I spent most of my adult life wondering how Hitler happened, ie, how Germans allowed him to happen. Now I know- people don't react bc they aren't sure how far it will go or how bad it will get until they do know, then it's too late.
I spent most of my adult life wondering how Hitler happened, ie, how Germans allowed him to happen. Now I know- people don't react bc they aren't sure how far it will go or how bad it will get until they do know, then it's too late.
From the limited online research I recently conducted, mass indifference to the depravity of the aspiring autocrat and his most fanatical followers is one major cause and indicator that a democracy is descending into autocracy.
In certain instances, this indifference appears to me to be caused by a lack of empathy for those being persecuted and demonized by the aspiring autocrat and his most rabid adherents because in the minds of the ordinary people supporting the autocrat the тАЬundesirablesтАЭ are getting what they deserve.
In other instances, it seems to me to be caused when citizens are distracted from the deranged behavior of the wannabe autocrat and his most devoted followers due to problems in their personal life, an unhealthy relationship or financial struggles, for example.
And still in other instances, it may be caused by complacency among citizens, particularly powerful and influential citizens, because they incorrectly think what is occurring is being blown way out of proportion by hysterical people. I believe that the contemporary Democratic Party fits perfectly into this third category.
The reason many Democrats might very naively think this way is because everything in America has always worked out for the better in the end and, therefore, they think it always will. And also maybe because many of them, especially their leaders in Washington, DC and in capitals in blue states, are cocooned from the rest of the nation in their offices all day and relate to very few people except each other and their fundraisers.
Thus, they are unable to observe what is actually occurring in the overwhelming majority of the United States. This detachment from reality may be why they tell the tens of millions of Americans who are struggling financially тАЬWhatтАЩs a matter with you, the economy is doing great, the stock market is up, crime is way down, and their are fewer border crossings,тАЭ seemingly oblivious to the fact that this is not the lived experience of tens of millions of Americans and may come off as condescending to many of them.
JVL wrote the other day about the failure of imagination among many of TrumpтАЩa detractors, and I think you were alluding to this as well. It should be blatantly obvious to anyone who is not completely clueless that Trump is attempting to launch a nonviolent coup in order to convert the U.S. into an autocracy, and is succeeding. He desires to rule the United States like his idol Putin rules Russia. That is why he is trying to turn the FBI into a version of the Russian FSB, the successor to the KGB.
Trump needs to somehow be removed from office immediately before any more irreparable damage is done to the nation and world. And Democrats in the Congress need to grind the Senate to a halt or even boycott Congress altogether, and there should be a general strike across the country by opponents of Trump and fascism until this madness and wickedness stops.
The fact that Democrats are treating the current situation largely like politics as usual is another good example of how are out of touch and detached from reality they are. They need to pump the volume way up, right now!
Americans from 2015 until last year show that we in many ways are worse than the Germans in the 1920тАЩs and 30тАЩs. They just lost the war and the empire, then huge economic shocks. There is of course vast wealth gap and the original sin of slavery here, but we have been in a much better position than the Germans after WWI. This is pure decadence.
That question led to me just read the 1955 book They Thought They Were Free by Milton Mayer. The conversations with ordinary citizens who had been Nazi Party members (Part I of the book) were very informative тАФ and quite disturbing. It made me very pessimistic about the average personтАЩs ability to ever see that they were wrong to support a political movement that does evil or to regret their part in it. The only thing that seems to get through to such people is if their own financial or physical circumstances suffer, and even then, they usually just blame someone else for it, never themselves or their leader or the party they supported.
I too have spent a significant share of my life wondering how the Germans could have succumbed to Nazism. I could see the initial appeal because the German economy was so bad. Unemployment and inflation were off the charts. People were literally starving to death. It was a perfect breeding grounds for competing populist movements. The rightwing Nazis appeared less threatening than the left wing communists and were better organized with a much better propaganda machine.
