Comparing the current direction of the United States to the direction Germany was taking in the 1930s can cost you your job, as Ed Gernon can tell you. (What better way to prove the country isn't headed for fascism than to punish voices of even mild dissent?)
The miniseries that Gernon commented on, which I feel strangely compelled to mention HAS NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO TEACH US ABOUT THE PRESENT STATE OF U.S. GOVERNMENT OR SOCIETY, will soon be hurling its lesson-free pixels at you. Hitler: The Rise of Evil airs in two parts, May 18 and 20 on CBS at 9 p.m.
My friend Keythe Farley just forwarded me a revolting essay that, while possibly dangerous for children or other impressionable minds to read, serves as a good lesson in how NOT to think about this whole is-the-U.S.-headed-for-fascism issue. Personally, I think whoever wrote it should be fired (for starters).
When Democracy Failed: The Warnings of History
by Thom Hartmann
The 70th anniversary wasn't noticed in the United States, and was barely reported in the corporate media. But the Germans remembered well that fateful day seventy years ago - February 27, 1933. They commemorated the anniversary by joining in demonstrations for peace that mobilized citizens all across the world.
It started when the government, in the midst of a worldwide economic crisis, received reports of an imminent terrorist attack. A foreign ideologue had launched feeble attacks on a few famous buildings, but the media largely ignored his relatively small efforts. The intelligence services knew, however, that the odds were he would eventually succeed. (Historians are still arguing whether or not rogue elements in the intelligence service helped the terrorist; the most recent research implies they did not.)
But the warnings of investigators were ignored at the highest levels, in part because the government was distracted; the man who claimed to be the nation's leader had not been elected by a majority vote and the majority of citizens claimed he had no right to the powers he coveted. He was a simpleton, some said, a cartoon character of a man who saw things in black-and-white terms and didn't have the intellect to understand the subtleties of running a nation in a complex and internationalist world. His coarse use of language - reflecting his political roots in a southernmost state - and his simplistic and often-inflammatory nationalistic rhetoric offended the aristocrats, foreign leaders, and the well-educated elite in the government and media. And, as a young man, he'd joined a secret society with an occult-sounding name and bizarre initiation rituals that involved skulls and human bones.
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Article comments
1 - Perry Perdis
The similarities are amazing,arent they?
Hopefully we'll all get smart and not Elect or current president again,but in reality he probably will be in office for another 4 years.
2 - Joe
Interesting, my search of the American Heritage dictionary yielded this:
Fascism - a. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism. b. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government. 2. Oppressive, dictatorial control.
MY GOD! How Orwellian! He's changing the Dictionary! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Very, very scholarly.
3 - Brian Flemming
A person named Lee sent this reply to the group e-mail my friend Keythe sent out. Thought I'd post it here, too.
Lee says:
There are parallels, of course, but the overall parallel breaks down because Hitler was the leader of a highly disciplined mass movement, and that's what gave him leverage with the German ruling classes. He was a highly intelligent, resourceful and charismatic person, and his "coarseness" had to do with the rankism of the ruling classes in that rigidly stratified society. The elites looked down on Hitler because of his common origins and his lowly military rank -- corporal (like a certain Frenchman who became an emperor ... unlike Bush and like Napoleon, Hitler served valiantly at the front in the Great War and won the Iron Cross First Class for his bravery). Like all ruling classes, however, the German rulers also understood power, and Hitler and his tens of millions of loyal National Socialists presented them with a counterweight to the mass Communist and Social-Democratic movements, which they hated and feared because of their programs of social justice. The Nazis were distasteful to them because they were "a rabble," like the Socialists and Communists, but the Nazi program of blood-and-honor nationalism, anti-Semitism and only rhetorical but unsubstantial populism was not frightening. I could go on and on, but the point is Bush is no leader of a genuine mass movement of the dispossessed middle class and declassed workers, he is rather a son of the decadent American ruling class itself. There is no mass socialist or communist movement threatening the rulers of the U.S. Politically, the American people are sheep who look to the Demoicrats, twins of the GOP, as an alternative to them (bamboozled by a controlled press and media that would give Goebbels an orgasm). Our ruling class for the most part backs the Bush bunch and its agenda because it advances their interests and there is no one, domestically or internationally, powerful enough to meaningfully challenge anything the U.S. does. A few in the ruling circles see a danger that this administration's recklessness may provoke a dangerous, organized response from the masses at home and abroad, but in its majority the U.S. ruling class is riding high on being the unchallenged, preeminent power in the world. That's why its ready to tear up treaties, insult and bully other major powers, invade and occupy weak, backward states, and develop and use battlefield nuclear weapons to expand and consolidate its empire.
To me, the Unitd States of 2003 is a much more terrifying force in the world than Nazi Germany was seventy years ago, when other countries had more than enough power to "crush the serpent in its egg" but failed to do so.
4 - Joe
And since your author mentions belonging to secret societies, I thought this might interest you.
5 - Tim Hall
...bamboozled by a controlled press and media that would give Goebbels an orgasm...
Goebbels and Murdoch have a lot more in common than do Hitler and Bush.
6 - mike
Wow. Kerry belonged to Skull and Bones. That just totally devastates the case against Bush. I'm sorry I ever said anything bad about our Great Leader. He is one tough terrorist trashing mofo.
He gets it done like nobody gets it done. I love him. I love the sound of his voice. I love his visage silhouetted against Mt. Rushmore. I swoon at the sight of him in the bomber jacket he never got the chance to wear when he went AWOL from the Guard. He is the greatest world leader ever. His spirit moves me, and I babble in tongues at the mention of his name. He is all knowing and we are all but aspects of his Being. Martin Heidegger, eat your heart out.
