General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: A quote from 1936 by H.P. Lovecraft. [View all]iemitsu
(3,888 posts)The quote alone makes it sound as if Lovecraft supported the New Deal and its legislative goals when he clearly did not or did so only marginally. He was critical of entrenched wealth and power but did not believe in political or social equality for the masses. He self-identified politically as a Fascist, and felt that government should be run by a cultural elite, whose primary responsibility would be to maintain and develop the culture. He did advocate for shortened work schedules for people and believed that this would promote the intellectualism of the nation as a whole but he feared that many would spend their leisure time wastefully and passively being entertained rather than using that time to improve man's individual and social conscientiousness.
Lovecraft felt that materialism was problematic for society and probably was attacking the republican attitudes of the time but he was not a supporter of Roosevelt's plans either.
I will have to do some more reading to decide what Lovecraft was actually saying when he uttered these words.