This initial German fuel has no comparable environment in the US. It's never really been about bread and eggs or ridiculously high levels of inflation. In the US, MAGA in it's core messaging, has always been about the 'othering', the cruelty, the hate. That makes the US even less understandable, less human. Given how far off the rails of humanity Germany went, it does not bode well for what could happen here.
I grew up in the US in the 60s and 70s hearing first hand about what the Nazis did. The way it was described, though, was as if Nazis were aliens-from-outer-space who caught Germany off guard and tried to invade Earth through them. Then I started studying history and realized, no, they were just regular human beings who decided evil was OK. And, hey, Americans are regular human beings, too. Huh.
We all lie to ourselves that we can't be as bad as [fill in the blank].
Nazism leveraged grievance to the hilt. Land taken from it following WW I, German people тАЬoppressedтАЭ in the Sudetenland, German communities isolated in Danzig, oppressive restrictions on its ability to arm itself, the list goes on and on. What have we heard from Trump for eight years? Grievance. HitlerтАЩs demands steamrolled European democracies, exhausted from WW I were willing to do almost anything to avoid another bloodbath of a war. Trump floods the zone with shit just as we are at our limits of tolerance to the lies and perversion of norms and truth. We are in for a real fight as preventing a slide into authoritarianism is a very real threat.
What's happening now is more like you're seeing two trains about to run straight into each other, which you know is bad, but you're powerless to stop it. Not only did we vote for Trump, giving him the popular vote after the SCOTUS made the president de facto immune from criminal prosecution; we voted for a Republican Congress, too. They already own the Supreme Court. We are in a situation where this is going down whether we like it or not, and we cannot do anything about it. The only thing that stops this is Trump going away or Republicans putting country over party, and no amount of cajoling or shaming from Democrats is going to bring about any of that; in our country's sorry state, it may even be counterproductive.
This is democracy at work, and if we're lucky, there will be a democracy after this, and the voters will have learned from their mistakes. But I have little optimism.
IтАЩve been thinking about this so much. When I first learned about the Holocaust in grade school, I couldnтАЩt comprehend how people had let it happen. It seemed unfathomableтАФlike a moral failure so vast it could never repeat. But while working on the campaign in 2024, I realized exactly how it happens.
ItтАЩs not some dramatic, singular moment where a society collectively decides to embrace evil. ItтАЩs a slow unraveling, a series of rationalizations, a society becoming desensitized one step at a time. ItтАЩs people telling themselves it wonтАЩt go that far, that surely someone else will stop it. And now, I see it happening in real-time, without a doubt.
The terrifying thing is, history doesnтАЩt warn usтАФit demonstrates for those willing to see. And once you recognize the pattern, you understand: the question was never 'how could they let this happen?' The question is 'why do we keep doing nothing until itтАЩs too late?
I'll leave with something I wrote early this week: No leader who believes himself above the law ever steps aside. No system that enables him will stop him, and no amount of hoping, debating, or clinging to institutional delusions will alter the brutal mechanics of power. This is America.
It is also a significant portion of the populace and their leaders that do think that this all good until it is too late. A significant part of our country wants this to happen, and then it gains momentum.
Mother Nature gets a say, too. The current President does not look well. His healthy diet and vigorous exercise regime might play a huge role in our nation's governance.
I so wish this was an answer to our problems. This is not a Trump problem. This is a power problem. The nation isnтАЩt sliding red because of some great ideological awakeningтАФitтАЩs shifting because authoritarianism, once rooted, spreads like wildfire in a dry forest. It doesnтАЩt need mass approval. It only requires inertia, exhaustion, the steady erosion of dissent. If this was a Trump problem, I would almost say it wasnтАЩt a problem. LetтАЩs assume Trump steps down in 2029 (As of today I say there is a 45% chance he does https://substack.com/home/post/p-156017348) All of the same problems, exposures, and failures of the guardrails still remain. I think actually Trump in many ways is the best-case scenario because he is so obviously intellectually incapable. Almost any future person to take the throne will be more competent, capable, and therefore much, much more dangerous.
