Why do Americans continue to be good Germans?

[Blue Belle]

This week marked a series of events honoring the memorial of the Holocaust, and I wonder, even though we are bombarded with movies and documentaries marking the atrocities sparked by Hitler's madness, do we realize the bigger picture? I took in a local High School production of “Just One More Dance” and it has continued to disrupt my thought train since the curtain came down Wednesday night. The play is based on the autobiography of Holocaust survivor Ernst Levy, and recreated a glimpse of a Jewish citizen’s life in Eastern Europe at the height of Nazi Reign. The persecution of the Jews, the ethnic cleansing/genocide policies of the Nazis, and the zealotry or apathy of the German people all made my heart heavy with empathy for the Jews and other victims of Nazi hate. And while I do recognize the central theme of this play to be what can result from extreme ethnocentric beliefs such as fascism, the overall message (and one that I found most disturbing) is even after all the atrocities the world has seen: the discovery of mass graves, the religious wars, the persecution of the minority – we continue to fall under the influence of hate, and remain indifferent to it’s consequences right here in the United States.

“The Jews hold too many positions of influence. Jewish Professors fill our Universities, and clutter our children’s minds with filth. No more will persuasion from Jewish Actors, Musicians, or Authors effect our nation. The Jews are stupid, and filthy, and deviant. We are the authority! We must rid ourselves of their presence!” This is the reasoning that one of Ernst’s friends gave as to why he could no longer associate with a Jew now that he was a member of the Hitler Youth. And as barbaric as these words seem, replace the word “Jew” with the word “Liberal”, “Gay”, or “Democrat” and that is what you’ll find if you tune in to conservative talk radio, or Fox news on any given day. It’s almost as if Joseph Goebel himself were in charge of the FCC because more often than not, the mainstream media and right wing talk has their agenda set by (and apologize for) the Bush administration, and it’s a rare occurrence when an undertaking of the Executive Branch is questioned. How many times have we’ve heard: “Democrats sympathize with the terrorists!”; “Democrats hate the troops!”; “Don’t fall prey to Liberal Hollywood’s agenda!”; “Gays want to ruin the sanctity of marriage!”; “Torture at Abu Grahb and Guantanamo Bay? Oh, that’s just the work of a few bad apples.”; “Holding American Citizens without being charged with a crime for an indefinite period of time? Oh, these people are terrorists and want to do you harm.”; “Illegal Wiretapping? We’re only listening in on the phone calls of terror suspects, so if you’re not talking to terrorists – don’t worry!”; “Genocide in Darfur? Dar what?? Is that the place they kidnapped Natalie Holloway?? It’s an outrage that they haven’t brought the murderer of an innocent, blonde, American girl to justice!!”; “Global Warming? Liberal Hoax you mean… its junk science. Listen to Michael Chrichton – he’ll set you straight!”; “We’re fighting the terrorists THERE so we don’t have to fight them HERE!” “They hate us for our Freedom!”; “Talking about the President’s failures only denigrates the moral of the troops!”; “Democrats are weak… they’re flip-floppers!”; “Liberals encourage tolerance! They want your children to condone gayness!”; “Democrats hate Christianity and are at war with Christmas and the Easter Bunny!”; “Christians are being persecuted right here in America! Secularist Liberals have too much influence in our courts and Media!”.

It’s amazing that in a nation which built its democracy on the basis of balance of powers, holding our leadership accountable, and the freedom of speech, a person can be called “unpatriotic” for disagreeing with the President’s policies, or a “traitor” for wearing a T-shirt displaying the number of soldiers who have been killed in Iraq. Unfortunately, that is the reality we live in. No more are we intellectually curious – we just accept what we’re told as truth, or remain silent for fear of being labeled a conspirator. No more do we think it is our duty to ask questions and speak truth to power – it’s just boat rocking so sit down and shut up. We aren’t being good Americans anymore. We used to stand for principal but now our principals are dictated by corporations. We used to stand up for the lesser of society but the America we live in now has become better suited for the survival of the well connected. We’ve replaced compassion with arrogance. Our flag has ceased to be an international symbol of democracy and has become a jingoistic moniker for the Republican Party. America used to be thought of as a trusted ally but is now the most hated country in the world. Americans torture and our nation has been listed as Human Rights violators. Americans invade other countries and take over their resources under the guise of spreading democracy and freedom. Americans thumb our nose to global influence and look the other way when those with dark skin are being slaughtered or left to drown. We aren’t being good Americans anymore. We’ve become apathetic and blind to the injustice suffered right in front of our faces. Our present is just a reflection of the past, and unfortunately we’ve traveled back in time to 1939 and become good Germans.

