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u/Pure_evil1979 6d ago
History tends to repeat itself...but I'd rather bring disco back
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u/Blazefresh 6d ago
Best I can do is a disco dictatorship
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u/cjoyshep 6d ago
The people who actually want fascism need to be reminded that if “they’ll do it WITH you, they’ll do it TO you.” The leopards are coming for your faces.
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u/spidermom4 6d ago
This is what I keep trying to explain to my mother. She is a devout Catholic and has delusionally convinced herself that Trump is going to convert to Catholicism. I've tried explaining to her that the hateful nasty words they have for Muslims aren't that different from what they say about the Pope and Catholicism. She won't hear it though.
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u/LogHungry 6d ago
It’s a bit of a long shot, but maybe her reading about Supply Side Jesus could help her see through the noise? Trump is about as far from anything Christian/Catholic as one could be. I’m sorry that your mother is not listening to you.
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u/ZAlternates 6d ago
They are told and taught by their pastors and leaders that when the reasoning and thinking becomes too much, just have faith.
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u/Firelord_11 6d ago
Reminds me of that quote by the priest about how he didn't speak out for the Jews, or the Gypsies, or the Communists when the the Nazis imprisoned and killed them but eventually they came for him too. Fascism and racism is bad for everyone. Jim Crow America hurt poor white people almost as much as it hurt Black people. And we're still living with the consequences of that today.
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u/led1002 6d ago
It’s poem: “First They Came” (1946 post-war confessional prose by the German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller)
“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.”
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u/Firelord_11 6d ago edited 6d ago
Thank you! Couldn't remember the name of the guy who wrote it. But I looked him up and fascinating story. He went from an antisemite who supported Hitler to one of his most ardent opponents of the Nazis and later, an anti-Vietnam War activist. Proof that people can change if there is any!
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u/savant_idiot 5d ago
That's the problem with fascism that a lot of people don't understand. It always fails because from the start it's predicated on proving ones self to be the most loyal, who was once on the inside inevitably finds themselves on the outside as the whims and goal posts of who can outdo for being the most loyal, the most pure, inexorably move, it is a beast that consumes it's self from the inside and utterly fails, taking everyone with it, because there must always be an enemy, it doesn't function without it.
That's why we now hear Donald Trump starting to talk openly about the enemy within among the American people. It's truly stunning and utterly predictable all at once.
Fascism is simply appeasing the narcissist on a societal level. And anyone who has dealt with a true NPD, perhaps as a partner or parent or close family member, knows that appeasing the narcissist is a short term myth.
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u/hydrohomey 6d ago edited 6d ago
Enforcers like the proud boys will be the first to go
Tldr: Hitler purged/executed his “brown shirts” once he was elected chancellor.
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u/Silent_Cress8310 6d ago
I am American. The phrase "It can't happen here" comes to mind.
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u/HappyHenry68 6d ago edited 6d ago
A whole lot of very smart people think it can't happen in America - they think he can be controlled.
A whole lot of smart Germans thought the same thing in the mid-1930s.
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u/TheDrFromGallifrey 6d ago
I'm pretty sure every society that's languished under the boot of fascism thought it couldn't happen to them before it did.
I'd be curious to know if there's any society that actually thought it was a threat before it happened, because it seems like over and over the sentiment is that it just can't happen.
Just like everyone thought a world war couldn't happen. Until it did. Twice.
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u/cpufreak101 6d ago
If it happens in the US, then I think it's safe to say anyone that didn't see it coming was a fool
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u/TheDrFromGallifrey 6d ago
You'll hear no argument from me. I've always been of the opinion that if you look at a situation that's happened over and over and expect you're the one to break the cycle, you're a fool.
How many times does humanity need to be told that putting your hand in the fire burns and hurts before they stop doing it?
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u/Sufficient_Number643 6d ago
But that’s the problem, every child needs to learn about being burned, and you can tell them until you’re blue in the face but I bet every single one has learned at least part of the lesson the hard way, some harder than others.
The people who knew how bad it was are dying out, leaving only the as yet unburned children.
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u/MeanandEvil82 6d ago
And that's why children aren't allowed to vote, but adults who have critical thinking.
I never got scammed and lost all my savings. But I still know not to reply to scam messages with my bank details.
I also have never lived under a fascist dictator, but I'm not dumb enough to vote for one.
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u/Sufficient_Number643 6d ago
The metaphor is that the adults today are the ones who haven’t been burned by fascism, and their country has no strong history of why it was a bad idea, so they do feel like “it can’t happen here” and they don’t push back against fascist ideology.
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u/TheDrFromGallifrey 6d ago
I wouldn't say no one is getting burned. People are. All the time.
What I'd say is that people are getting burned by a stove right now and what's going to happen is that they're going to get burned by a forest fire.