Yes, but he has always looked like that. I wouldnтАЩt put it past the Republicans to artificially animate him, maintaining the illusion that heтАЩs alive! Maybe thatтАЩs why Musk is being so indulged. LOL /s/
Being of partial German descent, I have always wondered what I would have done had I lived in Germany during the 1930s/40s. Well, now I am going to get the unfortunate opportunity to find out, as will every American.
I am too old to fight. Heck, my back is so bad I canтАЩt even run. I have never even touched, let alone owned, a gun. Same with hubs, except he could probably run. Most of my neighbors are MAGA. What do I do that wonтАЩt attract attention and make them want to shoot us? You should see my Nextdoor feed. They talk about violence all the time here. Very christian of them, I might add. Oh, and the county sheriff is MAGA, too. HeтАЩs not coming when I call.
It is my understanding that one should not have a gun unless they are willing to pull the trigger. I know myself pretty well, and pointing a gun at somebody is probably the most that I would be able to do. And then I will get shot, probably with my own gun. My husband also seems to be incapable of deadly violence.
Oh interesting about Nextdoor. I live in a red state (Utah) and my Nextdoor is pretty mundane - missing dog, handyman needed, etc. I'm surprised they are that bold on there.
Well, this is a mostly blue state and I live in a red pocket of it. So the grievance is high here. They want things their way, and they canтАЩt get it. It makes them very, very angry at Democrats. After all, how dare we vote?
You have to at least тАЬtalk about violenceтАЭ right back. Your fear, your feeling of inability, your silence - all give consent. You must rage, and try not to feel afraid. Your fear feeds them.
Ginny, if you can, fight back with your wallet. Do your best to support media and organizations that are fighting back. Don't give money to media and organizations that are bending the knee to Trump. You can still make your voice heard as well, as you are doing right here!
That's exactly it. Passive economic resistance is the key. They need what you have, and nobody can make you spend your money on someone or something that you do not want, for political reasons or otherwise. Undermining the financial base of the movement is the key to rotting away its infrastructure. If enough people are motivated to do so, there is nothing they can do to stop it, and the impact of it eventually.
When you can. Trump is doing big shakedowns as we speak. I wouldn't be surprised if we see the institution of smaller ones coming to our doorsteps. His people have models they are aware of.
"The Can Rattlers, as they became known, were relentless in their pursuit of making sure every good German citizen gave their share to the WHW. In fact, those who forgot to give had their names put in the paper to remind them of their neglect. Neighbors and even family members were encouraged to whisper the names of shirkers to their block leaders so that they could persuade them to do their duty. On one occasion, a civil servant was prosecuted for failure to donate, and his argument that it was voluntary was dismissed on the grounds it was an extreme view of liberty to neglect all duties that were not actually prescribed by law and therefore an abuse of liberty. It was not unheard of for workers to lose their jobs for not donating to Winterhilfe or not giving enough. For instance, when a worker was fired for not donating to Winterhilfe, the firing was upheld by a labour court on the grounds that it was 'conduct hostile to the community of the people [...] to be most strongly condemned'."
It still maters. I can only speak for myself, but I am always inspired and energized by the comments on The Bulwark and I take a great deal of solace in being part of a community of sane and rational folks in a Nation gone mad.
I spent most of my adult life wondering how Hitler happened, ie, how Germans allowed him to happen. Now I know- people don't react bc they aren't sure how far it will go or how bad it will get until they do know, then it's too late.
That's also how we went from 0% factory farming of animals to 99% factory farming of animals over the last few decades.
Sabrina,
From the limited online research I recently conducted, mass indifference to the depravity of the aspiring autocrat and his most fanatical followers is one major cause and indicator that a democracy is descending into autocracy.
In certain instances, this indifference appears to me to be caused by a lack of empathy for those being persecuted and demonized by the aspiring autocrat and his most rabid adherents because in the minds of the ordinary people supporting the autocrat the тАЬundesirablesтАЭ are getting what they deserve.