I left the Auditorium that night feeling unbelievably sad. It wasn’t just the powerful story or energy of the cast who put their hearts and souls into their performance that affected me. It wasn’t even the parade of visibly shaken audience members (especially those of the elder generation with whom I assume there is a personal connection). As the lights came up and I stood to leave, I noticed the endless rows of vacant seats. In a house that could fill roughly 400 people, only about 35-40 were in attendance. It’s a shame that this program so brilliantly thought out and presented could only affect so few. Throughout the play and between acts, film footage of concentration camps and Nazi propaganda wove through the scenes and made the presentation all the more powerful. As the performance came to conclusion new imagery of mass murder and torture flashed upon the screens. Photos of genocide in Rwanda, trenches of unidentified bodies who were “disappeared” by Pinochet, the lynching activities at KKK rallies, the mass graves in Kosovo, American prison guards at Abu Grahb flashing the peace sign above hooded prisoners splayed in stress positions – each picture revealing the horrific consequence of Racism, Nationalism, and jingoistic propaganda run amok. It would have been nice to see a packed house full of people with a more limited view of the world, but one has to wonder if they would pay attention or walk out in patriotic disgust. Sometimes it’s just easier to stay home and watch who gets voted off “American Idol” than to actually open your eyes and discover the realities happening just outside your door.

Why do Americans continue to be good Germans?

[WilliamPitt]

1. Which "we" do you refer to?

[Blue Belle]

2. Good catch... I should have been more clear.

Thanks!

[misternormal]

3. I am mildly curious as well...

I will also ask.. whom are the "we" you refer to... and... are you saying that all Germans are or were Nazis???

The head Nazi was Austrian btw.

No wonder Austria was neutral during WW2.

[cynatnite]

6. Austria was not neutral

It became a part of Germany in 1938.

[misternormal]

7. Stand historically corrected... thank you... n/t

[Blue Belle]

8. I'm not saying all Germans are or were Nazis...

and I know Hitler was Austrian. I was merely reflecting that being indifferent or remaining silent is just as bad as participating in the hateful acts. I know there were Germans who were quite active against the Nazis, but I also know that a lot of Germans just went with the flow because they were ill-informed or didn't want to be labled a conspirator. I was trying to speak about the cruelty of indifference and compare the mindset of those who continue to ignore knowledge in this country to those who did the same in 1939 Germany... but I guess I should have been more clear.

[misternormal]

9. I enjoyed your insightful and newsworthy piece...

My appologies for being too overly sensitive.

Keep writing... and I'll keep reading it.

[Blue Belle]

10. Deal!

:toast:

[jwirr]

23. I am a 16/4 German and I have been pointing out the fascism in

our country from the first on this board. I also believe that it is not just German - it is a hold over from the purist ideas of the 1620s to the 1840s. The first white settlers in this country were mainly English/Germanic and they thought of themselves as superior to the natives. THEN came the immigration of whites for southern European countries and Ireland. The purists had just as big a fit about them. THEN in the 1890s to the 1940s there was the eugenic movement that was fostered by the first settlers, who were eagerly joined by the more healthy/wealthy second settlers. When FDR came around many were so down and out that they could see the necessity of universal wellbeing. BUT the purists were still there - the Falwells, *ss group and the people who secretly supported Hitler. Quietly waiting for their time.

