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I was always confused how society went along until I saw what happened with a certain recent president. Then I realized the population wanted it, they gave it to him. At all levels - civil, people in government, judiciary, and other offices, etc. That’s how a whole movement took over.
Yep, and the vast majority of people who saw it coming got out or attempted to get out. Which leaves people unable or the brave who tried to change it from within.
Fascist Populism is a bane to humanity.
Don’t forget the culpability of people who may not be fervent supporters, but who don’t want to get involved or inform themselves of what’s going on with their government:
One way or another, any government which remains in power is a representative government. If your city government is a crooked machine, then it is because you and your neighbors prefer it that way - prefer it to the effort of running your own affairs.
Hitler’s government was a popular government; the vast majority of Germans preferred the rule of gangsters to the effort of thinking and doing for themselves. They abdicated their franchise.
…and…
The former Berlin businessman I referred to earlier told me that he blamed his own group, people with the time and the money and the opportunity to know better, for what happened to Germany. “We ignored Hitler,” he said. “We considered him an unimportant fellow, not quite a gentleman, not of our own class. We considered it just a little bit vulgar to bother with him, to bother with politics at all.”
They thought of the government as “They.” The only possible route to a clear conscience in politics is to accept political responsibility, either as an active member of the party in power or as an equally active member of the loyal opposition.
—Robert A. Heinlein, Take Back Your Government
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Some turned a blind eye. Plenty were perfectly willing to take part. Antisemitism had been built into Germany since Martin Luther. There was no shortage of Germans looking to exterminate Jews.
But yes, there were also good people in Nazi Germany.
Antisemitism is much older.
They Thought They Were Free is an excellent book that interviews Germans shortly after WWII. Even post-defeat, many nazi party members fervently stood by the party or at least feigned ignorance to the atrocities.
Everyone should alsp listen to the podcast Ultra from Rachel Maddow and see the parallels of nazi influence in the US at the direction of Hitler that reached as far as Congress, to what Russia has been doing today.
No, it happened because people with guns killed or threatened anyone who didn’t do their jobs.
Personal safety people! Most of us care for it more than we care for others.I mean look at the Israel thing. Protesting is nice but is anyone actually doing anything about it? Any of you? Any of your armed forces? Any of your governments?
Oh, you’re not going to vote for whichever candidate is running next. Good for you. Doesn’t help the people already dead or dying, but keep doing that.
Ah Russia vs Ukraine, Russians should protest harder and overthrow the totally-not-gonna-shoot-them-in-the-face government. It’s the right thing to do. Cheers to that.
But no, it’s easier to just say “majority of Russians actually support the war” like it’s not a complete sack of bullshit.
Shoulda, woulda, coulda is a nice sentiment, but it’s also just that, a sentiment. Life’s tougher than spoken or written words because nobody wants to be someone else’s cannon fodder.
Unity only works in two situations:
- nothing else left
- bigger guns than the other side
Any uncertainty will always break up a group, always. Which is why it’s so easy to disperse protesters.
Very true. Although, with Hitler, it was both—plus a complacent government that thought they had all the reigns of power and so they could use Hitler and then dump him when they were done with him.
Hitler spoke, very eloquently, to a large part of the population that was really two groups. The part of a population that, when the chips are down, want an easily identifiable simple target (that’s not them) and the excuse to attack them and make them suffer with impunity, and the part of a population that would like things to be better for them personally and don’t much care how it gets done, as long as they don’t have to bloody their own knives.
They voted Hitler into power, and then the first group set about terrorizing anyone who didn’t agree with their glorious leader, while the second group looked the other way and did a bunch of ‘well, I don’t approve, not really, but it’s not him doing it, and he really has such good economic policies…’
And then out came the real knives, when Hitler had all the power, and then he had the military and then no-one could speak up anymore.
No, it happened because people with guns killed or threatened anyone who didn’t do their jobs.
As far as I know, there are no documented examples of people actually being killed for refusing an assassination order. While you might end up being shunned by other members of your battalion, you could always ask for redeployment.
100%. How many of us are truly ready to die fighting tyranny? How many of us don’t want to give up our partners/kids/friends/comforts.
Don’t go down with the boat. Bring the boat down with you.
That’s still too few considered. Those who voted for the NSDAP knew what they were voting for.
Also ‘just doing their job’ hides the millions of more-than-compliant actors on every level - from the local Blockwart or SS or party member to CEOs of companies like Krupp or even folks like Chamberlain.
And where were all those guards and soldiers supposed to find jobs murdering people in the meantime? Do you want his family to starve? Do you even care about the economy?
I mean it was probably both plus a thousand other reasons… Nothing in history happens for just one reason. Believing that history happens for one reason is how you get convinced that exterminating one group of people will fix your problems.
This looks weirdly like one of those “inspirational” posters on office walls until you look at the pictures.
Not sure it is really on point to blame conscripted and indoctrinated kids for the rise of nazism. Rather more prudent to look at the capitalists and regular conservatives who thought marrying fascists would be profitable. Also prudent because it is happening again, and it is not the youth’s fault now either.
Blame is on everyone, but in different amounts.
War criminals are never not guilty and many of these kids became exactly that. However, many were also forced into service under threat of violence or were the victims of indoctrination (as kids still), which we need to acknowledge was not their responsibility. Young people are always the ones fighting the wars of the older generations. In Nazi Germany they pretty much had to fight for the nazis because their parents and grandparents thought nazism was cool.
They weren’t blaming the youth. Where do you get that from?
By estimating the age of the soldiers in the bottom image.
Why would you assume the text was only referring to those soldiers and not literally everyone who aided and abbetted the Holocaust?
I did not assume that. However, distinguishing who is to blame is important in order to learn from the past. Blaming conscripts and politicians equally is shifting blame away from those who were responsible.
I mean e.g. anti-Semitic ideas where super common in christian circles at the time. Martin Luther was a anti-Semitic piece of shit and he is the founder of a Christian movement. Yes, Hilter and the Germans did something completely unhinged but I really don’t think what happened to the Jews was the issue that caused people to fight Hilter and the Germans. A probably shocking amount of people outside of Hilter’s propaganda would have been in favor of the Holocaust.
Also war weren’t new in Europe nor was the desire to create a great nation that control a huge region.
Just like only blaming Hilter is a bit short sighted, only blaming the Germans is the same. Hatred is cancerous. Blame decades and centuries of anti-Semitic hatred and you blame the cause of e.g. the Holocaust. Stop the hate before it grows. Fight the hatred. Transphobia, racism, sexism,… Whatever form the hatred takes, fight it. Fascism follows. Death follows.
If there job was internally saving holocaust victims, they weren’t doing their job.
If they leaked vital intelligence to the allies, they weren’t doing their job.
If they actively tried to cut the head off the snake, they weren’t doing their job.
It the choice is between risking death, and “doing your job” it’s time for evaluating if you should be doing your job.
You’re talking like Hitler took power and the Holocaust started the next day.
Just following orders.
You can use this image as a motivational poster at work too!
I was told I needed to upvote and comment to maximize engagement on the platform.
Just following orders. /s
ACAB
