If It Walks Like a Duck

But That’s Not Us

The thing I find most troubling is that America believes itself impervious to this kind of persuasion. ‘That could never happen here!’ We shake our heads and wonder how the vast majority of sensible, intelligent, creative, peace-loving Germans could let themselves be caught up in such complete bullshit.

The answer is, they DIDN’T get caught up in it. Hitler was part of a small group looking for ways to retake control of the country’s financial and industrial systems. In addition to dismantling their military capabilities after World War I, a huge debt had been levied against Germany for reconstruction. While their cash was being used to restore much of western Europe, the German people were experiencing significant hardships. [C’mon; 9M dead soldiers and nearly 7M civilians died in WWI, and you were expecting a slap on the wrist?]

Hitler and his gang of goons believed the German government had been weak in submitting to the Treaty of Versailles. They sought ways to regain control of their nation’s vital infrastructure, starting with the financial system and its predominantly Jewish leadership. They started blaming Jews for surrendering German pride, power and honor to the Allies; suggested that Jews were secretly plotting with Western Europe, America, and Russia to destroy Germany. In this newly-minted truth, Jews were responsible for all of Germany’s hardships and must be rooted out. With the help of a military eager to reprove itself, Hitler methodically rebuilt the support structures and war-maker machinery for his new government.

The public had largely dismissed Hitler as a quack to this point. Soon, average Germans saw the cartoon-worthy splinter group rise to a position of actual power. They watched loyal German Jews isolated and moved into slums, their property and belongings seized, their rights limited and then taken away entirely. Some saw the justice of it. Well, the vigilante-style justice of ‘I’m sick, my kids are hungry, I never wanted that war, we’ve suffered enough and now Justice is going reward me. All you der Trottel can get stuffed.’

Those who initially thought of Hitler as a joke started to see his growing band of thugs given an ever-widening authority. Any resistance was put down quickly and without mercy. The chances of being labeled as ‘resistance’ had more to do with your wealth, position and power than with your actions. Soon, his formal military troops were augmented with civilians; some hoped that joining would provide some protection for their family, while others were aggrieved victims of the treaty looking for their own power.

But nearly every account of Hitler’s ascendency has an element of the slow motion train wreck; ‘it just got out of control’ or ‘we didn’t see until it was too late,’ or ‘we just wanted to make it out alive.’

“Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.”

— Winston Churchill.

Yep, using such a cliché is weak sauce. But I’d suggest it’s never been truer than it is today. And now I get to shake my fist and tell kids to get off my lawn: We don’t teach history or government/civics the way we need to.

We carry a universe of information in our pocket, so truly LEARNING things seems unnecessary. Asking, “hey, Google’“ is not the same as understanding a thing at its core. It doesn’t give you the how and why. We have no patience for skepticism or reading beyond the first five search results (which are typically ads placed by anyone who can pay for that real estate on your browser, facts optional). Once your browser and those advertisers see where you stand, they’ll simply keep feeding you more of the same. That’s not knowledge. It’s a rosy mirror; a perfect echo chamber of You. Time to look up, buttercup.

Now we’re seeing a growing trend among college students (the one reliable voting block for progress and liberality): they’re leaning to the right. And not just lower taxes/smaller government right. Hitler Youth/Charlie Kirk hard right. When they try to explain why, the look at each other and half-laugh with the eyeroll.

More than 74 million people voted for a man who doesn’t have even a nodding relationship with the truth. For him, it’s NOT the truth if it doesn’t align with his views. That 74 million have deified a reality TV star and snake oil salesman, believing he was chosen by God to lead this country and anyone who doesn’t agree is in league with Satan. They continue to believe the election was stolen, and no, they don’t need proof to know it’s true, thankyouverymuch! Because the entire thing is being controlled by the radical left which means they’d be idiots to trust it. Then on their God-appointed leader’s orders, a large chunk of those 74 million attempted to undermine our democracy through violent insurrection.

It’s time that the 81 million wake up and smell the blitzkrieg. We didn’t take this clown seriously, which gave him 4 years to build up his following through any means necessary. We sat around shaking our heads and rolling our eyes as he continued to hold huge campaign-style rallies where he’d spout his special brand of crazy completely unchecked. He used those opportunities to position himself as their friend and the only politician who understood and cared about them. We all knew it was ridiculous; Trump is the only person Trump ever cared about.

The one advantage we had is that he truly is a buffoon. He believes he is bulletproof, and proudly shows his cards to everyone at the table. It wasn’t long ago when being labeled a ‘flip-flop’ was a terminal disease in politics. Trumps words, plans and positions change hourly according to how many retweets he was getting. We felt like things might get back to normal once he was gone. But 74 million people continue to pressure their local Republican party to censure any elected representatives who don’t toe the Trump line. What happens when their next godhead isn’t such an idiot? What if someone with bigger ideas, more political savvy, and even fewer scruples steps into that role?

It took Hitler about 20 years to build a machine that none of us would have imagined possible. I wonder how long it would’ve taken if he’d had the internet?