Thread by @sunnshiiny

Some of the comments accompanying this article reveal how ignorant of history most people are.

Yes Nazis were evil. But they did pull Germany out of the Great Depression and punishing reparation payments thrust on them because of WW1.

https://twitter.com/cbcnews/status/1459385537094160385

They did it by building a war machine. Men & male youth were indoctrinated to venerate war & conquest. Much of the economy was based on preparing for war & expansion.

They also built infrastructure to modernize. The Autobahn & other infrastructure projects employed the people.

The economic theory used was autarky. Self sufficiency. Nazi Germany wasn’t a true autarky; they did permit investment by foreign investors.

Similar to contemporary conservatives, monopolies & cartels supported the regime for economic dominance.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_c…

Nazis also used slave labour. The criminally imprisoned or Jews in concentration camps were used to perform free labour.

Similar to how Temporary Foreign Workers and low income entry level jobs that pay less than minimum wage exist now. Some workers were devalued and abused.

The infamous Nazi slogan “work sets you free” or “arbeit macht frei” is frequently seen in Nazi concentration camps.

Funny how GOP Republicans and Canadian conservatives have embraced similar values and slogans, huh?

I agree that learning about the positive aspects of Nazi economy is dangerous in grade school. It’s appropriate the reference and material have been removed.

But learning about why so many fell for Nazi propaganda is a valuable lesson to prevent fascist uprisings in the future.

Maybe if more people were familiar with Nazi methods to win public favour, corporate support for monopolies and cartels, the effects of economic depression & insecurity on a nation’s citizenry, we might not have had neo Nazis take over conservative political parties so easily.

Teaching a five year old that you don’t take candy from strangers is basically the level of awareness needed for young children.

But unless you’ve been poor and destitute, starving and homeless, how can you empathize with those offered relief from those who would exploit them?

You can’t.

I’ve been poor, desperate and hungry. I know how difficult it is to stick to democratic principles when all you can think about is food, shelter & security.

Right about now you should be realizing these are the economic conditions being created in Alberta by UCP.

By refusing to address climate change, UCP is putting the economic security of Albertans reliant on the fossil fuel industry at severe risk. By removing alternative employment options and not retraining affected workers, Kenney is securing those worker’s loyalty in elections.

What about the people whose livelihoods depend on fossil fuel workers? Where do they live primarily? That’s right, in rural areas of Alberta. Restaurants, hotels, clothing stores, transportation, mechanical & technical support, banks. Basically the whole rural business community.

Their incomes are largely reliant on the incomes of extraction industry workers.

Something most Canadians (even urban Albertans) fail to understand adequately.

Oil & gas are an integral part of the Alberta economy. A shut down of FF means a threat to the entire rural economy.

That’s why rural citizens are so easy to sway to support UCP. The party members tell them what they want to hear & play on their fears. So does the limited availability of echo chamber of MSM (Postmedia, CTV, Fox News) and the promoted SM & network sites.

It’s not that hard to recognize the similarities between the economic devastation of the Great Depression and punitive war reparations in 1920’s-1930’s Germany and the modern economy in Alberta in which the demagogues are refusing to enable a transition.

People have worked to build financial equity in homes, businesses, communities and to foster relationships that maintain a way of life.

UCP is telling them climate change is a farce, the feds just want to destroy Alberta, and UCP will save them and bring back the boom economy.

When some slick despot travels all the way to their neck of the woods, and tells them he and only he can preserve that lifetime of labour, and all those elements they love about rural life, how do the desperate turn it down?

Studying fascism should be a required curriculum element in every grade.

We now know how easy it is to manipulate a vulnerable part of the citizenry. The question of how did Nazis manipulate citizens is answered.

Economic stability is a protective factor against fascism.

Every student needs to understand this dynamic as well as the mechanisms and tactics used by fascists to convince vulnerable and desperate citizens at risk of losing everything they own.

We need to teach our children how to recognize demagoguery, gaslighting & propaganda.

Because many in my generation understand fascism due to family who fought in WW2. But we were the last generation to have a direct link to those who saw the atrocities of WW2.

Today we intellectualize the atrocities and limit it to the Holocaust.

Nazis did horrific things.

In order to understand and recognize the debased, sadistic & depraved beliefs & values of Nazis, one needs to review what they did and how it was tolerated.

That’s how a society builds institutional security into the system.

Which Canada didn’t do after WW2.

The draft curriculum has been out for several months. Supposedly, several experts have combed through it. But it took Jewish organizations ever watchful eyes to recognize Nazi propaganda.

I highly doubt it’s the one and only example.

So back to the drawing board with the curriculum. It needs to be reviewed through a fascist propaganda seeker’s lens. Immediately.

How was this blatant attempt to indoctrinate our children with pro Nazi attitudes, beliefs and values missed by the curriculum experts?

Whatever the answer to that question, the curriculum needs to be reviewed with a fine tooth comb.

And the public needs to take the fascistic tendencies of UCP seriously.

All the doubters and naysayers need to STFU and get out of the way.

There is no denying it now.

UCP is a far right political front for fascists seeking to transform democracy into an authoritarian and libertarian dystopia. And they’re aiming indoctrination efforts at our children because they’re the most vulnerable.

It sucks being accurate. I take no pleasure in it. But perhaps those in doubt can look at how far back I started saying the word fascism. Because as an amateur historian I can recognize the signs of fascism. Easily.

We must teach our children & ourselves to recognize fascism.