Thus the "why" is a form of self-idolatry. It was present in the beginning of this country and remains today. It will also remain hidden if we should ever get control of this country back. Self-idolatry is a real sickness that is passed for one generation to the other (GWB/GHWB/Prescott) and I am willing to bet that if you researched the ancestors of many of the people who are radical rw haters you will find the above eras are their background.

[madrchsod]

4. one problem i have with this is that

germany before the war was a demoralized and bankrupt country. germany was forced into this position the powers in europe. before 9/11 we were a country of great optimism and wealth. what they did with 9/11 was to demoralize the country and bankrupt it.which is the opposite of what hitler did. but in the end both countries lost,germany was laid in ruins and the usa is in ruins by our own hands

[Asgaya Dihi]

5. I liked it

Personally I thought it was beautifully written, I took we and good germans to mean pretty much the same thing as the debates over being a good american and supporting our troops does today. No, everyone doesn't and didn't agree and it's not really good to follow it, but that's the mantra anyway.

We do spend way too much time as a people watching things like Entertainment Tonight or American Idol and way too little working on the real problems that we face. It's a valid question.

[Joe Chi Minh]

19. Another strange parallel is that when Hitler came to power

he did not have the vote of the majority of Germans. Unfortunately, it was the upper and monied middle classes, the industrialists and the professionals, such as lawyers and doctors, who thought they could use him for their own materialistic ends and then discard him, who were primarily responsible for his rise to power.

And not only in Germany. I believe that, before WWII, pretty much througout the West, including Canada and Australia, and particularly in the UK, Hitler and Mussolini were idolised by the monied classes. So much so, indeed, that, when he stood for parliament as the Tory candidate for Oxford, the character who Margaret Thatcher made our Mr Law and Order, the late Lord Hailsham, or plain Quentin Hogg as he was at that time, chose as his slogan, "A vote for Hogg is a vote for Hitler". What's more, he won the seat! Scant wonder, Oxford University were unprepared to honour Thatcher, even at the height of the idolatrous, hyped media adulation she enjoyed.

Mosley and his fascist rabble were given very short shrift by the working class, most famously in the battle of Cable Street (London).

[0007]

33. Thank you for the reminder and of how perhaps Hitler could

have been contained without war.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. Erect scary bogeyman. Wave flag. Anything goes.

In Germany's case the Bogeyman was the Bolshevik Jew. Also, the Socialist Jew. And, the Capitalist Jew.

Here they are the Communist/Socialist/Liberal/Islamic/Mexican/Athiest/Iranian/Homosexual/Venezualan/Chinese/etc, etc, etc.

In the meantime the American public is busy watching The SuperDuper Bowl and fretting about who Britney Spears is going to marry or divorce.

Most Germans didn't "know" about the holocaust because they didn't want to know.

[readmoreoften]

15. Yes...

As a Communist-Socialist-Liberal-Islamo-Mexican-Atheist-of-Iranian-Descent who is gay-married to a Venezualan-Chinese Etcetera, I heartily agree!

[Malikshah]

12. One nationality? Good Serbs, Good Soviets, Good Japanese, Good Italians

Let's spread the argument to encompass a bit more of humanity-- this will allow for a deeper discussion of humanity's inherent vulnerability to groupthink and address the inherent difficulty of comparing today's U.S. society to 1930s/40s German society alone.

The social forces should be focused upon-- but in comparing one society to another alone, the individual context tends to undercut the argument.

[Blue Belle]

14. You make a really good point.

I chose to use the indifference of WWII Germany, because it was part of the "Hate" this country has glorified fighting against in everything from history text-books to blockbuster movies. We prop up the actions we took against Germany, but can't understand why the world is looking critically at us now. I only used the Germans as an example because it has been highlighted this week as we look back on the Holocaust - but you're absolutely right... we do need to touch on the nationalism of The Soviets, and Serbs, and Japanese, etc. Those are all excellent examples.

[IndyOp]

13. Real Shock & Awe: After 15 Years War, Sanctions 1,000,000 Iraqis Dead

We are, indeed, very good Germans...