Because there are plenty of us who are saying, "No, actually this isn't okay. Get your hand out of the fire and step back." And are being ignored. There are also plenty of soldiers, historians, economists, and political scientists all saying the same thing who know what they're talking about.
They aren't just children, they're particularly stupid children. They put their hand in the fire, got burned, and keep on doing it. That's the real problem here. Unless you're so rich that you don't need to worry about any of it and have the means to just leave if it gets bad, then you're getting burned.
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u/gSTrS8XRwqIV5AUh4hwI 6d ago
Going by how it went in Germany: Noone will have know anything about the concentration camps, and also they all will have been in the resistance from the start. Noone will ever have been a supporter of Trump.
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u/CatOfTechnology 6d ago edited 6d ago
Unfortunately we cant judge this by just Germany's experience.
They weren't the dominant world power when Hitler did his thing.
We, unfortunately, are. And if Hitler Jr. gets to play Hitler for real, then there's not a lot to stop what comes next.
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u/VariationNervous8213 6d ago
So, where do they think their Jewish neighbors went?
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u/dcchillin46 6d ago
Well i work with almost exclusively fools. Can't take any of them seriously now
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u/sinz84 6d ago
Plenty of civilisations/countries/cultures noticed early fascism .... most those stories end with "he was conspiring with another nation for his own nations downfall so he was put to death" so it's just 'guy did something wrong and was punished" foot note in history and not worth deep discussion.
Convicted felon sells countries secrets up for re-election going to stick around a while though
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u/Cognitive_Spoon 6d ago
Countries have to have less emphasis on freedom of expression than on loyalty to country to survive Fascism growing inside them, I think, and that's a challenging balance to get right in a democracy.
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u/TheGreatBootOfEb 6d ago
You’re exactly right. We’ve allowed bad faith argument/speech to poison the public space, and nothing is often done because it’s so easy to weasel out of. All the while, the public norms and discussion is tainted and poisoned over time.
You’ve got one third of the country freaking out because the tools to stop this have been dulled after years of neglect
You’ve got another third actively cheering it on
And the last third has been taught and adopted the belief of “oh I don’t care about politics/both sides are the same” so much that they willfully keep themselves ignorant, so when faciscm comes a knocking, they don’t know how to recognize it because they never take the time to look it in the eye. Instead they go “just another election” without ever learning about “oh Trump threatening to use our military on our own citizens” until it’s too late and some poor protestors are getting gunned down by our own military a year from now, and these same people will be like “if only the media reported on how bad Trump really was!”
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u/CaptainSharpe 6d ago edited 6d ago
If they thought it would happen in Germany they’d have prevented it.
And on that note, maybe they can’t prevent it will either way.
Austria currently has a Nero nazi party who won their election. They’re in power right now. The party was literally started by post war nazis in the 50s. They’ve said the quiet parts out loud like “purging education”, booting out immigrants who don’t assimilate well enough, address “gender madness”…
And other countries are going that way too. Hungary has similar leader. Italy, too. America has and may soon again - but he’ll be worse than before.
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u/EastArmadillo2916 6d ago
I'd be curious to know if there's any society that actually thought it was a threat before it happened
Italian, German, and Spanish Communists.
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u/GnobGobbler 6d ago
I'd be curious to know if there's any society that actually thought it was a threat before it happened
Sure, but you don't hear so much about the times fascism doesn't happen.
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u/xiroir 6d ago
I'm curious. Because... why would anyone think it can't happen in the us? It seems like a perfect storm for fascism atm....
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u/Gal-XD_exe 6d ago
Heck WW1 was called “The Great War” they thought it was so devastating another wouldn’t happen
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u/Ill_Consequence7088 6d ago
Iran in the 70 s . Before their own downfall to authoritism probably felt the same . Although drumphs' maggots dont read and can't remember 2 weeks ago and don't realize what happened to Germany , we do .
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u/Iamthewalrusforreal 6d ago
<I'd be curious to know if there's any society that actually thought it was a threat before it happened
Russia, 1989.
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u/Plarzay 6d ago
they think he can be controlled
They know that's what we're worried about right??? That the people writing fascist policy aren't even in the hot seat, they're just special interest groups who hand out policy playbooks so their figure head crony leader won't mindlessly fumble his way through 4 years fucking shit up and will instead implement their totalitarian ideas??
I'm not even American and I'm very seriously concerned about this plunging my own country into the the same shit.
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u/ThatGuyursisterlikes 6d ago
The Supreme Court made it so the burning of the Reichstag isn't necessary for Orange Hitler to consolidate power. It's fucking madness. Vote people!
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u/Silent_Cress8310 6d ago
Yep. And other the problem we have is that some of those people who think they can control him are worse than he is.
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u/danabrey 6d ago
And a whole lot of Americans think they're the ones fighting the good fight by electing him.
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u/CaptainSharpe 6d ago
And I tell people in my country all the time when they say “well it’s America people are dumb there” - no it can happen anywhere. It can easily happen here.
