We thought we were free
Some time ago I read this quote:
Reading that quote today, one might be quick to judge it as a comment from some lefty or some bleeding hearth liberal (like the neo cons like to say) to the current and past policies of the Bush administration regarding the decision to go to war in Iraq.
But what is so scary about this quote is that it is not. This quote is from no other than Hermann Goering, second in command in the third Reich. Goering said this during the Nuremberg trials.
What is even more scary is that I read this in a book about Nazi Germany, which was about how it was to live in a dictatorship. What Germans said was that they didn't feel like they were living in a dictatorship at the time. They thought they were free. Perhaps not strange when you never read or hear news about the people that disagree. This book had nothing to do with America or Bush. It was no comment to that but I read this passage from it around the time that Bush was pushing the Patriot act. Then I remember thinking that Goering's words had an erie relevance to the present situation in America. I don't remember what the name of the book was nor did I remember the exact quote later.
But today I read the quote again on slashdot, in a commment by flyingsquid to the suggestion by homeland security to make it mandatory that for anyone who wish to leave or enter the US to have permission from government. It was weird to read because there it was, somebody else making the exact same conclusions as I had before without anybody having suggested to them that this quote had anything to do with America.
The whole article and its implications can be read here.
The US is getting into a really sad state with this. The sad thing is that the people are letting themselves getting screwed, while they think they are protecting themselves. And there seems to be no way of reaching these people that believe this is the right thing. Every time another worried American voice their concern about this problem they are put down as being unpatriotic, as hating America, or perhaps worse as loving France ;-)
People wondered how a highly cultured nation like Germany, a nation that had produced some of the greatest minds in the world and highest level of culture could have succumbed to the barbarism of nazism. And yet we can see history replay itself in America today. Even if it is in a light form. I don't think the US will be another third reich but some of the parallels are alarming.
Oh and please, I don't endorse any comparisons of Bush with Hitler. That is just retarded and shows utter lack of history knowledge. I believe Bush is a good man, that just happens to be misguided, not very wise and hostage to his fundamentalist religious beliefs.
Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine 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. ...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 to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.
Reading that quote today, one might be quick to judge it as a comment from some lefty or some bleeding hearth liberal (like the neo cons like to say) to the current and past policies of the Bush administration regarding the decision to go to war in Iraq.
But what is so scary about this quote is that it is not. This quote is from no other than Hermann Goering, second in command in the third Reich. Goering said this during the Nuremberg trials.
What is even more scary is that I read this in a book about Nazi Germany, which was about how it was to live in a dictatorship. What Germans said was that they didn't feel like they were living in a dictatorship at the time. They thought they were free. Perhaps not strange when you never read or hear news about the people that disagree. This book had nothing to do with America or Bush. It was no comment to that but I read this passage from it around the time that Bush was pushing the Patriot act. Then I remember thinking that Goering's words had an erie relevance to the present situation in America. I don't remember what the name of the book was nor did I remember the exact quote later.
But today I read the quote again on slashdot, in a commment by flyingsquid to the suggestion by homeland security to make it mandatory that for anyone who wish to leave or enter the US to have permission from government. It was weird to read because there it was, somebody else making the exact same conclusions as I had before without anybody having suggested to them that this quote had anything to do with America.
The whole article and its implications can be read here.
The US is getting into a really sad state with this. The sad thing is that the people are letting themselves getting screwed, while they think they are protecting themselves. And there seems to be no way of reaching these people that believe this is the right thing. Every time another worried American voice their concern about this problem they are put down as being unpatriotic, as hating America, or perhaps worse as loving France ;-)
People wondered how a highly cultured nation like Germany, a nation that had produced some of the greatest minds in the world and highest level of culture could have succumbed to the barbarism of nazism. And yet we can see history replay itself in America today. Even if it is in a light form. I don't think the US will be another third reich but some of the parallels are alarming.
Oh and please, I don't endorse any comparisons of Bush with Hitler. That is just retarded and shows utter lack of history knowledge. I believe Bush is a good man, that just happens to be misguided, not very wise and hostage to his fundamentalist religious beliefs.
posted by Adam Smith at 03:08
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