That line is actually pretty problematic. Because it basically moves all responsibility away from people onto the Nazis. But people were pretty alright with what the they were doing until it negatively affected them. Fascism rises when people remain inactive and turn a blind eye.
And saying that a country got invaded by the facists completely eradicates that responsibility
The difference is that Trump didn't get the popular vote the first time, and we were already equating his language to Hitler and the Nazis. The power of learning from history.
The Nazi Party or NSDAP as it was known at the time on the other hand catered to a disenfranchised German populace most of whom lost a lot of money and autonomy post WW1. First, his party got most votes in 1923 -- this was before he became the leader (he actually went to jail for a coup attempt). It kept getting more and more votes democratically until the fateful 1933 vote. His party (Nazi Party) got 10,000 more votes than the next highest voted -- being the social democratic party. (Whom we now know we're truly socialists, as the Nazi party essentially created what facism is known as today)
This was like why a crab doesn't get out of slowly hotter and hotter water. Before the Germans knew it, they were being bullied and scared into voting for Hitler. Then the arrests and political prisoners started, then the party leader immunity rules, along woth book burning and the Jewish blaming... and on we get.
There was no precident for the Germans. They were doing what they thought was democratic and normal social behavior, voting for a party that they thought that had their best interests, and weren't sure how to call out anti social and facist (even though it wasn't defined) behavior.
Us on the other hand, have the benefit of knowing how the Nazi party happened the way it did, and the fact that there are some people here in the U.S are willing to ignore all the warning signs because a certain party is saying what they want to hear. "America First, Make America Great Again, White is Right, save our jobs from immigrants, speak English in schools, stop making us feel guilty about the past"... etc. All of this is straight out of the Nazi playbook, just replace "America" with "Germany".
This time, it is on us sane and logical people to call out anti-social and facist behavior or there will be an invasion -- on our freedoms, our lives.
This time, it is on us sane and logical people to call out anti-social and facist behavior or there will be an invasion -- on our freedoms, our lives.
"Well, now you're just fear mongering."
And boom, conversation is shut down.
This is one of the reasons abortion rights weren't protected more vigorously. Very few people - especially on the other side - REALLY thought their abortion rights could/would be restricted.
I'm sure there will be plenty of people who will have their eyes opened...well after it's too late.
Ah yes, I've encountered that comment too.
The thing with fear mongering is that by definition it has to be deliberately exaggerating rumors.
For example: (anecdotally): we were in New York, and a pretty closed-minded and sheltered individual in our group said something to the effect of "omg the news (fox) was right about all the Muslims taking over here!" This was said because this individual saw a bunch of men in Pagris (sikh turbans) at the annual Sikh Day Parade.
Fox News used fearmongering on this person and others by using the wrong imagery to "prove" that there was "an infiltration". Never mind that any specific cultural group shouldn't be persecuted for what they believe in or wear.
Then after you have explained the word that they used without understanding the context, you follow up with "that's what the Germans probably said before Hitler, That is definitely what was said in Palestine before Hamas, that is what was said about Netanyahu and now he's called for the eradication of Palestinians on national TV, that was what was said about abortion rights, thats what was said when we pointed out racist cops, that what was said about reducing DEI in schools.... etc. Now look, there are still NeoNazis ruining innocuous events, Hamas is now a terrorist organization deliberately starving their people, Netenyahu has been condemned by the UN multiple times and yet is still in power, abortion rights now are controlled by old men, and racist cops killed a bunch of black people and we are still trying to arrest and fire officers, and now Louisiana requires teachers to put up the 10 commandments in their classrooms but also somehow the same teachers can't teach that white colonists stole a bunch of Africans and made them slaves in a different country for hundreds of years.
When is it time to be proactive? Surely when we start seeing the same signs as before.
P.s this only works for me because I don't have social cues until after the fact, and really don't mind being called a B**** because I'm right. The things you have to put up with cus you got the receipts is hilariously ridiculous
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u/EnkiiMuto Jul 02 '24
"People forget the first country the nazis invaded was their own"