America now is Germany then: Analogies

The German people of the late 1930s imagined themselves to be brave. They saw themselves as the heroic Germans depicted by the Wagnerian Operas, the descendants of the fierce Germanic warriors who had hunted wild boar with nothing but spears and who had defeated three of Rome's mightiest legions in the Tuetenberg Forest.

But in truth, by the 1930s, the German people had become civilized and tamed, culturally obsessed with fine details in both science and society. Their self-image of bravery was both salve and slavery. Germans were required to behave as if they were brave, even when they were not.

It's easy to look back and realize what happened. But at the time the Hitler administration, with the help of the media, looked pretty good to the German people. Hitler was TIME Magazine's Man Of The Year in 1938; the German people assumed they were safe from a tyrant. They lived in a Republic, after all, with strict laws regarding what the government could and more importantly could not do. Their leader was a devoutly religious man, and had even sung with the boy's choir of a monastery in his youth.

The reality was that the German people, as individuals, had lost their courage. The German government preferred it that way as a fearful people are easier to rule than a courageous one. But the German people didn't wish to lose their self-image of courage. So, when confronted with a situation demanding individual courage, in the form of a government gone wrong, the German people simply pretended that the situation did not exist. And in that simple self-deception lay the ruin of an entire nation and the coming of the second World War.

When the Reichstag burned down, most Germans simply refused to believe suggestions that the fire had been staged by the Hitler administration itself. They were afraid to. But so trapped were the Germans by their belief in their own bravery that they willed themselves to be blind to the evidence before their eyes, so that they could nod in agreement with Der Fuhrer while still imagining themselves to have courage, even as they avoided the one situation which most required real courage: to stand up to governmental lies and deceptions.

When the Hitler administration requested temporary extraordinary powers; powers specifically banned under German law, but powers the government claimed they needed to have to deal with the "communists", the German people, having already sold their souls to their self-delusions, agreed. The temporary powers were conferred, and, once conferred, lasted until Germany itself was destroyed.

When the Hitler administration staged a phony invasion by Poland, the vast majority of the German people, their own self-image dependant on continuing blindness to their government's deceptions, did not question why Poland would have done something so stupid as to attack Germany, and as a result Germans found themselves in a war.

But the German government knew they ruled a nation of cowards, and knew they had to spend the money to make the new war something cowards could fight and win. They decorated their troops with regalia to make them proud of themselves, further trapping them in their self-image. The Hitler administration copied the parade regalia of ancient Rome, to remind the Germans of the defeat of the legions at the Tuetenberg Forest. Talismans were added from orthodox religions and the occult to fill the soldiers with delusions of mystical strengths and an afterlife if they fell in battle.

Knowing that it takes courage to kill the enemy face to face, the Hitler administration spent vast sums of money on wonder weapons, airplanes, submarines, ultra-long range artillery, the world's first cruise missile and the world's first guided missile, weapons that could be used to kill at a distance, so that those doing the killing need not have to face the reality of what they were doing.

The German people were lured into WW2 not because they were brave, but because they were cowards who wanted to be seen as brave, and found that shooting long range weapons at people they could not see took less courage than standing up to the government's lies and deceptions. Sent into battle by that false image of courage, the Germans were dependent on their wonder-weapons. When the wonder-weapons stopped working, the delusion of grandeur faded, the illusion ended, the Germans lost the war.

The American people imagine themselves to be brave. They see themselves as the heroic Americans depicted by Western Movies, the descendants of the fierce patriot warriors who had tamed the frontier and defeated the might of the British Empire.

But in truth, by the dawn of the third millennium, the American people have become civilized and tamed, culturally obsessed with fine details in both science and society. Their self-image of bravery is both salve and slavery. Americans are required to behave as if they are brave, even when they are not.

The American people assume they are safe. They live in a Republic, after all, with strict laws regarding what the government can and more importantly cannot do. Their leader is a devoutly religious man and with the help of the media looks petty good: TIME Magazine's Man Of The Year 2000 and 2004.

The reality is that the American people, as individuals, have lost their courage. The government prefers it that way as a fearful people are easier to rule than a courageous one. But Americans don't wish to lose their self-image of courage. So, when confronted with a situation demanding courage, in the form of a government gone wrong, the American people simply pretend that the situation does not exist.

When the World Trade Towers collapsed, most Americans simply refused to believe suggestions that the attacks had been staged by parties working for the US government itself. Americans were afraid to, even as news reports surfaced proving that the US government had announced plans for the invasion of Afghanistan early in the year, plans into which the attacks on the World Trade Towers which angered the American people into support of the already-planned war fit entirely too conveniently.

Now the US government has requested temporary extraordinary powers, powers specifically banned under Constitutional law, but powers the government is claiming they need to have to deal with the "terrorists". The American people, having already sold their souls to their self-delusions, are agreeing. The temporary powers recently conferred will be no more temporary in America than they were in Germany.

The vast majority of the American people, their own self-image dependant on continuing blindness to the government's deceptions, never question why Afghanistan would have done something so stupid as to attack the United States, and as a result, Americans find themselves in a war.

