The Fourth Reich !

TJ-

Everyone likes to say, "Hitler did this", and, "Hitler did that". But the truth is Hitler did very little. He was a world class tyrant, but the evil actually done by the Third Reich, from the death camps to WW2 was all done by German citizens who were afraid to question if what they were told by their government was the truth or not, and who because they did not want to admit to themselves that they were afraid to question the government, refused to see the truth behind the Reichstag Fire, refused to see the invasion by Poland was a staged fake, and followed Hitler into national disaster.

The German people of the late 1930s imagined themselves to be brave. They saw themselves as the heroic Germans depicted by the Wagnerian Operas, the descendants of the fierce Germanic warriors who had hunted wild boar with nothing but spears and who had defeated three of Rome's mightiest legions in the Teutoburg Forest.

But in truth, by the 1930s, the German people had become civilized and tamed, culturally obsessed with fine details in both science and society. Their self-image of bravery was both salve and slavery. Germans were required to behave as if they were brave, even when they were not.

It's easy to look back and realize what a jerk Hitler was. But at the time, Hitler looked pretty good to the German people, with the help of the media. He was TIME Magazine's Man Of The Year in 1938. The German people assumed they were safe from a tyrant. They lived in a Republic, after all, with strict laws regarding what the government could and more importantly could not do. Their leader was a devoutly religious man, and had even sung with the boy's choir of a monastery in his youth.

The reality was that the German people, as individuals, had lost their courage. The German government preferred it that way as a fearful people are easier to rule than a courageous one. But the German people didn't wish to lose their self-image of courage. So, when confronted with a situation demanding individual courage, in the form of a government gone wrong, the German people simply pretended that the situation did not exist. And in that simple self-deception lay the ruin of an entire nation and the coming of the second World War.

When the Reichstag burned down, most Germans simply refused to believe suggestions that the fire had been staged by Hitler himself. They were afraid to. But so trapped were the Germans by their belief in their own bravery that they willed themselves to be blind to the evidence before their eyes, so that they could nod in agreement with Der Fuhrer while still imagining themselves to have courage, even as they avoided the one situation which most required real courage; to stand up to Hitler's lies and deceptions.

When Hitler requested temporary extraordinary powers, powers specifically banned under German law, but powers Hitler claimed he needed to have to deal with the "terrorists", the German people, having already sold their souls to their self-delusions, agreed. The temporary powers were conferred, and once conferred lasted until Germany itself was destroyed.

When Hitler staged a phony invasion from Poland, the vast majority of the German people, their own self-image dependant on continuing blindness to Hitler's deceptions, did not question why Poland would have done something so stupid, and found themselves in a war.

But Hitler knew he ruled a nation of cowards, and knew he had to spend the money to make the new war something cowards could fight and win. He decorated his troops with regalia to make them proud of themselves, further trapping them in their self-image. Hitler copied the parade regalia of ancient Rome, to remind the Germans of the defeat of the legions at the Teutoburg Forest. Talismans were added from orthodox religions and the occult to fill the soldiers with delusions of mystical strengths and an afterlife if they fell in battle. Finally, knowing that it takes courage to kill the enemy face to face, Hitler spent vast sums of money on his wonder weapons, airplanes, submarines, ultra-long range artillery, the world's first cruise missile and the world's first guided missile, weapons that could be used to kill at a distance, so that those doing the killing need not have to face the reality of what they were doing.

The German people were lured into WW2 not because they were brave, but because they were cowards who wanted to be seen as brave, and found that shooting long range weapons at people they could not see took less courage than standing up to Hitler. Sent into battle by that false image of courage, the Germans were dependent on their wonder-weapons. When the wonder-weapons stopped working, the Germans lost the war.

I remember as a child listening to the stories of WW2 from my grandfather and my uncles who had served in Europe. I wondered how the German people could have been so stupid as to have ever elected Hitler dog catcher, let alone leader of the nation. Such is the clarity of historical hindsight. And with that clarity, I see the exact same mechanism that Hitler used at work here in this nation.

The American people imagine themselves to be brave. They see themselves as the heroic Americans depicted by Western Movies, the descendants of the fierce patriot warriors who had tamed the frontier and defeated the might of the British Empire.