In other instances, it seems to me to be caused when citizens are distracted from the deranged behavior of the wannabe autocrat and his most devoted followers due to problems in their personal life, an unhealthy relationship or financial struggles, for example.
And still in other instances, it may be caused by complacency among citizens, particularly powerful and influential citizens, because they incorrectly think what is occurring is being blown way out of proportion by hysterical people. I believe that the contemporary Democratic Party fits perfectly into this third category.
The reason many Democrats might very naively think this way is because everything in America has always worked out for the better in the end and, therefore, they think it always will. And also maybe because many of them, especially their leaders in Washington, DC and in capitals in blue states, are cocooned from the rest of the nation in their offices all day and relate to very few people except each other and their fundraisers.
Thus, they are unable to observe what is actually occurring in the overwhelming majority of the United States. This detachment from reality may be why they tell the tens of millions of Americans who are struggling financially тАЬWhatтАЩs a matter with you, the economy is doing great, the stock market is up, crime is way down, and their are fewer border crossings,тАЭ seemingly oblivious to the fact that this is not the lived experience of tens of millions of Americans and may come off as condescending to many of them.
JVL wrote the other day about the failure of imagination among many of TrumpтАЩa detractors, and I think you were alluding to this as well. It should be blatantly obvious to anyone who is not completely clueless that Trump is attempting to launch a nonviolent coup in order to convert the U.S. into an autocracy, and is succeeding. He desires to rule the United States like his idol Putin rules Russia. That is why he is trying to turn the FBI into a version of the Russian FSB, the successor to the KGB.
Trump needs to somehow be removed from office immediately before any more irreparable damage is done to the nation and world. And Democrats in the Congress need to grind the Senate to a halt or even boycott Congress altogether, and there should be a general strike across the country by opponents of Trump and fascism until this madness and wickedness stops.
The fact that Democrats are treating the current situation largely like politics as usual is another good example of how are out of touch and detached from reality they are. They need to pump the volume way up, right now!
Americans from 2015 until last year show that we in many ways are worse than the Germans in the 1920тАЩs and 30тАЩs. They just lost the war and the empire, then huge economic shocks. There is of course vast wealth gap and the original sin of slavery here, but we have been in a much better position than the Germans after WWI. This is pure decadence.
And astounding ignorance.
That question led to me just read the 1955 book They Thought They Were Free by Milton Mayer. The conversations with ordinary citizens who had been Nazi Party members (Part I of the book) were very informative тАФ and quite disturbing. It made me very pessimistic about the average personтАЩs ability to ever see that they were wrong to support a political movement that does evil or to regret their part in it. The only thing that seems to get through to such people is if their own financial or physical circumstances suffer, and even then, they usually just blame someone else for it, never themselves or their leader or the party they supported.
ThatтАЩs incredibly disturbing! But we have mounting evidence that it is happening again.
IтАЩve been saying this for several years now, we are living through how Hitler happened.
Fortunately. Trump is nowhere near as smart as Hitler or we would be screwed
I too have spent a significant share of my life wondering how the Germans could have succumbed to Nazism. I could see the initial appeal because the German economy was so bad. Unemployment and inflation were off the charts. People were literally starving to death. It was a perfect breeding grounds for competing populist movements. The rightwing Nazis appeared less threatening than the left wing communists and were better organized with a much better propaganda machine.
This initial German fuel has no comparable environment in the US. It's never really been about bread and eggs or ridiculously high levels of inflation. In the US, MAGA in it's core messaging, has always been about the 'othering', the cruelty, the hate. That makes the US even less understandable, less human. Given how far off the rails of humanity Germany went, it does not bode well for what could happen here.
I grew up in the US in the 60s and 70s hearing first hand about what the Nazis did. The way it was described, though, was as if Nazis were aliens-from-outer-space who caught Germany off guard and tried to invade Earth through them. Then I started studying history and realized, no, they were just regular human beings who decided evil was OK. And, hey, Americans are regular human beings, too. Huh.