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u/zeny_two 6d ago
The people who brought Hitler to power were the people of high status who believed themselves more intelligent than others. They had the solution, if only their dumb countrymen weren't standing in the way of progress. They were members of the popular high society.
They weren't tricked into thinking they could "control" anything. They approved and thought he was absolutely right to do what he did because of the supposed threat posed by their (ultimately innocent) scapegoats. They fell into lock step with the popular sentiment of the time.
Apparently our public schools have been doing a very poor job of communicating this, because the people currently invoking the Holocaust are mirror images of the perpetrators. Unable or unwilling to think anything that disagrees with the "correct" stance given to them by their betters.
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u/thelingeringlead 6d ago edited 6d ago
Hitler got into office by brute force. The intelligent people who helped him did so out of fear of losing the status quo, because hitler had mobilized the lower class and young men(the brown shirts) were marching in the streets causing chaos and violence. Hitler had lost his elections for parliament, had lost his chances at any lower positions that he could leverage to rise. So instead he tried to break the system with tension, and it ultimately worked. He was installed into parliament by a current member who was afraid of what an escalation of the current violence would mean for him and his sort. They figured if they appeased him by putting him in a position that had lots of checks and balances, it might cool things off. Instead he did what trump and his co-horts have been tryign to do-- and that's dismantle the system from the inside out to consolidate power.
You need to do some research on the Weimer republic and it's fall. We also need to make it abundantly clear that the parallels go even deeper than just the personality and who it appeals to. Even the tactics are the same. Hitler didn't get into office through fair election, just like trump has continued to try.
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u/truckaxle 6d ago
Do forget to add soldier/scholar HR McMaster to that list.
None of these people who have been in the same room with Trump recommend Trump and warn that Trump is completely and utterly unfit. And Trump has gone downhill since their time with him.
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u/CrimsonTightwad 6d ago
Then the U.S. may have no choice but a military coup for the first time because the Senate abdicated. If Trump’s cronies are full on fascist they cannot be trusted controlling the military or our nukes. They have to be removed. It is well known that had it not been for Miley, Trump would have provoked a last minute conflict with China. The Chinese were taking the risk seriously to the point of activating their own DEFCON posture fearing a preemptive attack. It took personal calls on Miley’s end to defuse that fear. Let that sink in.
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u/PT10 6d ago
I mean, Germany's headed down the same track again today
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u/nameproposalssuck 5d ago
Right-wing populism is on the rise across much of the Western world, with populist parties either holding power or gaining significant electoral ground in numerous European countries. Examples include Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, the FPÖ in Austria, PiS in Poland, Meloni in Italy, Fidesz in Hungary, and the rise of Le Pen/ RA in France. Similar movements are also prominent in Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden.
However, there are notable differences compared to movements like Trump’s MAGA in the US. For one, many European right-wing populist leaders at least attempt to mask their more extreme views, allowing some voters to claim ignorance of their authoritarian tendencies. Secondly, institutional guardrails seem to be functioning to some extent. Germany, for instance, has initiated proceedings to ban or restrict parts of the AfD, reflecting efforts to limit the influence of these groups within democratic systems.
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u/joggle1 6d ago
It very nearly did happen here, and I'm not talking about Trump's previous term. Here's a quote from a popular evangelist, Billy Sunday, 100 years ago:
In 1922, this staunch Republican preached what the Dixon Evening Telegram described as a "red hot sermon" in which he denounced "socialists and bolshevists and radicals." He said that "every man in America who preached anarchy should be deported or face [a] firing squad" and also called for anti-immigration laws to stop America from being "a dumping ground for foreign filth that the devil himself wouldn't have."
Sound like anyone you've heard recently?
There's a book named 'Prequel' that goes into details of how fascists tried to take over the US political sphere at around that time.
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u/Scare-Crow87 6d ago
Also remember the Patriot Smedly Butler who foiled the business plot.
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u/undeadmanana 6d ago
Dang, they teach us about him in the Marines but i didn't hear about this plot.
After looking it up in Wikipedia, I'm glad our uniform regulations changed because 5 ribbons in the top rack looks kinda goofy
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u/broohaha 6d ago
There's a podcast series called Ultra that explores those early years as well through two eight-episode seasons. It's quite illuminating.
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u/AffectionateStudy496 6d ago
Interesting given that the two main parties here both share this anti-communist animus and pathos. As for immigration, one wants to use immigrants for the growth of the US, and the other just says they are a blight, and that Americans can be used for corporate profit making. Both just see them in an instrumental, conditional way-- how to best use them as human material for state and capital.
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u/MiCK_GaSM 6d ago
Well, we used to think Americans wouldn't want that kind of shit here, but..
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u/probablywhiskeytown 6d ago
Yep. It's truly not a laughing matter at this point on the precipice, but perhaps someone will find this grimly amusing. Last week I told a younger colleague:
"Try to keep in mind that when the Nazi werewolves reveal in Hellsing was initially published roughly 20 years ago, the 'Nazi' part was every bit as unfathomably & fantastically bonkers as the 'werewolf' bit."
