Boy, my eyes were opened today. I just watched an archived film from 1947 on the Nazis and Hitler's strategy to take power in Germany. It sounded like what has been taking place in the U.S. in recent years. He worked to divide the population into groups that viewed each other with suspicion, then he gathered people that were indebted to him for their position. Next, he worked to place people in the media to control what the people could hear on a nightly basis and followed that by blaming a scapegoat group for the problems of Germany. In Germany, the scapegoats began with the Jews then moved to the Catholics; in the U.S., it appears that it began with "the Rich" and is now moving to "White Privilege" or White Men. There were many other similarities, and I found the entire analysis very disturbing. It included undeclared wars and other things that sounded very similar to present day here. I have no idea whether the same thing is happening in other countries or not. I don't know what the end result here would be or what the goal could be other than profits.
A few years ago, I spent some time with an elderly woman who had been a child and early teenager in Germany at the time that the Nazis were in the process of taking over. Along with many other Mennonites, she escaped, first to South America, and then to the United States, before they began killing people. She told me that the atmosphere in the United States then, about eight years ago, was very much like that in Germany in the early 1930s. As you say, groups of people were being pitted against one another, a climate was developing that placed ever increasing limits on free speech and, most strikingly to me, she said that the children were being taught, through the schools and through youth organizations, to place their trust in the Party rather than in their parents or in their church. A couple of other things she mentioned was that words were being redefined and used against people who were using them correctly, where it was traditionally good to be one thing, that had become a negative, and also that actual history was being reinterpreted.
I agree, at first glance, it may indeed look as though there may be some sinister parallels between what we're witnessing today and what was happening in the 1930s in Germany especially if you single out randomly chosen elements of a political development and a regime. If you take a closer look, though, and include the whole complexity of driving forces, political and social settings and other factors, it becomes clear(er) that you cannot step into the same river twice. It may be tempting to try and use an analogy in order to understand an increasingly complex present by looking at the past for help. Yet comparing does not mean equating what seem to be intrinsically different events. I, for one, would see significant qualitative differences between Hitler's seizure of power and US developments. For example, divide and rule, favouritism as well as scapegoating have been commonly used methods for seizing and maintaining power since ancient times. Other elements of Hitler's policy, e.g. enforcing conformity on the whole political system, was new in its totality and couldn't have been used before the separation of powers had been established. We might see similar aspirations in autocratic regimes nowadays but that does not necessarily mean that another Nazi-Regime is going to emerge in these countries. The other factors that Ken mentioned like ideological brainwashing by changing the meaning of words, installing the Fuehrerprinciple, reinterpreting history were part of the process of enforcing political conformity. BTW, it is a risky strategy to play the Hitler card too often. Politicians like doing that because it helps them to get more attention immediately. In the log run, though, it leads to diluting the real implications and menace of a fascist regime.
Thomas, I was not singling out random elements. It was the entire pattern that struck me in the film. I could not/cannot provide a complete list of the parallels, and I was not "playing the Hitler card". Although Hitler and his regime were horrible people, both Stalin and Mao killed more people, at least in cold blood. Of course there are differences. It is much more difficult to control all the information reaching the populace now than it was in the 30s, but criticism of the last administration was greatly suppressed, and media folks lost their jobs for criticizing Obama, even mildly. The criticism of the current administration, however, has reached mania levels, and I think, in part, that is due to the interruption of the agenda of control. We shall continue to disagree on this one. I was just struck by the pattern that unfolded in a film from 1947, and the pattern seemed to have a lot in common with what is happening now. It appears to me that the U.S. will be destroyed by the fact that we were the only economy standing at the end of WWII and have borne the "weight of the world" since then.
I take your point, Don. Let me try to make my stance a bit clearer. The point I was trying to make is that when one observes certain developments in society partly reminiscent of those in the 1930 in Germany one shouldn't jump to conclusions. I was just wondering why, if you confirm that there are differences, you would put the Hitler-label on it? Some tendencies, although we might call them fascistoid, are still a far cry from saying that they are bound to lead to a fascist dictatorship let alone a Nazi one being the most extreme and unique form of fascism. To my mind, it is useful to acknowledge the singularity of the Nazi dictatorship which stands for nothing less than a systematic physical terror against an ever increasing number of dissidents and racial groups organised by the state as well as for the will to kill millions of them through a state-run extermination industry. I can't imagine that the current development in your country compares to that. When I grew up behind the iron curtain I kept admiring the US as a lighthouse for the free and a stronghold of democracy. I find it hard to accept that exactly that should be at stake.
I know that this was addressed to Don but, in my post, I spoke of a woman who was there, in Germany, when Hitler was coming to power, and she put the Hitler label on it. She saw the similarities and felt that we were in danger of things that we may not want. Yes, it would be different. There might not even be a mustache, but we need to be aware of things while there may still be a chance of backing out. Nearly all of our media is firmly on the side of a political agenda that is shared by what some people would refer to as our shadow government, which is probably not represented by our current president. When Hitler came to power in Germany, his party was in the minority. But he had come to control the press and had built up a large, loud corps of people who were pretty good at discouraging dissent. When he was ready to take full power, he already had it.
I put the "Hitler label" on the discourse because the film documentary was an analysis of how Hitler came to power and what was happening in the 30s in Germany. The docu was done in 1947, shortly after the war was over, so there could have been some bias involved, and although in the film the differences between pre-war Germany and the U.S. were accented, it struck me that many of those differences have vanished and I could see a lot of the same "traits" coming to the fore, just as Ken's friend said. The U.S. changed very dramatically beginning in the late 60s and 70s, and the rate of the change has accelerated in recent years.
"They will never, ever be free, for their entire lives, and they'll be happy for it." -- Adolf Hitler "You'll own nothing and you'll be happy." -- Danish MP Ida Auken, on the vision of the World Economic Forum for 2030.
@Ken Anderson - um curious as to why the post, out of the blue on this thread ? Has something new happened?
Nothing special. Just the juxtaposition of what our world leaders have in store for us with what Hitler had envisioned.
When I turned on my radio this morning Armstrong & Getty were going on and on about the Corrupt Hunter Biden and father and the corrupt leaders around the world.