But in truth, by the dawn of the third millennium, the American people have become civilized and tamed, culturally obsessed with fine details in both science and society. Their self-image of bravery is both salve and slavery. Americans are required to behave as if they are brave, even when they are not.

The American people assume they are safe. They live in a Republic, after all, with strict laws regarding what the government can and more importantly cannot do. Their leader is a devoutly religious man.

The reality is that the American people, as individuals, have lost their courage. The government prefers it that way as a fearful people are easier to rule than a courageous one. But Americans don't wish to lose their self-image of courage. So, when confronted with a situation demanding courage, in the form of a government gone wrong, the American people simply pretend that the situation does not exist.

When the World Trade Towers collapsed, most Americans simply refused to believe suggestions that the attacks had been staged by parties working for the US Government itself. Americans were afraid to, even as news reports surfaced proving that the US Government had announced plans for the invasion of Afghanistan early in the year, plans into which the attacks on the World Trade Towers which angered the American people into support of the already-planned war fit entirely too conveniently. But so trapped are Americans by their belief in their own bravery that they will themselves to be blind to the evidence before their eyes, so that they can nod in agreement with the government while still imagining themselves to have courage, even as they avoid the one situation which most requires real courage; to stand up to the government's lies and deceptions. The vast majority of the American people, their own self-image dependant on continuing blindness to the government's deceptions, never question why Afghanistan would have done something so stupid as to attack the United States, and as a result, Americans find themselves in a war.

Now the US Government has requested temporary extraordinary powers, powers specifically banned under Constitutional law, but powers the government is claiming they need to have to deal with the "terrorists". The American people, having already sold their souls to their self-delusions, are agreeing. The temporary powers recently conferred will be no more temporary in America than they were in Germany.

The US Government knows they rule a nation of cowards. The government has had to spend the money to make the new war something cowards can fight. The government has decorated the troops with regalia to make them proud of themselves, further trapping them in their self-image. Talismans are added from orthodox religions and the occult to fill the soldiers with delusions of mystical strengths and an afterlife if they fall in battle. Finally, knowing that it takes courage to kill the enemy face to face, the United States government has spent vast sums of money on wonder weapons, airplanes, submarines, ultra-long range artillery, cruise missiles, and guided missiles, weapons that kill at a distance, so that those doing the killing need not have to face the reality of what they are doing.

As I mentioned above, Hitler was TIME Magazine's Man Of The Year in 1938. Stalin was TIME Magazine's Man Of The Year for 1939 and 1942. Both of these men, and many others also celibrated by the media, were unimaginable monsters. The lesson from these facts is that it isn't easy to spot a genocidal tyrant when you live with one, especially one whom the press supports and promotes. Tyrants become obvious only when looking back, after what they have done becomes known. The German people did not stand up to Hitler because their media betrayed them, just as the American media is betraying the American people by willingly, voluntarily, even proudly, abandoning its traditional role as watchdog against government abuse.

It is the very nature of power that it attracts the sort of people who should not have it. The United States, as the world's last superpower, is a prize that attracts men and women willing to do absolutely anything to win that power, and hence are also willing to do absolutely anything with that power once they have it. If one thinks about it long enough, one will realize that all tyrants, past and most especially present, MUST use deception on their population to initiate a war. No citizen of a modern industrialized nation will send their children off to die in a war to grab another nation's resources and assets, yet resources and assets are what all wars are fought over. The nation that wishes to initiate a war of conquest must create the illusion of an attack or a threat to start a war, and must always give their population of cowards an excuse never to question that carefully crafted illusion.

It is naive, not to mention racist to assume that tyrants appear only in other nations and that somehow America is immune simply because we're Americans. America has escaped the clutches of a dictatorship thus far only through the efforts of those citizens who, unlike the Germans of the 1930s, have the moral courage to stand up and point out where the government is lying to the people. And unless more Americans are willing to have that kind of individual courage, then future generations may well look back on the American people with the same harshness of judgement with which we look back on the 1930s Germans.

Warpy

"America Land Of The Free", I can almost smell the fresh air!

digerati

I'm sure the Germans had that poster in English everywhere!

Pompey

Dom

BWX

All this comparing Bush to Hitler is completely ridiculous.

