The "fascist bargain"

Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism is the inspiration for the following post.

Jonah Goldberg says many liberals are correct to bemoan the collusion of government and corporations. What they completely misunderstand is that this is the system they set up! The "fascist bargain:" the state says to the industrialist, "You may stay in business and own your own factories. In the spirit of cooperation and unity, we will even guarantee you profits and a lack of serous competiton. In exchange we expect you to agree with - and help implement - our political agenda." Goldberg argues that big business in America is left-wing and fascistic, because it does not argue for free markets, competition, property rights, or any of the other political values inscribed in the founding documents of our country. What we have now is collusion among the big players, adjusting production to consumption, and the little guy is getting screwed. The larger units have written the codes to their own advantage.

Both Wal-Mart and Microsoft used to brag that they had no interest in Washington politics. Then, when they realized the damage that could be done by competitors and others who wanted government power, they both dove headfirst into the political game. Their competitors lobbied the government to meddle, and government politicians and bureaucrats could not resist meddling. As Goldberg writes, "If Acme can convince the government to pick on Ajax, Ajax has no choice but to pressure the government not to!"

As the size and scope of government have grown, so have the number of businesses petitioning the government. In 1956 the Encyclopedia of Associations listed 4,900 groups. Today it lists over 23,000. Since 1996 the number of registered lobbyists has tripled to over 35,000 in Washington. It has doubled in the last five years.