I Thought Everyone Disagreed with Nazi Germany

 I always thought that everyone was horrified by Nazi Germany.  Slowly, oh so slowly, it's beginning to dawn on me that just might not be true.  Or maybe some US citizens just don't connect the dots between what Trump and the current Republican party are doing and compare to what happened then.  A lot of people are working hard trying to keep a roof over their head and food on the table and have a lot of fear of the other.  We live in our own algorithims and sources of information that skew the "facts."  Yet, we are in scary times.  I recognize I have my own fears. 

Did you know that the Nazis came and studied our Jim Crow laws in the mid 1930's while instituting the Third Reich?  I learned this while reading "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent" by Isabel Wilkerson.  She describes three caste systems which include India, Germany and the United States.   

I was stunned.  

I'm still stunned and trying to unlearn what I thought was true about our country. 

I had some learning to do. 

What exactly were the Jim Crow laws? The following is from the website of the Jim Crow museum in Big Rapids, MI. 

Jim Crow was a racial system which operated between 1877 to the mid-1960's.  It was a way of life through a series of rigid anti-black laws which legitimized anti-black racism. African Americans were second class citizens. Here's the kicker that I had a hard time stomaching. "Many Christian ministers and theologians taught that white people were the Chosen people, black people were cursed to be servants, and God supported racial segregation."  All major societal institutions reflected and supported the oppression of black people.

Many learn the words Jim Crow in history class for a nanosecond, maybe?  If the right is able to continue to have their way, that little blurb will not be in textbooks, if it is not already gone.  But dive into it and understand the implications on today's situation. ICE is gathering up people based on their looks and throwing them into concentration camps.  There is no due process.  

Around the time of the pandemic, I began reading social justice, anti-racism books with a church group.  I was really naive, and stunned again to learn how the church was instrumental in this systemic racism. 

It makes it easier to understand that many good Christians are indoctrinated and cannot fathom that the land of the free, home of the brave has not fully embraced all of it's citizens.  The Civil War did not end the persecution of blacks, as our government and it's people moved to different and really effective methods of keeping blacks "in their place." 

Currently, the similarities between Trumpism and Nazism are numerous and on clear display everyday: 

Rhetoric and Scapegoating

"Enemy of the People" Framing

Use of Populism: he is the sole savior of a nation in decline

Executive Power and Loyalty 

Retaliation Threats to those who disagree 

Admiration for Authority

I really, really try to see both sides of the current divide.  I read books and read FB posts thoroughly.  I occasionally get caught up but I try to understand.  I wonder how often Trump supporters try to understand why my "side" believes what we do. 

It truly seems unsurmountable right now.  The onslaught of Trump's actions are so fluid and neverending and designed to overwhelm with so many distractions.  The lack of Congressional response to reigning in his actions as we are a three branch system exactly for this reason, is reprehensible.  Checks and balances are the heart of our democratic republic and why we moved from England and it's king.  It is disheartening to say the least.  Greenland is a distraction from rising healthcare costs and the inability to bring food prices down. With midterms coming up, Trump floats not having an election.  What?!!  His degradation of our solid electoral system only occurs if he thinks he's going to lose but if he wins, all notions of a rigged system vanish immediately.  Let's not forget, he tried to overturn a fair and legitimate election and then released the insurrectionists. 

In times like these, I have to turn to historians like Jon Meacham.  From his book, "The Soul of America: 

The Battle for Our Better Angels"  Jon argues that despite intense historical divisions, America's "better angels" (compassion, unity, shared principles) have often triumphed.  We have to turn away from hyper-partisanship and fear and use lessons from Lincoln and continuing all the way up to the Civil Rights era.   We have to appeal to our best instincts not our worst. 

We cannot give up.  We have to speak up.  Even if it's uncomfortable.  There are ways to speak up and not agitate.  No ones mind is changed by arguing. It is by listening to other's stories. 

I really hope our democratic republic is able to survive.  Our norms are being massacred daily.  I'm hoping for better angels.  That is all I can do, and call my representatives, and say out loud that what is happening now is atrocious.  We have to speak up in whatever way we can.  

Namaste. 

 

Facebook Conversations Getting Hijacked

I wrote a Facebook post a while ago about the fact that I don't recognize the Republican party who is taking away healthcare and food from the poor so that billionaires can have more money and to gather up more brown people and put in concentration camps for profit. A commenter from my hometown stated that there were no votes to cut healthcare or feed the poor.  This is completely untrue and they pivoted away from that truth and went to abortion again and again.  A couple of my friends who disagreed with him joined in and off it went for several hours. 

It took me time to see that the responder changed the subject, because he had to validate his vote for Trump.  He stated he can't vote for a party that supports abortion because he is pro-life.   His dogged determination to support fetus cells outweighs everything that can happen to humans outside the womb.  It outweighs every criminal and immoral act of Trump and that was enlightening.  He changed the subject when his points were no longer valid. 

And we let him change the subject.  

This is me reflecting that I have to learn to voice myself in the moment, but I need practice. And I needed to recognize what was happening.   I freeze during confrontation, and that is why I take the time to write.  I need to stay on the subject.  Writing helps me get my bearings, stay open and even keeled. 