We all lie to ourselves that we can't be as bad as [fill in the blank].
Nazism leveraged grievance to the hilt. Land taken from it following WW I, German people тАЬoppressedтАЭ in the Sudetenland, German communities isolated in Danzig, oppressive restrictions on its ability to arm itself, the list goes on and on. What have we heard from Trump for eight years? Grievance. HitlerтАЩs demands steamrolled European democracies, exhausted from WW I were willing to do almost anything to avoid another bloodbath of a war. Trump floods the zone with shit just as we are at our limits of tolerance to the lies and perversion of norms and truth. We are in for a real fight as preventing a slide into authoritarianism is a very real threat.
What's happening now is more like you're seeing two trains about to run straight into each other, which you know is bad, but you're powerless to stop it. Not only did we vote for Trump, giving him the popular vote after the SCOTUS made the president de facto immune from criminal prosecution; we voted for a Republican Congress, too. They already own the Supreme Court. We are in a situation where this is going down whether we like it or not, and we cannot do anything about it. The only thing that stops this is Trump going away or Republicans putting country over party, and no amount of cajoling or shaming from Democrats is going to bring about any of that; in our country's sorry state, it may even be counterproductive.
This is democracy at work, and if we're lucky, there will be a democracy after this, and the voters will have learned from their mistakes. But I have little optimism.
IтАЩve been thinking about this so much. When I first learned about the Holocaust in grade school, I couldnтАЩt comprehend how people had let it happen. It seemed unfathomableтАФlike a moral failure so vast it could never repeat. But while working on the campaign in 2024, I realized exactly how it happens.
ItтАЩs not some dramatic, singular moment where a society collectively decides to embrace evil. ItтАЩs a slow unraveling, a series of rationalizations, a society becoming desensitized one step at a time. ItтАЩs people telling themselves it wonтАЩt go that far, that surely someone else will stop it. And now, I see it happening in real-time, without a doubt.
The terrifying thing is, history doesnтАЩt warn usтАФit demonstrates for those willing to see. And once you recognize the pattern, you understand: the question was never 'how could they let this happen?' The question is 'why do we keep doing nothing until itтАЩs too late?
I'll leave with something I wrote early this week: No leader who believes himself above the law ever steps aside. No system that enables him will stop him, and no amount of hoping, debating, or clinging to institutional delusions will alter the brutal mechanics of power. This is America.
It is also a significant portion of the populace and their leaders that do think that this all good until it is too late. A significant part of our country wants this to happen, and then it gains momentum.
Mother Nature gets a say, too. The current President does not look well. His healthy diet and vigorous exercise regime might play a huge role in our nation's governance.
I so wish this was an answer to our problems. This is not a Trump problem. This is a power problem. The nation isnтАЩt sliding red because of some great ideological awakeningтАФitтАЩs shifting because authoritarianism, once rooted, spreads like wildfire in a dry forest. It doesnтАЩt need mass approval. It only requires inertia, exhaustion, the steady erosion of dissent. If this was a Trump problem, I would almost say it wasnтАЩt a problem. LetтАЩs assume Trump steps down in 2029 (As of today I say there is a 45% chance he does https://substack.com/home/post/p-156017348) All of the same problems, exposures, and failures of the guardrails still remain. I think actually Trump in many ways is the best-case scenario because he is so obviously intellectually incapable. Almost any future person to take the throne will be more competent, capable, and therefore much, much more dangerous.
Yes, but he has always looked like that. I wouldnтАЩt put it past the Republicans to artificially animate him, maintaining the illusion that heтАЩs alive! Maybe thatтАЩs why Musk is being so indulged. LOL /s/
"Weekend at Bernies" was supposed to be a joke, not a suggestion! :)
Being of partial German descent, I have always wondered what I would have done had I lived in Germany during the 1930s/40s. Well, now I am going to get the unfortunate opportunity to find out, as will every American.