Real Shock & Awe: After 15 Years War, Sanctions 1,000,000 Iraqis Dead

In 15 Years (1991-2006), the US has caused/contributed to 1,000,000 Iraqi deaths
Persian Gulf War: 150,000
Gulf War Aftermath: Many thousands
UN Sanctions: Primary cause of 600,000 deaths
Iraq War: 250,000

Important: Whether or not you believe that US foreign policy caused/contributed to all of these deaths - the death toll is a valid, conservative estimate of Iraqi deaths in the past 15 years in excess of what would have been expected if there had been peace. PLEASE TELL PEOPLE THIS NUMBER -- maybe it is big enough to shock the American public awake and cause them to realize the true devastation in Iraq: 1,000,000

The Persian Gulf War did not have to happen: Hussein did not invade Kuwait until after he had received an assurance from April Gillespie that the "US had no opinion on Arab-Arab conflicts." Even if he had invaded, alternatives to war were available.

The Gulf War Aftermath Encouraged by American radio broadcasts to rise up against their ‘dictator’, the Kurds of northern Iraq rebelled against a nominally defeated and certainly weakened Saddam Hussein in March of 1991. Fear of being drawn into an Iraqi civil war and possible diplomatic repercussions precluded President Bush from committing US forces to support the Kurds. Within days Iraqi forces recovered and launched a ruthless counteroffensive including napalm and chemical attacks from helicopters. They quickly reclaimed lost territory and crushed the rebellion. By the first week of April, 800 to 1,000 people, mostly the very young and the very old, were dying each day. link Al Franken has said that many 100,000's of Kurds and Shia were slaughtered, but I do not have a printed source.

UN (US/UK Sanctions) The United Nations Security Council has maintained comprehensive economic sanctions on Iraq from August 1990 until March 2003. Sanctions in Iraq hurt large numbers of innocent civilians not only by limiting the availability of food and medicines, but also by disrupting the whole economy, and reducing the national capacity of water treatment, electrical systems and other infrastructure critical for health and life. The oil-for-food program provided an average of $200 per year for each of 23,000,000 Iraqis - well below the international poverty level. In the UN Security Council, countries urged the US and UK to allow the sanctions to be lifted, but the US/UK would not allow this.

Iraq War A Johns Hopkins University study published in the British medical journal The Lancet in October, 2004. // The figure of 100,000 had been based on somewhat "conservative assumptions", notes Les Roberts at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, U.S., who led the study. That estimate excludes Falluja, a hotspot for violence. If the data from this town is included, the compiled studies point to about 250,000 excess deaths since the outbreak of the U.S.-led war. // Eman Ahmad Khamas.... said: "This occupation has destroyed Iraq. Americans don't know that tens of thousands of Iraqis are in prisons. Americans don't know how many have been killed. Lancet reported 100,000 in 2004, not counting Falluja. Now it is something like double this number."

[undergroundpanther]

17. Americans will be good germans

Until they get hauled off to slave camps.

“Was there ever any domination that did not appear natural to those who possessed it?”]John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) Economist and Philosopher


And even after that, they will obey authority. Americans submit to authority so easily like most humans seem to do. It is our fatal psychological flaw.. this illusion called authority and it's companion lie,submission.

Even when we are told, it's all a game,we could opt out of the trap of power and powerlessness at any time, we fall in line with the "authoritarians".That sickening tendency to obey the boss even if it hurts will destroy us all. Unless we learn ALL authority is ultimately EMPTY and we can disregard any claims or demandsauthoritarianss make. Consent to get a person to give uptheirr freedom and integrity is easy to manipulate.Every sadist knows this,and the reasontheyy are sadists is they LIKE to dominate so looks likemillionss are raised to not question authority,it begins with children submitting to mom and dad's exploitation because parents wanttheirr children to be what they want,that is why kids go to church and mom picks outtheirrclothess and they aretaughtt to obey,some of it is teaching how to getalongf the rest ispuree power. We learn aboutpowerr when we are infants and our cries go unheard becausemommae is doing other things.Childrearing sets up a person to fear equality. The primordial situation of an infant is played out in adulthood in different ways,because society fearsit'ss own past and the truth of the human condition..See how easy it is to make"normal healthy adults" become slaves and "masters"..

http://www.prisonexp.org/

"Empathy is antithetical to control, which is why control systems demand psychopathy as the standard mode of function."
Keep hierarchy and contractual obligation prostrate before caring, compassion, and a heart-felt responsibility for all life."

