The first clear warning sign that we should have noticed and heeded (and some of us did) was the rise of an ultra-right Christian religion, e.g. the Evangelicals, which not only attracted those of a certain mentality in the direction of intolerance but conditioned them to think like and obey the religious leaders who manipulated them. It is the blind obedience aspect that #45/47 took especial advantage of.
Add to this the greed for money and power among the oligarchs; the blitheness of the progressive elements whose policies and idealistic aspirations served the needs of humanity at large but overlooked the present needs of those who were struggling and ill prepared to deal with the massive technological and societal changes; and an educational system that largely failed to educate, especially in the skill of critical thinking.
Into this mix, stir racism, sexism, xenophobia, and some truly twisted minds who slithered and oozed their way into positions of authority, high or low ... A generous double handful of financial crisis and climate crisis ... A soupçon of fear ... Season this brew with commercial media forced into profit mode to survive and thus emphasized the sensational at the expense of what we needed to know ...
Oh, it took a much longer time for these factors (and others!) to come to the boiling point. Not Hitler's 54 days (plus preceding years of factors not unlike the ones that produced our present administration). The heat was flipped on at least a generation ago. And we were frogs sitting in the water.
4 comments:
Yes!
Now we should understand why it was so easy for Hitler to turn Germany from a democracy to a vicious dictatorship in just 54 days.
I'm trying hard to breathe.
Took longer than that.
The first clear warning sign that we should have noticed and heeded (and some of us did) was the rise of an ultra-right Christian religion, e.g. the Evangelicals, which not only attracted those of a certain mentality in the direction of intolerance but conditioned them to think like and obey the religious leaders who manipulated them. It is the blind obedience aspect that #45/47 took especial advantage of.
Add to this the greed for money and power among the oligarchs; the blitheness of the progressive elements whose policies and idealistic aspirations served the needs of humanity at large but overlooked the present needs of those who were struggling and ill prepared to deal with the massive technological and societal changes; and an educational system that largely failed to educate, especially in the skill of critical thinking.
Into this mix, stir racism, sexism, xenophobia, and some truly twisted minds who slithered and oozed their way into positions of authority, high or low ... A generous double handful of financial crisis and climate crisis ... A soupçon of fear ... Season this brew with commercial media forced into profit mode to survive and thus emphasized the sensational at the expense of what we needed to know ...
Oh, it took a much longer time for these factors (and others!) to come to the boiling point. Not Hitler's 54 days (plus preceding years of factors not unlike the ones that produced our present administration). The heat was flipped on at least a generation ago. And we were frogs sitting in the water.
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