Corporations grow on every hand, and on every hand not only swallow and overawe individuals but also compete with governments. The contest is no longer between government and individuals; it is now between government and dangerous combinations and individuals. Here is a monstrously changed aspect of the social world. In face of such circumstances, must not government lay aside all timid scruple and boldly make itself an agency for social reform as well as for political control? “Yes,” says the democrat, “perhaps it must. You know it is my principle, no less than yours, that every man shall have an equal chance with every other man: if I saw my way to it as a practical politician, I should be willing to go farther and superintend every man’s use of his chance. But the means? The question with me is not whether the community has power to act as it may please in these matters, but how it can act with practical advantage — a question of policy.” A question of policy primarily, but also a question of organization; that is to say, of administration.No criticism of this obviously totalitarian approach is present in the work. Also, note the use of “corporations” as a bogeyman against which the collective must act.
Thank you.
So, he was comfortable with dictatorship to do “good.” What was his idea of good? I’m sure much could be written. Here’s one tidbit from History.com:
“During Wilson’s presidency, he allowed his cabinet to segregate the Treasury, the Post Office, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Navy, the Interior, the Marine Hospital, the War Department and the Government Printing Office. This meant creating separate offices, lunchrooms, bathrooms and other facilities for white and Black workers. It also meant dismissing Black supervisors, cutting off Black employees’ access to promotions and better-paying jobs and reserving those jobs for white people.
By the way, History.com mentions segregation by southerners, but not segregation by Democrats. When it comes to “systemic racism,” Democrats are very prominent in the design, maintenance, and defense of the systems in question. Segregation being just one example.