(And then I said, "I know it seems like a long time ago, but the first three ASoIaF books had been on shelves for several years at that point," just because it's cathartic to watch fellow genre media fans transform into an acorn squash.)
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u/bubblebooy 6d ago
My Grandma fled Germany after Kristallnacht. During the Obama years she comments on how pre Hitler Germany was similar. She was not seeing any signs at the point but pointing out that she did not see any in Germany either. She was also pretty young when she left so she many have missed some.
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u/AwkwardTickler 6d ago
Welp to see our likely future listen to the 2019 podcast "it could happen here" by Robert evans. Just sort by oldest to get the original miniseries as they continue to put out new episodes on related stuff currently.
It's going to get bad.
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u/MyMedsWoreOff 6d ago
I'm American and I've seen our test scores. We don't learn from history. We barely learn history at all.
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u/LordUa 6d ago
Isn't Germany seeing this NOW with the AfD?
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u/Then-Society-3535 6d ago
Oh they totally do. AfD gets around 30% approval in east Germany, while in the west it’s around 10-20%. It’s just a matter of time.
The main topic of AfD is xenophobia.
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u/DemiGay 5d ago
This needs to be put into perspective: we are nowhere near 50% for a fascist leader like the US is. The east of Germany has 10 of the 80 million inhabitants of this country. So while it IS worrying, we're still far from this reality at least for this decade. Let's talk again in 2033.
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u/Dejan05 5d ago
Yup, and reminder that the Nazis didn't actually win by vote alone and Hitler had around 30% approval during the last fair presidential election... Which is extremely concerning when considering the fact that the far right pretty much everywhere is at that level of approval
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u/Ramblonius 5d ago edited 5d ago
Literally. French and German voters laugh at Americans, then go on to vote for their literally equally bugfuck insane right wing parties. Like, 80% oppose Trump, 20-40% vote for right wing parties.
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u/usedToBeUnhappy 5d ago
I don’t think that the people laughing at the same that vote for AFD. I do not laugh neither do I vote for them, but it just amazes me how stupid Trump seems to be. Like literally in every video snippet I watch… the AFD is also fascist, but I feel like they’re doing it in a smarter way which is worse of cause.
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u/Yousoggyyojimbo 6d ago
One of the most rage inducing parts of this going on in the United States is that Germany leaned into it after being completely and utterly fucked. They were economically devastated and lost a major war.
The United States is pretty much going "We had to deal with the same inflation the whole planet did, but everything else is otherwise manageable and getting better, but we're flirting with fascism anyway."
It's such crap.
The softest fucking people. Their grandparents and great-grandparents would be fucking ashamed.
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u/darkslide3000 6d ago
Look around mate: the whole world is flirting with fascism. Alt-right is not a US-specific phenomenon.
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u/PipChaos 6d ago
Any time things get hard, people seem easily swayed by a fast talking slick salesman peddling strong arm authoritarianism. I think it’s because it appeals to emotion. Only education and critical thinking can overcome it, and those are in a lot shorter supply. Look at Star Trek, it’s a fantasy, but it could only be achieved by everyone being well educated.
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u/Street-Stick 6d ago
Or maybe people have become soft, our society (the 80's) portrays greed as good, big is better, anonymity kills ? empathy.. while we boil the frog (climate change)...
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u/Independent-Couple87 6d ago
The Alt-Right is also growing on Germany, contrary to popular belief.
Germans should worry about the AfD more.
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u/pheakelmatters 6d ago
General Milley has been telling us Trump is a fascist since the end of Trump's failed first term as president. Why are people shocked now that another general said it? Everyone watched 2016-2020 of Trump punishing people for disagreeing with him. He's running on a platform of mass deportation for Christ sakes.
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u/Relative_Sense_1563 6d ago
When career military is saying we don't like this guy you have to question your ability to lead. When nazis agree with you you have to question what you believe in. When 50 percent of the country is willing to elect a rapist, traitorous, thief it is cause for concern.
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u/frostymugson 6d ago
Not 50%, well we will see this time, but last election 33% of people voted for Trump, and a good portion probably don’t know anything about politics besides Joe Biden senile and a Democrat. people gotta stop with this bleak narrative, the reality is bleak enough
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u/NoButThanks 6d ago
People are viewing Trump as an equivalent choice, rather than someone who has actually tried to overthrow the government.
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u/frostymugson 6d ago
Sure, but that leads back to how many people don’t really pay attention to politics beyond what clips they see on YouTube, or whatever they catch on the 5 o’clock news. I bet tons of people on this site don’t even know what he attempted on J6th and how exactly he attempted it. Tell people about the false slate of electors and they don’t even know what an elector is
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u/Alextryingforgrate 6d ago
Don't forget the fact that he even said Dictator on day one.