I am too old to fight. Heck, my back is so bad I canтАЩt even run. I have never even touched, let alone owned, a gun. Same with hubs, except he could probably run. Most of my neighbors are MAGA. What do I do that wonтАЩt attract attention and make them want to shoot us? You should see my Nextdoor feed. They talk about violence all the time here. Very christian of them, I might add. Oh, and the county sheriff is MAGA, too. HeтАЩs not coming when I call.
Not too late to get a gun. We just did.
It is my understanding that one should not have a gun unless they are willing to pull the trigger. I know myself pretty well, and pointing a gun at somebody is probably the most that I would be able to do. And then I will get shot, probably with my own gun. My husband also seems to be incapable of deadly violence.
Do what you can in the place you are at. No one expects the impossible. Allow your conscience to guide you.
Oh interesting about Nextdoor. I live in a red state (Utah) and my Nextdoor is pretty mundane - missing dog, handyman needed, etc. I'm surprised they are that bold on there.
Well, this is a mostly blue state and I live in a red pocket of it. So the grievance is high here. They want things their way, and they canтАЩt get it. It makes them very, very angry at Democrats. After all, how dare we vote?
You have to at least тАЬtalk about violenceтАЭ right back. Your fear, your feeling of inability, your silence - all give consent. You must rage, and try not to feel afraid. Your fear feeds them.
Ginny, if you can, fight back with your wallet. Do your best to support media and organizations that are fighting back. Don't give money to media and organizations that are bending the knee to Trump. You can still make your voice heard as well, as you are doing right here!
That's exactly it. Passive economic resistance is the key. They need what you have, and nobody can make you spend your money on someone or something that you do not want, for political reasons or otherwise. Undermining the financial base of the movement is the key to rotting away its infrastructure. If enough people are motivated to do so, there is nothing they can do to stop it, and the impact of it eventually.
When you can. Trump is doing big shakedowns as we speak. I wouldn't be surprised if we see the institution of smaller ones coming to our doorsteps. His people have models they are aware of.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winterhilfswerk
Thank you. I knew nothing about this.
"The Can Rattlers, as they became known, were relentless in their pursuit of making sure every good German citizen gave their share to the WHW. In fact, those who forgot to give had their names put in the paper to remind them of their neglect. Neighbors and even family members were encouraged to whisper the names of shirkers to their block leaders so that they could persuade them to do their duty. On one occasion, a civil servant was prosecuted for failure to donate, and his argument that it was voluntary was dismissed on the grounds it was an extreme view of liberty to neglect all duties that were not actually prescribed by law and therefore an abuse of liberty. It was not unheard of for workers to lose their jobs for not donating to Winterhilfe or not giving enough. For instance, when a worker was fired for not donating to Winterhilfe, the firing was upheld by a labour court on the grounds that it was 'conduct hostile to the community of the people [...] to be most strongly condemned'."
Yup, and nobody here knows my name or lives in my town. Plus we are all of the same mind here.
It still maters. I can only speak for myself, but I am always inspired and energized by the comments on The Bulwark and I take a great deal of solace in being part of a community of sane and rational folks in a Nation gone mad.
Yeah. Someone in the WAPO comments suggested that Democrats should be protesting en masse the streets. We would make great target practice that way.
You would not be тАЬtarget practiceтАЭ if you were trained to employ defensive tactics & have some capabilities to fight back with.
Obtain capabilities.
Join a like minded group. Get trained.
You donтАЩt have to be тАЬarmy readyтАЭ to be helpful in defending your family and/or neighborhood.
IтАЩm NOT advocating attacking anyone or anything.
But I am ready to react defensively if things continue to dangerous.
Our nation is being dismantled for the benefit of oligarchy. ThatтАЩs should be flat unacceptable to a majority of Americans. It is to me.
So get ready to defend our democracy, today.
If you wait until the barbarians are on your street, itтАЩll be too late.
I like the idea of a general, well planned strike more.
Matthew Miller said it best:
@matthewamiller
If you've ever wondered what you would have done in 1930s Germany or during the civil rights movement, congratulations: you're doing it now.