@StillIRise1963 And Europe still remembers... the old timers are still here and cannot believe what's happening. They cannot fathom that their children could go through what they went through... they thought it was over.
So true. Recently watched the new Netflix series World War II From The Frontlines. It uses colorized and processed original footage. The thing that is mesmerizing is the faces of the young people in the run up to war so full of anger, hate, righteousness and enthusiasm. For them it is tremendously exciting and passionate. Of course, things don't go so well, but the deluded joy and carnival atmosphere of the pre-war scenes is haunting.
Thanks for the recommendation. Recently stumbled on this fascinating article comparing 2024 US to 1940 Norway. Same complacency. Same failure of imagination for the possible.
@mastodonmigration@StillIRise1963 I remember reading about fascism in World War 2 in school & I thought I would not see state sanctioned persecution in my lifetime, let alone the crowds promoting it.
Fast forward to the present & the number of people indifferent towards how the #GOP is embracing an authoritarian who fans the flames of nationalism (religious, cultural, & racial) is shocking.
Same. When the "Tea Party" movement started up in the 2000s it seemed like a bunch of losers who had wacky ideas and liked to get dressed up. Never imagined there would be so many of them, or that a TV con man would become their spiritual leader and ride it all the way into the White House.
But, seems like this kind of attraction to authoritarian (I alone can fix it) personalities runs deep in a big cross section of every society.
That's why these historical references are so powerful. The same type of group think passions have been exploited over and over again through history to marshal support for the most horrific atrocities. It's something terrible about human nature that we seem destined to repeat.
@darnell@mastodonmigration@StillIRise1963 It’s weird . As a librarian, I, and my colleagues were deeply concerned by the Patriot Act. We scrambled to figure out what we would do if the government sought out the library records of our patrons. As I signed one online petition against it after another, I would think about if fascism really took over our country, they’d find me pretty fast. But I never believed for an instant that our country could succumb to fascism. How foolish I was.
@darnell@mastodonmigration@StillIRise1963 They are going to cheat. They will do everything they accuse us of doing. Voting might not be enough. Many Republican voters are absolutely the worst people, but there are some who are merely deeply misinformed. When the only place they obtain information is Facebook and Fox News, it's impossible to make informed decisions. Some minds can be changed, and we have methods that they didn't in the 30s and 40s. Methods of helping those who can be helped. Methods like Motivational Interviewing, Street Epistemology, and Deep Canvassing. Not everyone can do these, but some people are naturals at it. If we don't change the minds that are changeable, it could get really ugly.
@annietime@darnell@mastodonmigration@StillIRise1963 That's still better than the alternative. Let them riot. That means more of them go to prison. We can't give in to fear, because that's what they want. Never do what your enemy wants you to do.
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