In fact, I think I'll start a youth movement to propagate Bush's word among the population and engage his opponents in street battles. I'll call it the Republican Youth. Yes. That has a nice ring to it. And I saw some leftover armbands from some European country--Germany, I think--that will go nicely with the crisp white and black uniforms our children will wear.
I have to go now. Tears fill my eyes even more than when I think about all those dessicated Arab corpses sticking out of garbage cans in downtown Baghdad. I hope those cadavers appreciate what we've done for them.
7 - Joe
Sorry Mike, that was from a previous conversation between Brian and I that you were not party to. But thanks for the terribly witty and well-measured response.
8 - Mark
Well Brian,
I'm glad you brought this subject up. But I wonder about Lee's comment, "when other countries had more than enough power to "crush the serpent in its egg" but failed to do so." In fact, because of Neville Chamberlain, and other liberals in the Parliament, England's military was cut to the bone. Likewise France. No one ever dreamed that Hitler would try to take the entire European continent. The Sudenland was okay, Poland and Czeckoslovakia, were troubling, but still, the Western world expected the League of Nations to stop Hitler. It did not happen and the League fell into oblivion, much like the UN appears to be doing now.
Interestingly enough, while US Ambassador Joe Kennedy was trying to tell the American people that England was going down the tubes and we really should try to make a business deal with Hitler, FDR was setting up, with the work of Churchill, an intelligence community in the US that was instrumental in the downfall of Hitler. All of this was 2 years before Pearl Harbor. If this had ever hit the New York Times, FDR would have been drummed out of office like Nixon.
You should pick up a book titled, A Man Called Intrepid, written by William Stevenson. It is fascinating. After reading it, I think that you will come away thinking George Bush and Tony Blair are the FDR and Churchill of the 21st century. Well, probably not, but it will give you a better handle on history, and maybe, just maybe, we will not have to repeat it.
Have fun,
Mark
9 - Eginhard Wichmann
Hm, very interesting though we should be very careful about the future and the future developments.
Hitler was not even a corporal and got the Iron Cross 2nd class!
The economical situation in the US and Germany is very similar that is true, but the solutions or ways to improvement are still different! The US put down the taxes
(not too much and distributed to five years or so...)and Germany looks to rise taxes and save or cut benefits.
But the pressure on the German government
gets stronger and stronger to solve the
future problems!
It will still take some time but the groups and numbers of politicians knowing the making the people happier with every year is over grows!!!
The next problem is, that France and Holland etc are getting similar problems soon...
10 - mike
Mark: Is there a nice way for me to say that you don't know what the fuck you're talking about? Neville Chamberlain was a Conservative, not a "liberal," and he was joined by most of the British right (excepting a few folks like Churchill) in appeasing Hilter. The initial appeasement was not at Munich, but during the Spanish Civil War, when the British, backed by the United States, chose not to to defend the liberal Republic against the Nazis.
It was socialists like Leon Blum, the Prime Minister of France, who wanted to intervene but were over-ruled. IF WE'D FOLLOWED FRENCH ADVICE, it's possible World War II would never have happened.
Comparing Hitler to Hussein, as some people do, is absurd. The Iraq army was a not a threat to anyone, SH didn't have weaponized chemical or biological weapons, and he had no connection to bin laden or 9/11.
When you invoke the Chamberlain analogy, you are simply displaying your own ignorance. Certainly you can do a better job justifying Operation Not Quite A Cakewalk But Pretty Close As Cakewalks Go. Come on. Give me something to shoot at.
11 - Joe
For what its worth.
12 - Temple Stark
Calling Mark Larkin - a little more sarcasm please.
Whatver your views (on Bush, not Hitler - I'd hope we're all in agreement against Hitler) - a solid post here on the thread of fear that does grip major parts of this country in regards to civil liberties.
13 - Temple Stark
>>Mark: Is there a nice way for me to say that you don't know what the fuck you're talking about? Neville Chamberlain was a Conservative, not a "liberal," and he was joined by most of the British right
Um. Yes, I was going to make this point, only in somewhat milder terms. Chamberlain was a Conservative (big C) and in no way a liberal by pretty much any definition of that word in modern time.
Nice knee-jerk reaction though.
I don't have a dog in this hunt, I just like facts.
14 - felicia
Thanks for pointing out the
significant parallels between our country now and Hitler's Germany, particularly the aggressive imperialism abroad and disregard for the constitution at home.
The continuation of the policies of the current administration will hinge on it gathering enough mass support. The group that seems now the most probable to play the role of the most fervent Nazis is the Christian Right. These people (and there are tens of millions of them in this country) are apocalyptic. They believe that a war against Islam is necessary to bring about the second coming of the Lord. It's impossible to have rational discussions with them. They are becoming the most fervent foot-soldiers of the lunatic policies of the Bush/Cheney administration.
15 - wendy
hilter was a evil,lonely,sick man. how can any person compare bush to a evil murder?
16 - Tonto
World War Two Was So Preventable, Britains Prime Minister Just Kept Giving All THis Appeasement To The Germans Giving Up Without Struggle THe Sudetenland or Czechoslovakia Quickly Followed By All Of Czechoslovakia, Then We Wouldn't Go Into THe War Until Hitler Had His Whole Automobile Up And Running And All We Did Was The "Lend-Lease Act" All Stupid. I CAn Understand The WW2 Battle Of THe Pacific That Would Have Been Much Harder To Prevent But Europe Made So Many Mistakes During Pre-WW2 Time. If Any Of YOu Children Have The TIme I'd Look At SOme Of Doc. Suess's (Yes The Childrens Writer)Political Cartoons Teyre Very Good