Everyone
likes to say, "Hitler did this", and, "Hitler did that". But
the truth is Hitler did very little. He was a world class tyrant, but
the evil actually done by the Third Reich, from the death camps to WW2
was all done by German citizens who were afraid to question if what
they were told by their government was the truth or not, and who
because they did not want to admit to themselves that they were afraid
to question the government, refused to see the truth behind the
Reichstag Fire, refused to see the invasion by Poland was a staged
fake, and followed Hitler into national disaster.
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 Teutoburg 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 a jerk Hitler was. But at the time, Hitler looked pretty good to the
German people, with the help of the media. He 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 Hitler himself. 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 Hitler's
lies and deceptions.
When Hitler
requested temporary extraordinary powers, powers
specifically banned under German law, but powers Hitler claimed he
needed to have to deal with the "terrorists", 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 Hitler
staged a phony invasion from Poland, the vast majority of
the German people, their own self-image dependant on continuing
blindness to Hitler's deceptions, did not question why Poland would
have done something so stupid, and found themselves in a war.
But Hitler knew
he ruled a nation of cowards, and knew he had to spend
the money to make the new war something cowards could fight and win. He
decorated his troops with regalia to make them proud of themselves,
further trapping them in their self-image. Hitler copied the parade
regalia of ancient Rome, to remind the Germans of the defeat of the
legions at the Teutoburg 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. Finally,
knowing that it takes courage to kill the enemy face to face, Hitler
spent vast sums of money on his 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 Hitler. Sent into battle by that false
image of courage, the Germans were dependent on their wonder-weapons.
When the wonder-weapons stopped working, the Germans lost the war.
I remember as a
child listening to the stories of WW2 from my
grandfather and my uncles who had served in Europe. I wondered how the
German people could have been so stupid as to have ever elected Hitler
dog catcher, let alone leader of the nation. Such is the clarity of
historical hindsight. And with that clarity, I see the exact same
mechanism that Hitler used at work here in this nation.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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 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. Finally, 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.
As I mentioned
above, Hitler was TIME Magazine's Man Of The Year in
1938. Stalin was TIME Magazine's Man Of The Year for 1939 and 1942.
Both of these men, and many others also celibrated by the media, were
unimaginable monsters. The lesson from these facts is that it isn't
easy to spot a genocidal tyrant when you live with one, especially one
whom the press supports and promotes. Tyrants become obvious only when
looking back, after what they have done becomes known. The German
people did not stand up to Hitler because their media betrayed them,
just as the American media is betraying the American people by
willingly, voluntarily, even proudly, abandoning its traditional role
as watchdog against government abuse.
It is the very
nature of power that it attracts the sort of people who
should not have it. The United States, as the world's last superpower,
is a prize that attracts men and women willing to do absolutely
anything to win that power, and hence are also willing to do absolutely
anything with that power once they have it. If one thinks about it long
enough, one will realize that all tyrants, past and most especially
present, MUST use deception on their population to initiate a war. No
citizen of a modern industrialized nation will send their children off
to die in a war to grab another nation's resources and assets, yet
resources and assets are what all wars are fought over. The nation that
wishes to initiate a war of conquest must create the illusion of an
attack or a threat to start a war, and must always give their
population of cowards an excuse never to question that carefully
crafted illusion.
It is naive, not
to mention racist to assume that tyrants appear only
in other nations and that somehow America is immune simply because
we're Americans. America has escaped the clutches of a dictatorship
thus far only through the efforts of those citizens who, unlike the
Germans of the 1930s, have the moral courage to stand up and point out
where the government is lying to the people. And unless more Americans
are willing to have that kind of individual courage, then future
generations may well look back on the American people with the same
harshness of judgement with which we look back on the 1930s Germans.
