@ned
#USpol #Rascism #Fascism #History

That has been the fascists' standard operating procedure ever since the #ThirdReich, as artfully described in #MartinNiemöller's poem #FirstTheyCame:

https://mastodon.social/@HistoPol/110952620112236816

It is not original thinking, though. The great military strategist, #SunTzu postulated in his principle of #Subversion thousands of years ago:

"5. SPREAD DISUNITY AND DiSPUTE AMONG THE CITIZENS;" (#TheArtOfWar).)

https://mastodon.social/@HistoPol/111866713457556691

The#NextCivilWar is already in full flight.

@pixelcode It is equally as interesting to learn about people's formative stories as it is to learn about their redemption stories.

Should we all be so lucky as to learn from other people's experiences instead of having to experience hell ourselves before we do so.

Germans under Nazi rule (1933-1945) got plenty of hints about what was to happen, but the full reality of the holocaust (6+ million German and occupied territories' minority and opposition civilians systematically murdered) and lebensraum deaths only began to sink in after the Allied occupation of the "reich".

I grew up respecting the reformed post-war Germany (with close family friends in medicin and law there), but after the fall of the Berlin wall I grew increasingly disillusioned with the German industrialists who had never made amends with their collaboration with the Nazis, but instead sought to collaborate with the Chinese and Russian neo-national socialists instead.

The question Germany needs to ask itself today is not whether pastor Niemoller was too late to act humanely, but why its industrialists were never made to face their responsibility for the Nazi crimes they actively supported.

Holocaust denialism is a crime in Germany, but apparently lobbying the German goverment to deny genocides in partner countries like the People's Republic of China is only good for business.

Most other countries, even Israel, are guilty of the same collaboration , but perhaps Germany could lead the way in showing some moral spine and leadership in prioritizing basic human decency over profit.

The complete poem reads as follows.

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then 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 out for me

Jim Stewartson reminds us of the witness of German pastor Martin Niemöller, whose famous poem about those who refused to stand up to the Nazis and speak out against their inhumanity is now a classic.

As Stewartson notes, Niemöller supported the Nazis and welcomed Hitler as a strong, manly savior figure appointed by God, until Hitler began to try to take over the German Protestant church. Then Niemöller spoke out and was sent to Dachau.

#MartinNiemöller #Hitler
/2

https://www.mind-war.com/p/niemoller-nation

1. First NTSC television made people ignorant and focused only on entertainment that emotionally titillated them. Fox News went online October 7, 1996.

2. The Apple iPhone was on sale in July 2007, the Apple iPad in 2010. People abandoned common ground and understanding in favor of custom choice in echo-chambers that gave people a very limited view of history and the world.

"and I did not speak out—because I was not a"

____
_
#MartinNiemöller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_...

"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."

#MartinNiemöller, former Nazi sympathizer and concentration camp survivor

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists

@dangillmor
@silentLurker

@faraiwe@mastodon.world

I guess you know #MartinNiemöller's poem, too:

"First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then 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 out for me" 1) ...

@aka_quant_noir @hannu_ikonen

They *never* stop with one group. Sit on your hands while it doesn't affect you if you want. By the time it does, it will be too damned late. #MartinNiemöller #Fascism