I am reading an excellent book that clearly shows how the poison of fascism seeps into the veins of society in a seductive way until, too late, the madmen hold power and the people are enslaved.
Here are some of the characteristics that denote the rise of fascist societies:
- A leader/messiah (self-styled) rises up and states to the population that he/she will make the country great again
- This same leader will convince the hapless population that they do not need other nations, that they are whole and complete within themselves.
- Once in power, this leader turns on intellectuals and writers.
- False news and a war on the media and journalists, attacks against the press and freedom of speech ensues, the latter of which is the cornerstone of a free and democratic society. Lies proliferate in every form of medium that the leader can control.
- The leader hates the "other' and projects this hatred into the world, whipping up the population as a result, until violence prevails against the leader's enemies.
-This leader imprisons the other in camps, men, women and children, and ensures that immigration laws are tightened.
-This leader hates and scorns women. Overtly patriarchal, he heaps scorn and contempt upon them, and treats them as objects, and as vassals of men only.
- The leader has no clear plan but is irascible and unstable, perhaps mentally ill, and is prone to childish fits of anger and rage. Lashing out in a unintelligible manner is a cornerstone of his governance, domestically and abroad.
- The vast majority of population, largely intelligent, well read and sophisticated, give their power to this leader, without question.
One might be excused for thinking that this description applies accurately to the leader of a large western democracy in modern times.
But, in fact, these descriptions accurately portray the rise of Adolph Hitler and the ensuing darkness that came close to annihilating our world.
"It can't happen here" is a lame response. In fact, it IS happening here, and it must be stopped.
Of course, these dark ones are at the end of their journey, and they know it. This is when they become the most dangerous and a passive society is exactly what they look for.
I spoke to an author today. She was writing the memoir of her marriage to her husband that lasted 67 years. He was a Jew living in Poland when the Nazis invaded. They could have been liberated by the Russians, but the Russians elected to stay on the other side of the river. Instead of liberation, they watched as the Jews were massacred. This man, a young boy at the time, was supposed to have been executed along with his family but he was sent to a labor camp in Germany instead. His family scattered and hid. He lost one of his brothers in Auschwitz.
The woman I spoke to today said that her husband, who passed away three years ago, watched with alarm the rise to power of Donald Trump. He told anyone who wanted to hear that these conditions and this rise mirrored Nazi Germany in many ways. He was alarmed and frightened by what was happening because of the global influence of this man.
Fascism seeps into your veins slowly until it is too late. This is precisely what happened in Germany. Neo-fascism is found in many countries today in one form or another, where the strongmen still hold sway, for now.
Because they know their time frame is approaching the "past due" date they will pull out the stops to try and complete their agenda of control. If we let them.
We have no excuse now. What happened in Germany is a clarion call for all of us. How we respond will determine h0w smoothly this period of our human evolution continues.
Here are some of the characteristics that denote the rise of fascist societies:
- A leader/messiah (self-styled) rises up and states to the population that he/she will make the country great again
- This same leader will convince the hapless population that they do not need other nations, that they are whole and complete within themselves.
- Once in power, this leader turns on intellectuals and writers.
- False news and a war on the media and journalists, attacks against the press and freedom of speech ensues, the latter of which is the cornerstone of a free and democratic society. Lies proliferate in every form of medium that the leader can control.
- The leader hates the "other' and projects this hatred into the world, whipping up the population as a result, until violence prevails against the leader's enemies.
-This leader imprisons the other in camps, men, women and children, and ensures that immigration laws are tightened.
-This leader hates and scorns women. Overtly patriarchal, he heaps scorn and contempt upon them, and treats them as objects, and as vassals of men only.
- The leader has no clear plan but is irascible and unstable, perhaps mentally ill, and is prone to childish fits of anger and rage. Lashing out in a unintelligible manner is a cornerstone of his governance, domestically and abroad.
- The vast majority of population, largely intelligent, well read and sophisticated, give their power to this leader, without question.
One might be excused for thinking that this description applies accurately to the leader of a large western democracy in modern times.
But, in fact, these descriptions accurately portray the rise of Adolph Hitler and the ensuing darkness that came close to annihilating our world.
"It can't happen here" is a lame response. In fact, it IS happening here, and it must be stopped.
Of course, these dark ones are at the end of their journey, and they know it. This is when they become the most dangerous and a passive society is exactly what they look for.
I spoke to an author today. She was writing the memoir of her marriage to her husband that lasted 67 years. He was a Jew living in Poland when the Nazis invaded. They could have been liberated by the Russians, but the Russians elected to stay on the other side of the river. Instead of liberation, they watched as the Jews were massacred. This man, a young boy at the time, was supposed to have been executed along with his family but he was sent to a labor camp in Germany instead. His family scattered and hid. He lost one of his brothers in Auschwitz.
The woman I spoke to today said that her husband, who passed away three years ago, watched with alarm the rise to power of Donald Trump. He told anyone who wanted to hear that these conditions and this rise mirrored Nazi Germany in many ways. He was alarmed and frightened by what was happening because of the global influence of this man.
Fascism seeps into your veins slowly until it is too late. This is precisely what happened in Germany. Neo-fascism is found in many countries today in one form or another, where the strongmen still hold sway, for now.
Because they know their time frame is approaching the "past due" date they will pull out the stops to try and complete their agenda of control. If we let them.
We have no excuse now. What happened in Germany is a clarion call for all of us. How we respond will determine h0w smoothly this period of our human evolution continues.