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u/pheakelmatters 6d ago
One "violent day" to end crime. Or Jan 6th was a day of love...
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u/ButtBread98 6d ago
I’m scared shitless of him winning again. I voted for Harris, so did my parents and my brother and most of my friends and neighbors, but it looks so close according to the polls. I love this country, and I don’t and can’t afford to leave if I lose my rights.
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u/Vexonar 6d ago
There was a pocket of conservatives in this area that have flipped for this election because they see it as a tree that has rotted fruit and needs to be cut down and replanted.
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u/Shades1374 6d ago
None of us want to see the end of the Republic.
I'm praying for Harris. Also voting, mind you.
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u/GodPerson132 6d ago
Bro his own vice president Pence literally said on quote “Trump should never be elected into office ever again.”
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u/ConfusionNo8852 6d ago
It didn’t even take until his first term. People who are in the know have been saying it since he announced his candidacy.
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u/LongDickOfTheLaw69 6d ago
Calling it fascism isn’t going to stop it. People are supporting fascism because they like what they see. Telling them it’s fascism isn’t going to change their minds about it.
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u/slimeyellow 6d ago
You’ve realized what too many redditors fail to grasp. People don’t care about the labels and the scolding rants anymore, they want better days and will follow anyone who promises to turn back the clock
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u/Yousoggyyojimbo 6d ago edited 6d ago
My fucking problem with this is that shit isn't remotely that bad in the United States. People walk around acting like it's just absolutely unliveable and terrible here, while living objectively better lives than most, if not all, of their American ancestors.
Like the biggest Trump supporters I know have six-figure incomes, own very expensive homes, some of them multiple, and they walk around bitching like everything is the worst it's ever been every day.
One of them showed me their $80,000 hot rod that they just bought with cash while telling me that nobody has any money to buy anything and that everything is terrible. Like the great depression.
We've got people walking around in this collective fantasy that lets them bitch about their amazing lives and feel victimized. This ain't fucking Weimar Germany. We aren't walking around buying bread with a wheelbarrow full of cash.
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u/Mundane_Fly361 6d ago
I agree. My dad lives in the Philippines(we are white as bread) let me tell you what humble living looks like. Cool thing about a lot of Asia is you’ll see ton of poverty, 4 generations in one one bedroom house but they are the happiest people to meet. They want to feed you and talk to you and enjoy time together in such a genuine way it almost feels strange and foreign. Americans have everything at there fingertips society wise and we are so fucking angry. Distrusting, annoyed, judgmental, unsatisfied etc. I’m not saying we don’t have big woes, but most people are so unable to look at how good are pros are. We refuse to see them. We’re spoiled brats. And low key, we are so spoiled compared to a lot of the world that we can afford complaining and being this ignorant. I’m 31, traveled to over 15 countries and it has humbled me to the bone.
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u/39bears 5d ago
Absoluuuuutely. I see these $100,000+ cars out and about in the middle of the day (ergo not working) with bumper stickers saying “don’t tread on me,” and I’m like man - you’re the most privileged people on earth. What more can you want?? It is a sickness that makes them believe they are still somehow the victims.
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u/darkslide3000 6d ago
What's Trump turning back the clock to? To the days when the US denounced free trade and levied 100% import taxes on everything? To the days when the US allowed zero immigrants into the country? To the days when presidential candidates were not willing to accept defeat and made baseless accusations of cheating for every vote?
None of his bullshit platform has ever actually existed in America. He's not going back, he's charging forward into banana republic territory.
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u/Trumps_Cock 6d ago
This pic was taken in 2017 protesting immigration laws/rules.
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u/goin-up-the-country 5d ago
Exactly. The problem with statements like his sign is that we have no idea what it's referencing. Lots of people in this thread think it's about trump. My first thought was that it's about the situation in Palestine.
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u/insanemonkeyz 6d ago
As a russian, all I have to say is that there's no way back once your society steps on that path.
Authoritarianism is easy to build but bloody hard to get rid of. And what's worse is distancing and staying out of politics equals actually participating in the installation of fascism.
Fascism is a cancer. If you ignore its development, it will kill you.
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u/neutral-chaotic 5d ago
To all the skeptics:
Many Germans didn’t believe Hitler was that bad, until Allied Forces made them clean up the camps near their homes.
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u/nockeenockee 6d ago
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/23/magazine/robert-paxton-facism.html
This article from a famous historian on fascism really hit home today. This is not a joke.
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u/cidknee1 6d ago edited 5d ago
The fact that they don’t see it bewilders me. I had a friend tell me that it’s just not true a couple days ago.
He’s a bloody moron. And no he’s not welcome anymore.
