Are Parallels to Nazi Germany Crazy?

[kskiska]

Harley Sorensen, Special to SF Gate

The customers always write. I get about 400 e-mails in response to my columns every week, which might explain why I didn't answer yours. Here, slightly edited, is one of the more interesting ones from last week. It's from Herr Moellers in Germany:

"Dear Mr. Sorensen,

"I have many American friends and used to go on business travel to the U.S. a lot (I stopped doing that after even our European governments have given in to Uncle Sam's appetite for information about individuals traveling to God's Own Country), and I am shocked by the deterioration of democracy in a country that I used to love. This administration is a shame and the destabilization they have brought to the world is scaring the s** out of me.

"My father was a Nazi soldier and he realized during the war what he and most of his generation was led into. I have learned from him that a nation can be guilty and that we must stop the arrogance of the powers at the very beginning. To me, America is becoming truly scary and the parallels to the development in Germany of the thirties (although the reason behind it are totally different) are sickening.

"Thank you for writing about this development. The world is waiting for signs of opposition in the Unilateral States of America!"

Herr Moellers' e-mail is typical of a half dozen or so I've received over the past year from people with intimate knowledge of Nazi Germany.

I respect experience, so I'm inclined to believe what these people are telling me. Perhaps their memories help explain the attitude of Germans toward the Bush administration these days.

They've been there, they've done that. They know what a corrupt government smells like.

more…
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2004/01/26/hsorensen.DTL

[ixion]

1. if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck

well, you know the rest. 'news pundits' will scoff at analogies made to the rise of Nazi Germany, and in the same breath, call the people who observed the analogy traitors.

This is what we're up against, folks.

[patricia92243]

2. The Nazi regime has to come into bein - they didn't just appear out of

thin air. I hope now isn't the beginning of something like that will spring forth later - even if it's years from now.

[xcentrik]

3. Not crazy, just stupid.

Every time this sort of wildly exaggerated comparison is made on the left, the right becomes stronger.

[damnraddem]

7. Please explain what part constitutes the exaggeration.

Now remember, the comparison was to the Nazis before their system was fully in place.

[DrBB]

10. Two sources, neither crazy nor stupid, about this

For a very rational and well-grounded discussion of this please check out David Neiwirth's blog Orcinus.

He is very careful about defining what fascism is (quite a lengthy and well-researched article about it on his site) and making distinctions between mere rightwing extremism and actual fascism. He cut his teeth writing about the right wing Patriot Movement, and his work on that is highly regarded.

If you read Orcinus, I think you will be persuaded there is something to be concerned about here. Neiwirth is not a hysteric--he's a very careful and nuanced observer. Not perfect, but he is NOT just throwing the word "fascism" around. He doesn't think we're there yet, but he is monitoring the indicators according to some carefully thought-out criteria, and it is an increasingly scary picture.

Another worthy, respectably presented and argued piece is Robert Jay Lifton's American Apocalypse in The Nation. He doesn't use the word "fascism," but he makes it clear why the logic of the so-called War on Terror leads this country in a highly fascistic direction.

[Parrcrow]

4. I suspect

Actually, I hope that sometime in the near future America will wake up. In the near future, I believe, the word 'Neocon' may replace 'nazi' and 'fascist' to describe corrupt intolerant government based on hate.

[Hoosier Democrat]

5. I think "Nazi Germany" is a bit overboard

I liken this administration to the Roman Empire. Using military glory (now debatable) to distract the public from the problems at home. As a population becomes complacent amid the "bread and circuses" (Fast Food and Reality TV), the government replaces the Republic with an Empire.

Face it folks,Dumbya may well be our Caligula.

[damnraddem]

8. Oh, Caligula rather than Hitler.

Now I feel so much better.

[damnraddem]

6. Yes, the parallels to Nazi Germany ARE truly crazy --

what a shame that they exist in our government, our economy, and our society.

[StlMo]

9. The Bushies are using early Nazi tactics.

The comparison is valid.

[tabasco]

11. It could never happen here.

Just keep telling yourself that.