"Each generation begins anew with fresh, eager, trusting faces of babies, ready to love and create a new world. And each generation of parents tortures, abuses, neglects and dominates its children until they become emotionally crippled adults who repeat in nearly exact detail the social violence and domination that existed in previous decades."
-- Lloyd deMause in The Psychogenic Theory of History

. . . To be fully open to the baby's emotional needs is to become reacquainted with oneself as a baby, to reexperience the pain of being totally dependent and desperate in love and yet being shut out and feeling unwanted."
-- Robert Karen, Ph.D.


"The end result of man's biological evolution produced a helpless baby whose instinct is to form an intensely personal relationship, challenging the parent to regress and relate, rather than repress and be alone."
-- Lloyd deMause in The Foundations of Psychohistory
It is not abject vice, it is vice crowned with splendor,(or power) that seduces men’s souls.

"The great leader who is going to save is is not there.
We have to take the power and the responsibility to solve our own problems. We may not have created them, but it is up to us to solve them all."
Justin Dart

[marions ghost]

16. why do Americans continue to be good Germans ?

I can only answer with questions....

How many people are really going to entertain the thought that our country has sunk to the level of Hitler's time? How many want to admit that our government is lurching along a fascist road? We have all been told that we live in such a great Democracy. This is ingrained from childhood on, which is good because at least we have some idea of what Democratic principles are supposed to be. But it also leads to complacency among the masses. Nobody wants the overwhelming job of "Saving Democracy" in this lifetime. There are too many other distractions, not all of which are enjoyable. People raising children do not want to think they will leave them a messed-up country. The hijackers of the government have the average person behind the 8-ball exactly where they want them. It is only your intellectuals, truth-tellers, and other stubborn realists who will lead the way.

However I think there is less knee-jerk compliance now. The extreme abuses of the Boosh administration have revealed the real agenda to more Americans than ever before. It had to get very bad before people would begin to wake up out of their 9-11 induced stupor. So I feel the opposite of you--I feel more optimistic than I have for a long time. If people aren't actively making comparisons with the Holocaust doesn't mean anything--I would not extrapolate from that that they don't care. Right now I think they don't know WHAT to do. Many hoped that a Democratic win in 00 or 04 would be the way to go...but that opportunity has been thwarted. People are worried, depressed, and no longer easily fooled by this administration's empty rhetoric. They can see the ship is floundering.

Yes there is a very nasty sexist, racist bigoted element in this country and it has been nurtured and given sustenance by the Neo-Cons. But your average middle class Americans are NOT fools, or uncaring. They are not 'good Germans.' I think that's harsh. They just don't know what to do about such massive problems. In a repressive society with a Pravda-like media, it's easy not to even know the worst of it, which doesn't excuse apathy, but everyone has a different tolerance for stress. And this is high level stress. Many people are not going to seek out MORE stress--that is unrealistic. You have to look at the various mental blocks people develop to come to terms with the outrageous concept that their government is abusing them and abusing others around the world. They would have to admit that the sacred trust they depend on has been broken and they have been victimized. This is a BIG leap for most people. But they're getting there...

[undergroundpanther]

20. Obedience

To "authority" is a game,and it will kill us unless we realize it is a game,and every "great man" is only one person.How much does one person deserve? Does he deserve YOUR freedom? Your labor? Your consent? Your obedience?