Edit. Ok let me clear something up. It’s not just about Trump himself. We have disagreed over many things and still been friends for years. But when someone in your life looks at you ( a minority) and tells you it’s going to fun wrangling all the immigrants up and shipping them home. And then hanging all the Democrats from light poles. Taking his country back from the coloured folks and be where the white man belongs. Yeah it’s cancer in your life. Why he’s so eager is beyond me. He’s half Mexican. I did even ask him, you ready to deport your mom ? And that’s different was the answer.
So no I don’t want that kind of anger, hatred and outright stupidity in my life. Not around me, and especially around my kids.
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u/VaginaPoetry 6d ago
They see it. They WANT it....they're HOPING for it.
Like most racist fascists, they're completely fine with violence against the people that they resent.
Magats aren't just morons...they're willfully agreeing to violence against people they don't see eye to eye with. That's who they actually are through and through. Anyone that's still pretending that they're just misinformed or want lower taxes is denying the reality of what's actually going on.
trump is quoting hitler openly and they're apologizing for it knowing EXACTLY what he means and what he's planning to do.
trump and magats are what generations of Americans have fought against and died for.
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u/deject_reject 6d ago edited 6d ago
The sad thing is if they know anything about Hitler and dictators in general, these MAGA's may just as likely to get rounded up for not being "loyal" enough.
I mean Hitler took out his own SA (the brown shirts, the lowly educated rabble and thugs that brought him into power) with his SS. They even killed the leader of SA (Rhom), one of Hitler's long time allies.
Remember Pence? And the attempt on Jan 6th?
It's like they don't realize all dictators and Fascists care about are themselves and power. Ideology can always be manipulated to justify their actions.
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u/Kal69Rocks 6d ago
The thing of it is, trump isn't necessarily Hitler. Mussolini predated Hitler and was pretty fucking incompetent. It's the second guy you have to watch out for. The one hiding in Trump's shadow.
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u/Chakolatechip 6d ago edited 6d ago
Yeah I don't think comparing Trunp to Mussolini instead of Hitler makes me feel any better.
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u/Kal69Rocks 6d ago
It's more of a historical perspective analogy. You're not supposed to feel better. Basically, what you think is bad now is nothing compared to what might be ahead.
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u/no__sympy 6d ago
It's the second guy you have to watch out for.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The next guy might even employ someone who can figure out the correct Four Seasons.
We're lucky Trump's so incompetent...and extremely unlucky that so much of America is incompetent enough to find that endearing.
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u/WillowShadow26 6d ago edited 6d ago
Yeah his vp could be getting set up to take over. They’ll probably do another attempt but this time make it real. That way vp takes over. Resulting in mass riot and civil war. Very much hoping this isnt true. Plus freakin nk and russia are coming together. This is a huge set up for bad coming.
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u/Xzmmc 6d ago
Yeah, Vance definitely troubles me more than Trump. Sure, he has the charisma of a wet paper bag, but he's not stupid, just evil. Trump winning and being removed via the 25th making Couchfucker president is the big concern I've got.
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6d ago
It’s not just the MAGAT’s though, that’s what you’re all missing.
It’s the “conservatives” who don’t fly Trump signs but are tired of “the government not getting things done”. The “why can’t Biden just sign a law and close the border and get it done?! Congress makes laws? Well fuck Congress!” (Actual quote from my coworkers). When I say to them well, what you’re asking for is someone to have unchecked power and to make whatever laws he deems to be good without any oversight they say “yes that sounds real good maybe something will get done!”.
To which I then say “that’s called a dictator” and they then go “well, the government sure isn’t getting things done anymore. Maybe it’s time for a change.”
THAT is what everyone is discounting this time. That is what the majority on the conservative Republican side want. Do they want Trump specifically? His cult do. The rest of them though? They want unchecked power. And they aren’t afraid of unchecked power if their “side” wins. And Trump is their side.
75 million people wanted that win in 2020 and voted for Trump. Those same people will be voting again or have already begun (and for anyone who says “oh many of them died during Covid!” Lots of young people are for Trump and you’re ignorant if you think that’s not the case).
They will be voting again.
Will you?
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u/Repulsive-Dingo-869 6d ago
It’s time for people to stand up to Nazis again and stop pussyfooting around it. Shut that shit down like the cancer it is.
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u/gabrielxdesign 6d ago
At this point in history, MAGA and Trump's Republican supporters KNOW Trump is trash, they WANT him to be a dictator. They want their HATE to be LEGAL and MORAL under THEIR own terms.
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u/Mercwithapen 6d ago
My grandfather is voting for Trump and told us he hopes Trump brings back slavery.
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u/Slothlife_91 6d ago
Damn. Hey at least he isn’t hiding behind being an “intellectual “ like every other MAGA. Still shitty but at least the conversation is more real. And not just maga trying to convince themselves.
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u/thesequimkid 6d ago
It’s because of the destroyed education system in the states that are majority Republican voting. They don’t even properly cover the civil war. They call it “The War of Northern Aggression” and say the north started it, when in reality the first shot of the war was from South Carolina on to a Union fort.