The Facebook encounter was enlightening because there was one issue that this person was basing his vote on.  For years, myself and many many others can't wrap our heads around the continued support of Trump.  The Republican party has been hijacked and they have let it happen but the reality is this is who the party is. This is who the party is. There were many times Congress could have stood up and taken power away from this horrendous individual, but they caved to the despot over and over and over again.  It was heartening though that this person on FB doesn't agree with everything that Trump is doing.  A small amount of heartening but I took it.  

Even now, I just got diverted from the topic I intended but it is worth sharing. I just looked up the Moral Majority because of the abortion discussion. Did you know that prior to the Moral Majority movement in the 70's and 80's that the Southern Baptist Convention was in favor of opening up access to abortion in many cases throughout the 70's and after Roe v. Wade?  Look it up!  Abortion is a very complicated moral matter and many religious leaders reflected that in their stance on the issue at the time.  Even James Dobson, in 1973 said the Bible was silent on abortion and that an evangelical could believe that “a developing embryo or fetus was not regarded as a full human being.” The Moral Majority movement used abortion to be the issue to get people to vote Republican because the real issue at hand wasn't as popular to voters.  The motive behind the anti-abortion movement was so that whites-only segregationist academies, many church sponsored (Bob Jones University & Jerry Falwell's included) could keep their IRS tax-exempt status. So racism was the underlying reason.  This is why the Trump party wants to ban books about race.  These are the types of things one learns when they read history.

Now back to what I should have said in the post. 

 I don't vote for a party who supports the person who tried to overthrow our government to stop the formal process of certifying a free and fair election by planning and starting a riot.   I don't vote for the party that lets that insurrection play out for hours without calling in reinforcements and lets police die. I don't vote for the party who asks Georgia's top election official to "find 11,780 votes" and then terrorizes the election workers and lies about an election being stolen. I don't vote for the party who supports the person who grabs women by the pussy, and is convicted of sexual assault.  I don't vote for the party of the person who willfully retains national defense information in their bathroom, which falls under the Espionage Act. I don't vote for the party of the person who lied over 30,000 times his first administration.  (We knew he was lying about Project 2025 too.)  I don't vote for the party who supports the convicted felon due to breaking campaign finance laws.  I don't vote for a party who supports the person who steals from charities and lies on their taxes.  I don't vote for the party of the person who runs a fraudulent university and has a 25 million guilty verdict.   I don't vote for party of the person (& his family) who profits off the office immeasurably.  I don't vote for a party of the person who golfs every weekend and we pay millions to his businesses.  I don't vote for the party who supports the person who brags about watching underage teenage beauty contestants change clothes because the owns the pageant. 

This list can go on and on.  That was my highlight real. 

I don't want to fight on Facebook, it does no good and my nervous system then interferes with my sleep.  But as our country is in the throws of fascism I have to say something. 

For those who can't see it:

 Key characteristics of fascism:

Authoritarianism: Fascism concentrates power in a single leader or party, suppressing dissent and individual freedoms.  (Republican Congress persons have to bow to Trump's every whim or he goes against them and they lose their job)  

Ultranationalism: Fascism promotes an intense form of nationalism, often emphasizing racial or cultural purity and superiority.  (wrapping themselves in flags,  he vilifies all non-white immigrants and people, those "shithole countries" cancelling DEI) 

Militarism: Fascist regimes often glorify military power and conquest, using it to enforce their ideology and expand their influence.  (military parade, use of unidentified ICE agents to round up brown individuals, describes military who get caught or come back wounded as losers) 

Suppression of Opposition: Fascism actively suppresses or eliminates political rivals, critics, and minority groups. (attacks on Obama, Clinton, Biden now trying to use HIS justice system to do so) 

State Control: Fascism seeks to control various aspects of society, including the economy, media, and education, to promote its goals. (Starts tariff wars because he can, suing media networks, excluding history of non-whites and slavery from classroom education, book bans. 

Rejection of Liberalism and Democracy: Fascism opposes the principles of individual rights, freedom of speech, and democratic governance.  (Wants to break up peaceful protests by force which are a first amendment right) 

The facisim is playing out every day and getting stronger. 

Another reason why I couldn't vote for the Trump party. One huge mode of operation of his is narcissism.  He continuously hates on anyone who disagrees with him.  He is so emotionally fragile he cannot handle having opposition.  He hates Democrats or anyone who disagrees with him and wants them in jail and expresses that often.  This bully tactic enthralls certain sects of his supporters and worsens the divide in the country.   He has never once tried to be my President.  His message is divisive, bullying and childish.  Every President before him has tried to unify the country even around huge disagreement.  All of them wanted to be the president for the whole country even though they disagree on policy.  

His authoritarianism, crimes, racism, narcissism, moral deprivation, character flaws and policies are why I could not vote for him or his party. 

Even though I don't like conflict, the Facebook conversation was illuminating. The Facebook commenter is not a terrible person at all.  We wholeheartedly disagree on basic fundamental issues yet I was able to get a glimpse of understanding the "why" of Trump votes.  A small glimpse and that is enough for now. 

Namaste. 

The divine in me bows to the divine in you.