Free Republic

"It Can't Happen Here" was a successful novel by Sinclair Lewis, written as a warning to Americans that their nation could easily follow the path of Weimar Germany. It Can't Happen Here chronicles the fictional devolution of America into a rightwing fascist hellhole via the election of an unscrupulous demagogue as President. Lewis, of course, wrote his book as a warning to Americans that their nation could easily follow the path of Weimar Germany where Hitler and his Brownshirts threatened and manipulated their way to power in a shamed, defeated, and angry nation. This unhappy novel was resurrected by the...

"...The Eliminationists quotes novelist Sinclair Lewis’s quip that fascism in the United States will come "wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." In the days since the shootings in Arizona, an image of the Lewis quote superimposed on an photo of Palin has made the rounds on Facebook and a number of left-leaning blogs. An attack on Beck, Palin, and Limbaugh appeared in letters page of today’s Seattle Times citing Sinclair Lewis’s supposedly prescient observation, and warning Americans not to ignore the signs of a fascist takeover—as so many “middle class Germans” did. Thankfully, Neiwert’s book footnotes the quote,...

The current book under discussion for the Freeper Reading Club is Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis. This book had a tremendous effect when it was publish and for years afterwards. As a matter of fact, Babbitt still has a big effect. One effect of this book was a certain prejudice against small businessmen for being "narrow-minded." Although there were many truths in this book I don't think a lot of things that held true in the 1920s are applicable to today. There is little of the "boosterism" and the conformity in small businessmen that existed back then. Actually you have to...