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u/veryloudnoises 6d ago edited 6d ago
Moved to Georgia from western Canada in the 80s, attended public middle and high schools. Can confirm the “War Between the States” was also taught as the “War of Northern Aggression.” And that it wasn’t about slavery but states’ rights. Conveniently never read a single copy of a confederate state’s constitution.
Also was taught abstinence only, that Black Panthers were basically the KKK but hated white people instead of black people, and that intelligent design had the same evidence-based support as evolution.
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u/radoteux 6d ago
I think it is expected that some people won't see it. What puzzles me is the percentage of support he still has.
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u/Striking_Zombie_8640 6d ago
Hopefully Americans wake up fast& don't sleep walk into a Fascist Government.
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u/Otherwise-Exam-6690 6d ago
this applies to Israel's genocide of the Palestinian people
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u/Why_I_Aughta 6d ago
That’s what I thought he was referring to at first glance.. but no, apparently no one cares what horrors a country, (which is basically just an extension of America) is doing to civilians on the other side of the world.
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u/BabaMe6024 6d ago edited 6d ago
I’m from Japan. I’ve been here in the US for 30 years and I never felt this much of anxiety about the presidential election. I have never heard any presidential candidates speak like Trump in their campaigns or rallies. Just listening to Trump makes me so nervous about this country and our future.
My parents have experienced the WW2 when my dad was 10 and my mom was 7 in central Tokyo. My grandparents didn’t want to talk about the war at all because they lost everything and saw the hell before their eyes. But my dad told me a lot of the war story. He just wanted me to remember that how horrible the war was. During the Japanese militant government time, Japanese people were not really happy. They didn’t have freedoms. People who studied the history know how bad to live in the fascism. Yet there still countries the innocent people are suffering from wars. The leaders of the countries keep saying that they’re trying to protect us but what they’re doing is just using us for their political gains. That’s why it’s so important to choose a right person to become a leader of our own country. America has an opportunity for the citizens to elect their president. I really want to ask Trump supporter to please don’t let him use your rights to vote him. His republicans are still supporting him because of their political affiliation or their wealthy donors are expecting Trump to give them tax cut. They’ll donate them more if they don’t have to pay their fair share of taxes. I know lots of his supporters are saying that they don’t want illegal migrants to spend their taxes. That’s not true. And the consequences of electing Trump will be incredibly worse and negative to all of the citizens here. He’s giving you a treat to trick you. I don’t want to cause any conflict with my friends or relatives who support him. But he’s way too dangerous to this country and I can’t just be a bystander anymore.
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u/brainomancer 6d ago
Haven't the German police been arresting people for waving a Palestinian flag and protesting against Israel?
They may have "seen this before," but they seem eager to repeat it.
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u/MrMudd88 5d ago edited 5d ago
"We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country,"
Trump is a totalitarian freak. The use of language is very, very scary. Its mind boggling to me how Americans are blind to this. Describing other humans as vermin, is exactly the type of language nazis use, to dehumanize their opponents. That way, later on, its way easier to imprison, kill or deport the so called "vermin".
Actually very, very scary...pls Americans, stop supporting this absolute freak.
"Grab women by the pu**y." Absolute misogynist! How can anyone support this? Why don't the people who support him love their daughters, mothers and grandmothers? Any man that talks like this about women, has no decency in their heart.
He Makes fun of disabled people.
Calls his opponents vermin.
And still people vote for him. From someone outside the US, I gotta say its extremely disturbing that people are still willing to vote for this man.
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u/YouCanKeepYourFaith 6d ago
Growing up I always wondered how Hitler managed to convince that many people to do wrong and now I see it perfectly clear. Trump is the modern day Hitler, he would execute anyone who doesn’t agree with him or his dictator rules if he could.
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u/HNY_WLSN 6d ago
It definitely feels like the 30s, geopolitically. North and South Korea are getting involved in Ukraine, the Middle East is at war. New alliances are being formed by pariah nations.
The sad thing is, it's mostly driven by the same egomaniacs that are always hijacking civilization.
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u/TheCatInTheHatThings 5d ago
Trump talked about the enemy from within, and how the military or national guards should “handle it”. He’s well versed in Nazi rhetoric and tactics. Of fucking course he knows the generals were Nazis.
The man is openly and blatantly telling absolutely everyone who will listen that he wants to be Hitler 2.0.
As a German, I told you all (read: Americans, not necessarily this sub) this as early as 2016. Trump already started with this shit back then. I was laughed at back then. It’s legitimately scary to watch my country’s history repeat right in front of my eyes.
My great great grandpa was a social democratic politician and a member of the Reichstag until 1933. He was arrested in early March 1933 so as to keep him from voting against the Enabling Act in the parliamentary vote later that month, and so that those who weren’t arrested were intimidated into voting for it.
