--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Keynes, far from being a wholehearted…" description: "\"Keynes, far from being a wholehearted lover of freedom, viewed with some sympathy the fascist and Communist ‘experiments’ of the 1930s.\" — Ralph Raico" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/601/ralph-raico-39769_1930s_keynes-far-from-being-a-wholehearted-lov_1330474.png" --- # Keynes, far from being a wholehearted lover of freedom… ![“Keynes, far from being a wholehearted lover of freedom, viewed with some sympathy the fascist and Communist ‘experiments’ of the 1930s.” quote by Ralph Raico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/601/ralph-raico-39769_1930s_keynes-far-from-being-a-wholehearted-lov_1330474.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/601/ralph-raico-39769_1930s_keynes-far-from-being-a-wholehearted-lov_1330474.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/601/ralph-raico-39769_1930s_keynes-far-from-being-a-wholehearted-lov_1330474.png) > “Keynes, far from being a wholehearted lover of freedom, viewed with some sympathy the fascist and Communist ‘experiments’ of the 1930s.” [Ralph Raico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-raico/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Raico notes Keynes admired some aspects of totalitarian experiments despite his liberal stance, highlighting ideological complexity. **In simple terms:** Keynes saw some value in extreme regimes despite supporting freedom. Key Takeaway Recognize that even champions of liberty can hold contradictory views. Themes politics ideology contradiction Mood analytical critical Type historical political When to use this quote - academic debate - policy making - education - media commentary Key Concepts liberalism totalitarianism historical analysis Questions to Reflect On - Why would a pro-freedom thinker sympathize with authoritarian experiments? - How does this affect our view of Keynes today? A Different Perspective It may oversimplify Keynes' nuanced critiques and the context of the 1930s. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [1930s](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1930s-382/) [Communist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communist/) [Communist Experiments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communist-experiments-4462400/) [Experiments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiments/) [Fascist Communist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fascist-communist-2209101/) [Fascists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fascists/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keynes/) [Keynes Far](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keynes-far-4462398/) [Lovers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lovers/) [Sympathy Fascist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sympathy-fascist-4462399/) ## Related quotes > [Every communist has a fascist frown, every fascist a communist smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-spark/every-communist-has-a-fascist-frown-every-fascist-a-communist-smile/) [Muriel Spark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-spark/) > [Friedrich Hayek, who died on March 23, 1992 at age 92, was arguably the greatest social scientist of the twentieth century. By the time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-simon/friedrich-hayek-who-died-on-march-23-1992-at-age-92-was-arguably-the/) [Julian Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-simon/) > [As John Maynard Keynes taught us in the 1930s, in such situations, government is the only entity with both the motive and the ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-h-frank/as-john-maynard-keynes-taught-us-in-the-1930s-in-such-situations/) [Robert H. Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-h-frank/) > [“A sound banker is not one who foresees danger and avoids it,” wrote John Maynard Keynes, “but one who, when he is ruined, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-sound-banker-is-not-one-who-foresees-danger-and-avoids-it-wrote/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Keynes tried to show that market economies could settle in equilibrium states in which the labour market did not clear, and in which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ormerod/keynes-tried-to-show-that-market-economies-could-settle-in/) [Paul Ormerod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ormerod/) > [I do not regard the Keynesian revolution as a great intellectual triumph. On the contrary, it was a tragedy because it came so late.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/i-do-not-regard-the-keynesian-revolution-as-a-great-intellectual/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [“At present", Keynes said in 1926, "everything is politics, and nothing policies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-davenport-hines/at-present-keynes-said-in-1926-everything-is-politics-and-nothing/) [Richard Davenport-Hines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-davenport-hines/) > [Where did Keynes stand on overt fascism? From the scattered information now available, it should come as no surprise that Keynes was an enthusiastic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/where-did-keynes-stand-on-overt-fascism-from-the-scattered/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [“After the war, when the problem of deficient effective demand seemed to have faded into the background, a fresh question came to the fore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/after-the-war-when-the-problem-of-deficient-effective-demand-seemed/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [My only regret in life is that I did not drink more Champagne - John Maynard Keynes Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/my-only-regret-in-life-is-that-i-did-not-drink-more-champagne-john/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [“As Keynes wrote, with devastating understatement, ‘The age of economic internationalism was not particularly successful in avoiding war.