Disobey power and it's structures. Because the exploitation hurts,so does the obedience and so will the rebellion.
Difference is with rebellion YOU are not obeying someone else,you are empowered with your almighty NO..And the authoritatian loses his:"authority" at that moment.If said authoritarian has you convinced he OWNS all the land,houses,food and water you will be extorted by your own beliefs about property ,freedom and power.
http://clogic.eserver.org/2004/reitz.html
http://www.abelard.org/power.htm

[marions ghost]

22. of course you and I know this

but most people are not looking at their situation from a Big Picture perspective. They don't see themselves as being "obedient" to anything. They're just getting by the best they can. It's only when there is a direct impact--gas prices double, a close friend or relative goes to Iraq, someone loses a good-paying job, an elder can't afford medication--these are the wake-up calls for the average American.
Why would anyone expect them to be revolutionaries?

The complexity of life today is overwhelming to many people. They retreat to looking at things in the most simplistic ways possible. They make very expedient decisions. They don't have the background to analyse and find solutions to the massive social, economic and political problems facing this country. But the leaders who DO have this insight had better come forth, because there will be some big opportunities when the Bushies go down.

[Joe Chi Minh]

24. Good points. Though with their wisdom heritage unbroken by

our Brave New Utopian world, it seems the native Americans could represent the smartest ethnic society in the US.

[marions ghost]

28. I'm

not sure what you mean by this...have not Native Americans been incorporated into the Brave New World?
It doesn't seem as tho any group has escaped.

[Joe Chi Minh]

30. My impression, whether accurate or false, from a post by H2O

Man the other day, was that the native Americans still had a cohesive society with genuine old-fashioned values, instead of the rampant anomie and alienation successive "robber-baron" plutocracies have always engendered in your country, Mammon's own nearest and dearest, to a degree that seems to be unique in the world.

Well, there are countries, such as Brazil, where children live in drain pipes and are periodically "culled" by vigilante police employed by the traders. But then, they are largely the product of the US and the IMF, as is Iraq at the moment. .

Here is a most striking example, cited by H2O Man, of what I was alluding to:

"I remember many years ago, when Oren Lyons was the Faith Keeper in the Turtle Clan, before he replaced Chief Waterman as Wisdom Keeper. And in dealings with the state, or similar settings, people would say things like, "Well you can't go back ...." One day, Oren gave an answer that always struck with me:

"Our principles do not change. Justice is always justice; freedom is always freedom. Great principles are constant. And so what they call the "old way" is nothing more than principles. And they say you can't go back to the old ways -- which means you can't go back to justice, you can't go back to equality, you can't go back to what is right and what is wrong. Principles are how you exist above and beyond the emotions that you feel; to control and have discipline of one's self. Self-discipline, not people making you behave, but the discipline where you don't need police. That is how our people lived. There were no police. There were no jails. There were basic laws -- you don't lie and steal. Tell the truth. Be strong. Look out for your brother. Look out for the ones just underneath you. Look out for your elders. Use your strength on behalf of the Nation, on behalf of the people. Conduct yourself in a proper manner."

While I can't imagine that such men will have failed to exert an extraordinarily beneficial influence over their people, I don't imagine native American society could have altogether escaped the madness and the anomie, but I have noticed what is probably an extraordinary ratio of very wise native Americans posting on these boards.

[marions ghost]

31. These core beliefs

of Native Americans, as basic as they are, seem kind of unattainable and quaint in the vicious political/social climate we are living in here. So would John Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you..." today. No one I know has that kind of idealism. Cynicism rules. And there is a LOT of fear.

We are so far from abiding by such a code of morality and cooperation as the Indians achieved that few would be able to uphold it. Look at what the followers of "Christian" principles have wrought on us these past few years. (!?!) After suffering through this, how could a thinking person put faith in people professing to be guided by Christian morality?

When you are abused by a corrupt govt repeatedly, you start to lose any receptivity to noble ideas. You become downtrodden. You just want things to work better for you and your children. Whatever works for you becomes the primary focus.

[Joe Chi Minh]

32. Yes, you are right. But people have the most extraordinary

resilience. A year or two with John Kerry in power and you'll notice the recrudescence of a most extraordinary optimism and idealism. And John Edwards would be a worthy successor.