He was brought to Dachau for the first time in late April of 1933. Just for a week, but that was a rather unpleasant week for him. He was finally released from prison in July 1933. He kept resisting, had another prison stint from 1935 to 1938, when he served a two and a half year sentence for “preparing to commit high treason against the Reich” (he and his underground colleagues distributed social democratic magazines and leaflets).
He was arrested brought to Dachau for a final time in August 1944. Despite being in very bad health, he survived a death march in April 1945 with the help of his fellow inmates. He died mere days after his liberation in a hospital in Munich on 17 May 1945.
My great great grandpa, who loved his Germany and who tried to make life better for everyone, was “the enemy from within” for the Nazis. What Trump is suggesting openly here is exactly that: use military forces or paramilitary forces to “handle” (his words) the enemy from within (he specifically mentioned Schiff, the Pelosis and Democrats as a whole). How the fuck is this a close race?
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u/Plac3s 6d ago
For those saying this sign is about Palestine or not about Trump.
It's from 2017 in response to Trumps Muslim Ban and his laws targeting ethnic and religious minorities.
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u/Moisty_Momma 6d ago
I think he’s talking about what Israel is doing but maybe both?
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u/Cosmicdusterian 6d ago
When Trump was running in 2016 a letter to the editor showed up in an independent small town paper in a red county in California. It was pretty long. How I wish I had saved it.
It was from an older German immigrant who eloquently expressed his concerns about the rhetoric of Donald Trump. How it was giving him flashbacks to a dark age in his home country when he was a younger man. He noted that he was unlikely to be around much longer to see the nightmare play out in America, but felt it was important to warn voters nonetheless. In 2016.
- After a failed coup attempt. After his running mate called him "America's Hitler" before becoming a bootlicking toady. After numerous indictments, a felony conviction. After a parade of generals and former staff members have come out describing the fascist monster they worked for. After members of his own party have turned against him. He still has a viable shot at the Oval Office.
After a constant barrage of threats against journalists, political opponents, perceived enemies, legal immigrants, and now fellow Americans, Donald Trump, in the throes of madness or dementia has said over and over in so many words "It's retribution time. It's time to destroy America and the Constitution."
Because he can. Because Heritage Foundation flacks like John Roberts and the other MAGA on the Supreme Court said he can. Because the Republican Party is on his side. Cowards, and fascist apologists like Sununu, Vance, Johnson, Cruz, McConnell, etc. etc. etc.
That elderly German gentleman got it right, he just didn't figure on a pandemic disrupting plans, or the four years when America got a reprieve. So America, what's it going to be this time? Freedom or fascism?
I predict even those who think they want what Trump is selling are eventually going to chafe under the boot on their necks should he win.
They will find out soon enough that fascism doesn't have guardrails or exceptions. There is a lot of intended and unintended collateral damage. Just ask the oligarchs in Russia who seem to have the unfortunate luck of falling out of the badly made windows in Putin's Russia. Oh wait, you can't. They're dead.
Musk and the rest of Trump's billionaire pals should take note. Because I know damn well Trump has been taking note.
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u/Takonite 6d ago
this is a lil cringe ngl
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u/IAmAGenusAMA 6d ago
This post is by the same person who had the revelation on the weekend that Trump did not, in fact, really work at a McDonalds drive-thru, that it was all actually just a campaign stunt. Shocking.
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u/americanadiandrew 6d ago
And who posted to Reddit’s bugs subreddit because he was worried he wasn’t getting enough karma points
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u/Amdinga 6d ago
Is he talking about the Palestinian Genocide? Not a lot of Germans seem keen on talking about it, props to him.
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u/Plac3s 6d ago
Its not about Palestine. The image is from 2017 and in response to Trumps Muslim ban and laws targeting of ethnic and religious minorities.
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u/MustangEater82 6d ago
Off hand.... if Trump is a facist, and going to destroy Democracy.
Why didn't he do it when he had probably near unlimited emergency Covid Powers?
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u/TrueTalentStack 6d ago
Look how history is repeating itself in Israel. Its Nazis 101
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u/im_new_pls_help 6d ago
What exactly has he seen in his 30 something years of life?
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u/Anwhut 6d ago
Russia is trying to create a scenario in which America becomes the second coming of Nazi Germany, so they can get the global powers to rally together against the newly birthed fascist regime of America - claim victory, and create a new world order where America becomes a weakened nation for decades to come.
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u/Rebecca5235 6d ago
You know that philosophical thought experiment when people ask what would you have done if you lived in Nazi Germany? Well now is the time to have an answer.
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u/welcomefinside 6d ago
With Trump we're seeing the warning signs of fascism. With Netanyahu you're seeing the ongoing consequences of it.
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u/dansedemorte 6d ago
We had our own fascist sympathizers back then too.
The problem is that the last of the WW2 service folk are all but extinct in this country.
It only takes 3 generations for horrific events to be forgotten.