The US government knows they rule a nation of cowards. The government has had to spend the money to make the new war something cowards can fight. The government has decorated the troops with regalia to make them proud of themselves, further trapping them in their self-image. Talismans are added from orthodox religions and the occult to fill the soldiers with delusions of mystical strengths and an afterlife if they fall in battle.

Knowing that it takes courage to kill the enemy face to face, the United States government has spent vast sums of money on wonder weapons, airplanes, submarines, ultra-long range artillery, cruise missiles, and guided missiles, weapons that kill at a distance, so that those doing the killing need not have to face the reality of what they are doing.

But so trapped are Americans by their belief in their own bravery that they will themselves to be blind to the evidence before their eyes, so that they can nod in agreement with the government while still imagining themselves to have courage, even as they avoid the one situation which most requires real courage; to stand up to the government's lies and deceptions. When the wonder-weapons stop working, the delusion of grandeur fades, the illusion ends, the Americans will have lost ..... themselves.

EDIT: Source

I'm fascinated by similarities between /r/conspiracy users and Nazis. Anti-semitism, delusions of grandeur, racism, permanent illusion of 'Dolchstoßlegende.'

But to be even more serious for a moment: None of the supposed [Edit: political] similarities you can concoct between Nazi Germany and the current USA is correct. You're comparing a fascist totalitarian regime with a suboptimal federalist parliamentary constitutional republic democracy.

The enabling act killed the Republic in Germany and made Hitler dictator. So you're wrong. There is no similarity to the USA, no matter how hard conspiracy theorists jerk off about it.

I agree. I think there are shills in here to discredit the conspiracy movement. I love how some people on this reddit automatically assume that banks = Jews.

The people believe the government's actions are in their best interests.

OH, FUCK! A SIMILARITY! FUCK, FUCK, FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK! That's like FUCK with a capital R, A, P, and E!

Also, in both countries they live in houses, aligned alongside streets.

Wow, you even admit there's a similarity after claiming there is none!

Although, I don't know if you've been to Germany, but they've got houses smack dab in the middle of streets.

Ich hab bis jetzt noch keine Häuser mitten auf der Straße gesehn. ;)

Edit: Un I kann au im Dialekt dibbe, net das mir oiner kommt ond sagt I hätts nur übrsetze lasse.

僕はアメリカ人。それは、ドイツ語分からないと駒いませんよ。

セイグージオン、マーサーファかー！

You can't explain that.

hehe I can't. I wrote, in German:

"I haven't seen any houses in the middle of the street yet"

and then, in my Swabian dialect:

"And i can also type in my dialect, so noone can claim that I've just had it translated."

And yes, I, and most other Germans know much more about the shitstain Nazi Germany than Op ever will. ಥ_ಥ

Edit: What did you write?

I wrote, "Because I am American, I do not understand German nor do I care. Seig Zeon!"

Although that's a bit of an in-joke: I've had some clashes with a German named Ruben Koprivica ("artist name" is Rubeus Eden) who's said Americans are stupid and do not understand any languages other than English (even though he knows I know Japanese because he watched one on my YouTube videos of me speaking Japanese).

The "stupid American" sterotype is slowly dying here in Germany since Bush is no longer in power, maybe he didn't get the efficent and timely memo.

Oh, that's nice; you guys think Obama makes us look better?

Frankly, I think Ruben was just having one of his epic rage fits. He got all butthurt five years ago when I commented that he needs to go to film school—or at least watch some online tutorials—before making trashy videos and putting them on the Internet. He just went totally ballistic and never forgave me since D: and loves writing incomprehensible insults about me.

Funny thing is other people have been less kind about calling his stuff trash (I at least wrote something constructive; not what I wrote just now because that was paraphrasing what I told him) and while he's gotten butthurt, he's never gone all postal like he did on me.

Edit He went Uwe Boll on my ass./edit

I was actually hoping to meet him face-to-face when I went to Duisburg last summer. Even sent him e-mails and messages (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) telling him the days I'd be in Duisburg.

Hehehe I know my share of bitchy artistic types.

Obama helped a lot, though Gitmo being still open is still a sore. From time to time some glimpses of the republican twits get into the media here, and people are reminded that it could be a lot worse.

Relationally, Merkel's center-right party CDU is about as left-wing as the Democrats are in the US. The next parties on the right-wing of the political spectrum are fringe Christian fundamentalists and far-right parties. The US's republicans would be amongst them here in Germany.

Most of the right-wings you hear or read about—on TV or Internet—are the extremists. Same with the left-wings you hear or read about. There are moderates, but they're usually not put into high offices because the majority are extremists and they want extremists to represent them.

But I'm a non-partisan (I can't vote in primaries; only the big elections), so the political agendas of the two major parties and all the smaller parties are lost on me. And I'm sure there's some heavy stuff going down and the conspiracy theorists might have some right direction, but it's something I look at for entertainment value as I write my science fiction books about aliens from outer space (I have excerpts on my deviantArt).