I could feel the excitement in the US here just in the run-up to the last election - never mind when it was clear that he'd won it. Before the right-wing putsch.

[marions ghost]

35. yeah but

you can't keep knocking people down over and over and not have them lose resilience. We will not have that excitement that comes from believing in the system this election time--but we WILL have a grim determination to get the job done. Get them out. Remove the hijackers. Scrape them off like the bloodsuckers they are. I think it can be done ONLY because they have made such a spectacular mess of things, NOT because the system actually works. And then the pressure will be on the Democrats to chart a clear course away from this wreck of a presidential term. They don't need inspirational rhetoric...they only need to talk about the mess we're in and how to fix it. After what we've been through I don't think people are receptive to idealist messages.

There will be no recrudescence of optimism IMO. There will only be a collective push and shove.

[Joe Chi Minh]

38. Yes, it's unlikely that I could really begin to appreciate the

"climate" over there from 3000+ miles away; what it's been like to live/exist under this bizarre "archy". I don't even think there's likely to be a prefix to define what sort of an "archy" it is. Very very depressing. Maybe "coprarchy"? Government by ordure.

[vickitulsa]

18. Will Pitt's just in a bad mood today.

:hi: Will! :)

I think we all understood what you were saying, Blue Belle, and as a descendant of German immigrants who fled their "fatherland" ahead of the 30's when the national nightmare began, I applaud you for your essay!

I have even wondered at times if my great-grandfather Adolph Hellwege (yep, Adolph!) didn't decide they would cease to be Jews when they came to America. Instead they became Methodists and were basically hard-working German farmers in ND and Iowa. Later one branch migrated down to Oklahoma to grow their wheat.

Being half-German, though, and having many German-speaking relatives (the older ones), I developed an interest in both the language and in German history, particularly in the Hitler era. An awful lot of Americans have German (or other European) ancestry, but I'm hoping the vastly diverse population in MY homeland will rise up and reject the domination of a dictatorial leadership before it's too late!

I studied German in college till I could speak it and often chatted with my great-aunts and -uncles about life in Germany. It was hard to get them to talk about it, though ... I could tell they were painful memories, and possibly embarrassing ones.

My dad, who pretty much rejected his German heritage altogether, also rejected religion, in part because he seemed to think it was by using religion that Hitler dominated the people. But he would still get VERY angry whenever he heard anyone criticize "the German people" for having followed Hitler. We had some pretty heated arguments about that, because I felt that there was simply NO WAY the German people could have not been aware of the evil that was happening among them. Even if they had no idea the Jews and others were being killed in the camps, they damn sure witnessed the persecution that happened right in their midst! Kristallnacht(1) occurred in the towns, the Jews were made to wear those yellow stars on their outer clothing, and public contempt and violence shown to Jews by Hitler's thugs happened right in front of their eyes on a daily basis.

Yes, there were some Germans who risked everything to help protect those being persecuted, but they were too few and far between. If Germans as a whole had risen up to decry such treatment of fellow human beings, Hitler never would have remained in office long enough to do the damage in the world that he did.

Tragically, I DO see parallels to what is happening in MY country right now! And you know, even that word "homeland" that the Bush Reich like to use so much bothers me. "Homeland," I wonder ... is that like "Fatherland"?

Brrrrrr ... gives me the shudders....


(1) Kris·tall·nacht n. The night of November 9, 1938, on which the Nazis coordinated an attack on Jewish people and their property in Germany and German-controlled lands.

(German meaning: night of (broken) glass, because so many windows of Jewish homes and businesses were smashed.)

[BrotherBuzz]

21. Herman Goering explained how easy it is....

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

-- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

.....

Gustave Gilbert, an intelligence officer, interviewed Hermann Goering at Nuremberg on 18th April, 1946.


"Why, of course, the people don't want war," Goering shrugged. "Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship."

"There is one difference," I pointed out. "In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars."

