But I would add this thought. Most people were unaware of the damage FDR was doing because the books were written by New Deal supporters. Even with LBJ, it was only conservatives who understood the damage the Great Society did.
Now, we have a lot larger group of people who understand how dangerous liberalism is because they've finally put all their cards on the table and far more Americans see how ugly their game is now that it's been exposed.
That, I think, will be the factor that makes the difference in recovering from this leftist fiasco.
Feeling a little more optimistic? ;)
That’s the point that Amity Shlaes makes in “The Forgotten American.” When FDR was excoriating business and socializing the nation, he was the first to do it, so it was a novel approach to an America hungry for a solution. He also had a huge amount of budgetary headroom to do it because the federal share of GDP at the time was something like 4%.
You are right that we have the knowledge today and the historical record of failure of big government and liberalism. Plus, we have the advantages of mass communication outside the “normal” MSM channels — we no longer have to listen only to Cronkhite for our news. Today’s channels are much more like the Committees of Correspondence set up in 1775 to protect the colonies.
Like you, I swing back and forth. We need to get much more of the populace swung back to the side of liberty and independence. That is difficult to do when the enemy controls almost all K-12 and higher ed in the country.