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/as-keynes-wrote-with-devastating-understatement-the-age-of-economic/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [Wicksell's old-fashioned liberalism is reminiscent of John Maynard Keynes' attitude toward conscription during World War I. Keynes opposed conscription, but he was not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mancur-olson/wicksell-s-old-fashioned-liberalism-is-reminiscent-of-john-maynard/) [Mancur Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mancur-olson/) > [“Economists who simply advised leaving the economy alone, governments whose first instincts, apart from protecting the gold standard by deflationary policies, was to stick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-j-hobsbawm/economists-who-simply-advised-leaving-the-economy-alone-governments/) [Eric J. Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-j-hobsbawm/) > [The major reason for Keynes's rejection of communism was simply that he could scarcely identify with the grubby proletariat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/the-major-reason-for-keynes-s-rejection-of-communism-was-simply-that/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [“Keynes died in 1946, exhausted by his wartime efforts. But he had long since demonstrated that neither capitalism nor liberalism would survive very long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/keynes-died-in-1946-exhausted-by-his-wartime-efforts-but-he-had-long/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) ## More by Ralph Raico > [As liberals, men like Richter viewed socialism as the great modern counter-revolution, and believed that the achievement of the socialist goal would lead both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-raico/as-liberals-men-like-richter-viewed-socialism-as-the-great-modern/) [Ralph Raico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-raico/) > [The nation as such is not a large subject that has needs, that works, practices economy, and consumes. . . . Thus the phenomena…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-raico/the-nation-as-such-is-not-a-large-subject-that-has-needs-that-works/) [Ralph Raico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-raico/) > [Winston Churchill was a man of blood and a politico without principle, whose apotheosis serves to corrupt every standard of honesty and morality in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-raico/winston-churchill-was-a-man-of-blood-and-a-politico-without-principle/) [Ralph Raico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-raico/) > [The current disfavor into which socialism has fallen has spurred… the frenzy to proclaim oneself a liberal. Many writers today have recourse to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-raico/the-current-disfavor-into-which-socialism-has-fallen-has-spurred-the/) [Ralph Raico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-raico/) > [Tariffs, government contracts, naval and military spending, nationalized industries, tax policy, social welfare, the legal privileging of labor unions were among the means at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-raico/tariffs-government-contracts-naval-and-military-spending-nationalized/) [Ralph Raico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-raico/) > [With virtually no knowledge of or interest in history, the masses simply take their unprecedented high living standards under capitalism for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-raico/with-virtually-no-knowledge-of-or-interest-in-history-the-masses/) [Ralph Raico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-raico/) > [The chief value of the rule lies in preventing an immediate and obvious but inferior good from replacing a longer-range, less obvious but superior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-raico/the-chief-value-of-the-rule-lies-in-preventing-an-immediate-and/) [Ralph Raico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-raico/) > [Protectionism, socialism, all varieties of state favoritism and restrictions on competition, and the growth of bureaucracy and jobbery were the means by which special…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-raico/protectionism-socialism-all-varieties-of-state-favoritism-and/) [Ralph Raico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-raico/) > [Liberalism is, in fact, the ideology of the capitalist revolution that prodigiously raised the living standards of the mass of people; a doctrine gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-raico/liberalism-is-in-fact-the-ideology-of-the-capitalist-revolution-that/) [Ralph Raico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-raico/) > [ What is the free market? Well, the free market, \[we're told\] is really a terrible, inhuman kind of arrangement, because it treats people like… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-raico/what-is-the-free-market-well-the-free-market-we-re-told-is-really-a/) [Ralph Raico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-raico/) [Explore all 11 Ralph Raico quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-raico/) ## More 1930s quotes > [Physicist Isador Isaac Rabi, who won a Nobel Prize for inventing a technique that permitted scientists to probe the structure of atoms and molecules…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-saul-wurman/physicist-isador-isaac-rabi-who-won-a-nobel-prize-for-inventing-a/) [Richard Saul Wurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-saul-wurman/) > [My grandmother was a minister as well, which was not that common in the 1930s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-firth/my-grandmother-was-a-minister-as-well-which-was-not-that-common-in/) [Colin