"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

Gustave Gilbert, an intelligence officer, interviewed Hermann Goering at Nuremberg on 18th April, 1946.

[Joe Chi Minh]

25. "We are Republicans and we support our men and women in

uniform", is just a reworking of the same ploy, isn't it?

[BrotherBuzz]

29. And then some....

and these fine people fail to understand Goering's philosophy is alive and thriving in the Bush* administration through the twisted writings of Leo Strauss, who borrowed heavily from Goering's blueprint.

Herman Goering - Leo Strauss - Straussians - PNAC. Same ploy? You bet your sweet bippy it is.

[Captain Hook]

36. So Supporting Military People is Bad?

Am I supposed to despise military people and their families?

[Joe Chi Minh]

39. Certainly not! But claiming to support them, while supporting a

a Government that fails to provide them with appropriate levels of body and vehicle armour, even in one case supplying them with infected drinking water, kicking them out of their veterans' hospitals prematurely, docking their pay and pensions. Heck, involving them in an illegal war on the basis of lies!

[vickitulsa]

27. Thank you for posting the entire quote from Goering.

I use that first (condensed) version of the quote from Goering as my sigline in my emails. But it's even more powerful to read the full transcript from the recordings Gustave Gilbert made during the Nuremburg trials.

I've heard that Goering did not actually utter those words IN the trial setting, but that Gilbert made tape recordings of his interviews with the prisoners in their quarters, and that's where we get the Goering quote.

Somehow it's even more powerful when you read it in the conversational context. I can almost hear it in the German, as Goering laughs and blusters throughout his commentary! I wish someone with the means to do so would put that full quote up on huge billboards across the land ... just reading that a few times ought to wake a few Americans up!

At least it is encouraging that we see almost NO Americans crowding the streets with arms upraised in salute to GWB these days ... rather there are some courageous enough to take to the streets to PROTEST his actions and MOCK HIM! The more we rise up, I say, the less confident Boosh and his thugs will be that they can continue to get away with their "evildoings."



Goe·ring, Hermann Wilhelm. 1893-1946.

German Nazi politician and military leader who was responsible for the buildup of German air forces, directed the German wartime economy, and was named Hitler's successor (1939). Severely criticized for Germany's military decline, he lost favor with Hitler and was stripped of his command (1943). After he was convicted and sentenced to death at the Nuremberg trials (1946), he committed suicide.


Wouldn't hurt if the fascists in power in America right now read the short bio of this Nazi and contemplate their own possible ends....

[omega minimo]

26. Because "we" ignore warning signs, shun responsibility & LIHOP

by benign neglect ("It can't happen here!")

You answered your own question in the OP:

"We’ve become apathetic and blind to the injustice suffered right in front of our faces."

[LWolf]

34. Perhaps you mean

good Nazis? :shrug:

I'm a good German American; I don't fit your description of a good german, and neither do any other good germans that I know.

What are you really describing, and what are you really asking?

I think you are describing human dysfunction, and asking why humanity hasn't evolved beyond the dysfunctions of hate and fear.

Because there is some reward in it, something that people get for wallowing in it, that reinforces that position. Our culture reinforces it subtly, and not so subtly, 24/7. Applauding bully-mentality and valuing "winning" as "beating the opponent so that you are 'better' than they are," constantly. Put-downs, disrespect, and hate as common-place humor. Encouraging people to fear, and to hide behind so-called "leaders" to save them from their fears. Fear of not being the most superior, of being wrong, of "losing."

If you don't want to see hate and fear spring up to fit a myriad of settings, the larger culture has to stop pandering to hate and fear.

[Captain Hook]

37. Indeed

Yes, that door swings in every political direction. It's a phenomenon that is evident in all political parties in the U.S.

[TexasLawyer]

40. Good little Germans

may find out that the world doesn't abide powermongers waging wars of aggression.


War-ravaged Berlin in 1943

Other photos for the strong of stomach.

http://www.wehaitians.com/photographs%20that%20cry%20out%20for%20meaning.html