'Mike', you say, 'Why do you keep on going on about the Nazis and fascism?'. Well, maybe it's time I sat down some of you chuckleheads and explained my reasoning.
Here it is: Conditions for their re-emergence are ripe. 1/
Here it is: Conditions for their re-emergence are ripe. 1/
The Nazis didn't suddenly come goose-stepping out of a Munich beer hall one day, Swastikas flying.
Well, no, actually, they did in 1923, BUT BEFORE THAT, they drew & came together from a range of Bavarian nationalist groups that all felt humiliated by Germany's WW1 defeat. 2/
Well, no, actually, they did in 1923, BUT BEFORE THAT, they drew & came together from a range of Bavarian nationalist groups that all felt humiliated by Germany's WW1 defeat. 2/
These days, we have our own surge in nationalist groups, particularly at the peripheries of 'Western Europe' - think Poland and Hungary, even Austria. Their rhetoric explicitly echoes that of many 1920s groups. 3/
In the years after WW1, European nationalist groups threw around all sorts of scapegoats for Germany's defeat - Bolsheviks, Bankers, Jews, you name it. The idea that their leadership led them there was unthinkable. This led to an age of conspiracy theories and plots. 4/
These days, with the arrival of the internet, social media, streaming video and *ahem* various state actors, the failures of leadership of various nations are glossed over (or, conversely magnified) by conspiracy theorists and polemicists. 5/
The Nazis made friends in high places very early. By the time of the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923, they already had newspapers & government figures on their side - essential when dealing with Hitler. He could have ended up back in Austria had it not been for a friendly judiciary! 6/
Today, newspapers aren't so important, but Far Right and fascist groups are given a huge hand by websites, social media and video outlets that disseminate their beliefs. They're also assisted by figures with government experience. 7/
The supposed degeneracy and excesses of the Weimar Republic were a drum that the Nazis beat on fiercely to bring the workers, business, churches and other groups on-side. Something had 'gone rotten' was the message. 8/
Today's Alt-Right are almost fanatically obsessed with the supposed 'downfall of the West', lamenting an age of civilization that really didn't exist, destroyed by feminists, migrants and 'The Left'. The drumbeat continues. 9/
The publication of 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion' at the turn of the 20th century magnified the antisemitism that was always extant in European society. The Nazis and their predecessors worked feverishly to create an overarching foe that MUST BE STOPPED. 10/
These days, a refugee crises (created by Western foreign policy) has been turned into a scapegoat by various well-funded actors who similarly see an arch-conspiracy at the hands of Islam to destroy 'the West'. 11/
One thing that we in 2018 don't have is a short distance b/w ourselves and total war. In Europe, there was less than 20 years between 'The War To End All Wars' in 1914 beginning & the Nazis in power - there was fierce early resistance to the Nazis, as the bloodshed was fresh. 12/
In 2018, we have almost 80 years distance from the greatest bloodshed the world has ever known. 80 years to obfuscate and distort. 80 years to forget. We have Holocaust deniers, revisions of Hitler's legacy, a cottage industry of apologists for Nazi Germany. 13/
Do I think I'm going to open the door tomorrow to the sound of jackboots? No. Do I think the rise of fascism in the anglosphere is imminent? Not yet. However, the temperature is rising, and we have decades of history to tell us what happens when things reach boiling point. /14
Educate yourself. Learn the signs of fascism. Understand exactly how the Nazis operated and the extent of their crimes. Know if and when that ranter on Twitter is feeding you the same ideas that led to nations in ruins. Read.
This is why I won't shut up about it. /FIN
This is why I won't shut up about it. /FIN
