At the door to the Brass Rail, they parted. Billy’s last words were, “I’m fairly sure Clay’s going to run against my ex-father-in-law next year. I hope Diana doesn’t take it too hard. Ruthlessness is part of Clay’s charm. He’s going to be president, you know If not by 1960, ‘64.... Read his book.”

“I have. Fire over Luzon..

“No. No. That’s Harold Griffiths’ great gushing tribute. Read Clay’s Vision for America:’

“I haven’t seen it.”

“That’s because I haven’t finished writing it.”

Billy stumped down Seventh Avenue towards Times Square. Peter went back into the Brass Rail and rang Latouche and canceled their meeting. Apparently, the movie star John Garfield was being fired from a film because he had known communists in his youth. Peter said that he would do what he could, which was very little. As he hung up he wondered if the bill for a militarized state, based on keeping the citizens in a constant state of panic, might prove, in the end, more devastating than World War Three, which so many, so excitedly, predicted was at hand.
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“At this moment, probably the strongest ideology in the world is nationalism. This atmosphere is not favorable to bringing about a world without war.” —Norman Thomas [American communist of last century.]

“It is not easy to see how the more extreme forms of nationalism can long survive when men have seen the Earth in its true perspective as a single small globe against the stars.” —Authur C. Clarke [science fiction writer of last century.]

“Unh? What’s that Clarke fellow mean? And who’s them Vidal and Thomas guys? Sound like comoonists to me!” —George Bush [American presidential bumbler of current century.]