TJ-

Why? They are/were both mass murderers. Both dictators. Both tried to rule the world.

davidnsibs

That was incredibly well written, and certainly thought provoking. Personally I can't believe that Bush has any plans of world domination or of using genecide to create a perfect race, he may have financial motives when you think about Iraq and oil etc. It is difficult to ever know what the men (and women) in positions of power really are working towards as we only hear about things through the media, but I'd like to think the world has learnt from the past and people the likes of Hitler will not be allowed to reign again

BWX

I guess by your definition any leader of any country that has ever been involved in a war is a mass murdering dictator that wants to rule the world.

TJ-

It appears thats how Mr Bush describes it. He is not immune to his own words.

BWX

That doesn't say anything to the point.

Pompey

OldBuzzard

BWX, just let the children have their fun. We adults know the truth, and replying to their taunts is just a waste of cyberspace, since they only want to believe in fantasy. Once they stop believing in the Tooth Fairy and the Boogie Man, then maybe, we can carry on an intellegent conversation with them.

BWX

Yeah, you're right.

pr0digal jenius

How does it make me naive, "childish", or retarded to not give mindless praise for everything Bush does?

And how is Bush this big 'Badass' of a president? The man can't say "nuclear" or "terror", and yet he's in charge of writing our education reform. He is the son of George "If you've seen one tree, you've seen them all" Bush, Sr. and yet he writes our environmental bills. The only reason we're still over in Iraq is because his daddy said "read my lips, I will not raise taxes", and yet when the troops came home, they raised....so naturally our little scientist here has decided that if they don't come home he can't screw up, because nobody will be paying him any attention and will only focus on the troops.

But OK, yall go ahead and have your 'adult' conversations, I'll sit here and have a donut and admire your "wisdom".

OldBuzzard

Civics 001: The President DOES NOT WRITE legislation. CONGRESS does that. The President only signs the legislation into law, or vetos it, and sends it back to congress for further consideration.

As for 'education reform'...I believe that it was TED KENNEDY the was the 'author' of the last one.

As for 'mindless praise', far from it. There are many things Mr. Bush has done that I'm not happy with. His stand on immigration happens to be one. I think he's way too soft. Letting Ted 'The Swimmer' Kennedy write the last education bill was another.

Pardon my ignorance, but just how does raising taxes in one administration, and troops overseas in another one, eight plus years later have any connection?


But please, don't let my arguments sway you. The more you guys misunderestimate us the better.

BWX

I don't recall anyone accusing anyone of that.

pr0digal jenius

That's what I got out of that post, BWX...but maybe I misread it...o well.


And I'm glad to see you don't just applaud Mr. Bush for everything he does like far to many people seem to do.

But, yes, he does write legislation, not to the extent of actually putting pen to paper, but he has his own agenda and vices, I assure you.

Ferdinand_L

I think everyone who assumes this post is a direct Bush to Hitler comparision is off-base. The point of the post is that many of the tactics employed by Hitler to justify and convince the German public of his policies have been employed by Bush/Rove and Co., especially in Bush's "selling" of the war in Iraq.

I know from my German mother that they looked upon Hitler (for a long time anyway) with the same sort of image that many of the posters to this forum (and indeed a large percentage of the American population) seem to have with regard to Bush. I'm willing to bet that during the 1930's, any German comparing Hitler to despots of that era or before, perhaps Napolean or somone similar, would have been called unpatriotic and a lunatic. Anyone see the similarities today?

As far as I'm concerned, any leader that employs tactics that are questionable to justify war to the people he is supposed to represent, regardless of the motive or the ultimate result, should be looked at with suspicion. Haven't we learned at least that much from the Nazis?

Ferd-

pr0digal jenius

especially a war that does not directly involve the people represented.

Captn

w0w, sheeple........

digerati

If you really really wanted to make a decent arguement about writing legislation you'd talk about how there will be more republicans in congress now and Bush appointing a staunch Republican supreme court judge.

A president can have all the agendas and vices he wants, doesn't mean he can make any of them happen. As much as Mr. Bush may want to ban gay marriage forever, he alone doesn't have the power to do it. Now if he can sway enough voters/states to do it then it's a possibility, but that isn't him alone.

BWX

represented?

Zorg

Talking about the The Fourth Reich !
Let's see who wins the ongoing globalisation war? - How do we call the upcoming King of the World once the globalisation is fully accomplished? Don't discuss about peanuts here when the real big thing is just in progress.

m2c