Please pm me your deviant profile!

Most of the right-wings you hear or read about—on TV or Internet—are the extremists.

I meant guys like Boehner, for example. Hehe.

And I'm sure there's some heavy stuff going down and the conspiracy theorists might have some right direction, but it's something I look at for entertainment value.

I look at it for the entertainment as well, but i can't see anything the conspiracists are right about. Everything they look at, they turn the knob to 150% and lose any inkling of rationality, imo.

ITT, for example, the Enabling Act is mentioned. Is anyone in the US a totalitarian dictator? No. Similarity: Nope.

Anyone thinking Obama is literally Hitler is wrong. Here in r/conspiracy, he'd be swimming in upvotes.

I don't mind everyone in the world seeing my dA; frankly, I want as many people as possible to see my work.

otaku-son.deviantart.com

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Also, you are dead wrong, sir but I won't waste my time justifying myself.

What a convincing argument.

I am fascinated by the fact that /r/conspiratard users like you are browsing /r/conspiracy everyday having nothing better to do talking with "crazy conspiracy theorists".

It's my hobby. :)

You don't know what you're missing kid...

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What a nice human being you're. /r/conspiracy must be really happy to have such a loving person like you.

Hey now, is that helping or hurting?

Can't, I'm a shapeChanger. That's why I became a bodyguard for the president.

I think most intresting is the fact how nobody in german thought it can happen there.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.

I think it was a combination of "it can't happen here" and "I refuse to believe it is happening here" and "I refuse to admit that it happened here."

In unrelated news, there is just no freaking way that the US military would be killing children around the world with drone strikes, or shooting through kids to get to the terrorists standing behind them, etc.

yeah thats probably also a good part of it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism - one theory

relevant

Nazi Germany was the end result of when 1 group attains ultimate power, no different than stalins russia.

Forgot to mention that there are some great books interviewing German citizens about their attitudes during the Nazi rise to power, how the Nazis took control through everyday life fixtures, etc.

I'm not sure because I read it long ago, but I think the book is "The Nazi Seizure of Power" by William S. Allen. If you haven't read it, you will probably find a lot of the information you are looking for in that book.

This excerpt from the book "They Thought they were Free" documents the psychology pretty well of the "aware" folks in Nazi Germany: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/511928.html

Fasc---inated by the obsession of especially Americans with Nazi Germany. There was fascism and totalitarianism over whole Europe, dammit!

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Prussia was not Nazi Germany.

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How many Jews do you think the Nazis actually killed?

http://cdn.overclock.net/b/b4/b43ddc98_Op_will_surely_deliver_Weird_Video_Game_Facts_Part_7-s500x375-138152-535.jpeg

Black-propaganda troll spotted.

I guess the major similarity is that before the Nazis took power and brought in fascism to Germany, the German state was controlled by wealthy international Jews, who had weakened and bled dry the economy for their own advantage. The election process was not responsive to the will of the people. There was a kind of malaise hanging over Germans that prevented them from accomplishing anything great. The German money was almost worthless due to runaway inflation, leading to starvation and deprivation. The entire bureaucracy was corrupt.

Today in the US we have a corrupt election process, politicians who take bribes (called "campaign contributions") and who ignore the will of the people. The culture is corrupt and corrupting, and disgustingly decadent. A kind of malaise hangs over the heads of Americans, preventing them from doing anything great. Jews are the new aristocracy of America, ruling through their control of the media, their subversion of the election process, and their control over Wall Street and the Federal Reserve. The brownshirts are the goons of the Department of Homeland Security, in effect a standing army whose only purpose is the suppression of legitimate revolutionary spirit in the people. Corporations (owned and run by the new aristocracy, the Jews) are in bed with government, and laws are passed that favor corporate interests at the expense of public interests.

The similarities impressed the revisionist historian, Ernst Zundel, enough that Zundel has predicted that America will soon go through its own Weimar Republic, followed by its own Holocaust of Jews. I believe he is correct, although these things will no doubt take on a uniquely American facade.

Maybe Germanys problems were for starting and losing the war to end all wars?

[deleted]

lol, just like imperialism was the Jews idea m i rite?

僕はアメリカ人。それは、ドイツ語分からないと駒いませんよ。

セイグージオン、マーサーファかー！

You can't explain that.

Oh, that's nice; you guys think Obama makes us look better?

Frankly, I think Ruben was just having one of his epic rage fits. He got all butthurt five years ago when I commented that he needs to go to film school—or at least watch some online tutorials—before making trashy videos and putting them on the Internet. He just went totally ballistic and never forgave me since D: and loves writing incomprehensible insults about me.

Funny thing is other people have been less kind about calling his stuff trash (I at least wrote something constructive; not what I wrote just now because that was paraphrasing what I told him) and while he's gotten butthurt, he's never gone all postal like he did on me.

Edit He went Uwe Boll on my ass./edit

I was actually hoping to meet him face-to-face when I went to Duisburg last summer. Even sent him e-mails and messages (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) telling him the days I'd be in Duisburg.