Firth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-firth/) > [It reminds me in some ways of the debate taking place in this country and around the world in the late 1930s. There were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/it-reminds-me-in-some-ways-of-the-debate-taking-place-in-this-country/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [As a result of the efforts of Hayek .. and the many others who share his general outlook, the idea of a centrally planned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/as-a-result-of-the-efforts-of-hayek-and-the-many-others-who-share-his/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [When I was in Philadelphia during the Depression in 1930 or '31, I got a very sad job as a night watchman in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-glazer/when-i-was-in-philadelphia-during-the-depression-in-1930-or-31-i-got/) [Tom Glazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-glazer/) > [Working in 3D I didn't experience much of a difference, except that the cameras are very big so they can't be moved around with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frain/working-in-3d-i-didn-t-experience-much-of-a-difference-except-that/) [James Frain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frain/) > [Whatever the reasons may be, I was very much affected by events of the 1930s - the Spanish Civil War, for example, though I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/whatever-the-reasons-may-be-i-was-very-much-affected-by-events-of-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [We're a little bit low in the 1970s, right, post-Vietnam, Watergate era, malaise, all that, but this is more like the 1930s where the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-fried/we-re-a-little-bit-low-in-the-1970s-right-post-vietnam-watergate-era/) [Daniel Fried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-fried/) > [In the immediate postwar era, financial crises in advanced countries were rare events, and before 1970 did not happen at all. Since then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-m-taylor/in-the-immediate-postwar-era-financial-crises-in-advanced-countries/) [Alan M. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-m-taylor/) > [I would not say that Harvard possesses any sort of absolute dominance. And I personally do not take the rankings of schools all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rosovsky/i-would-not-say-that-harvard-possesses-any-sort-of-absolute-dominance/) [Henry Rosovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rosovsky/) > [In the 1930s one was aware of two great evils - mass unemployment and the threat of war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-meade/in-the-1930s-one-was-aware-of-two-great-evils-mass-unemployment-and/) [James Meade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-meade/) > [When comics came along in the 1930s there was a talent pool waiting. And one reason is so many areas were closed to Jews.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-robinson/when-comics-came-along-in-the-1930s-there-was-a-talent-pool-waiting/) [Jerry Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-robinson/) > [In his 1930 book, Dirac took for granted that measurements could be made, but was very vague about what was actually involved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willis-lamb/in-his-1930-book-dirac-took-for-granted-that-measurements-could-be/) [Willis Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willis-lamb/) > [Under the gold standard America had no major financial panics other than in 1873, 1884, 1890, 1893, 1907, 1930, 1931, 1932, and 1933.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-krugman/under-the-gold-standard-america-had-no-major-financial-panics-other/) [Paul Krugman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-krugman/) > [The crucial role communists played in organizing industrial unions in the 1930s and struggling for social reforms, peace, and civil rights strengthened rather then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-parenti/the-crucial-role-communists-played-in-organizing-industrial-unions-in/) [Michael Parenti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-parenti/) [Browse all 255 1930s quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1930s-382/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Keynes, far from being a wholehearted lover of freedom, viewed with some sympathy the fascist and Communist ‘experiments’ of the 1930s.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ralph Raico" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-raico/keynes-far-from-being-a-wholehearted-lover-of-freedom-viewed-with/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "1930s" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-raico/keynes-far-from-being-a-wholehearted-lover-of-freedom-viewed-with/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/601/ralph-raico-39769_1930s_keynes-far-from-being-a-wholehearted-lov_1330474.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/601/ralph-raico-39769_1930s_keynes-far-from-being-a-wholehearted-lov_1330474.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/601/ralph-raico-39769_1930s_keynes-far-from-being-a-wholehearted-lov_1330474.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Keynes, far from being a wholehearted lover of freedom, viewed with some sympathy the fascist and Communist…” — Ralph Raico", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ralph Raico", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-raico/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Keynes, far from being a wholehearted...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-raico/keynes-far-from-being-a-wholehearted-lover-of-freedom-viewed-with/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-raico/keynes-far-from-being-a-wholehearted-lover-of-freedom-viewed-with/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```