Not Some Remote Barbaric Land

"This utter denial of everything liberalism had ever stood for was arousing wild enthusiasm, not in some remote barbaric land outside the pale, but in one of the most highly educated countries . . ."

No, those words weren't written to describe America, though they fit well enough. The quote comes form W. H. Auden, written about the state of Germany in 1933.

Reichstag Fire - Twin Tower Destruction

The similarities between the Reichstag fire in February, 1933 and the destruction of the World Trade Center had similar consequences, although fortunately for us. so far, George Bush's actions have been thwarted, somewhat.

In response to the fire, Hitler persuaded an old and weak but still much-revered Hindenburg "to sign emergency decrees that virtually ended all civil rights that the Weimar Constitution had granted." Nazi propaganda then whipped the population into conformity. The Germans had a word for it -- Gleichschaltung -- like many German words, not really translatable into English, but approximately meaning "coordination," literally, "putting into the same gear," an amazingly impersonal, mechanical word for the "elimination of all opposition, either by decree or murder."

The fire so suited Nazi aims that for many years people assumed it was the Nazis who set fire to the Reichstag -- as now people believe that our government in some way was responsible for the destruction of the twin towers -- but in fact a deranged Dutchman set the fire. No matter, the Nazis moved against the Communists and the Jews the way the Bush Administration moved against Muslims and anyone of middle-east ancestry.

The same yearning for a "healthy fascism," a "new religious commitment" made by "strong human beings in a united nation," as Fritz Stern describes the German yearnings that preceded Hitler, can be heard in all of the Republican candidates for President. What Bush started, others appear ready to continue, in even more radical terms.

We have lost habeas corpus, the right to privacy, the security of the ballot box, a free press of dispersed ownership. We are giving the government and its private contractor armies the right to jail and torture us in the name of protecting us from a different "ism" and a different race. The effectiveness of such a strategy and its sad results are clearly spelled out in German history, another nation that felt it had a special destiny, a German exceptionalism between East and West. We're right there, unless we can stop those who profit from promoting anxiety and fear. The Germans didn't find that possible. The odds may be against us as well.

Quotations are from "Dreams and Delusions, the Drama of German History," by Fritz Stern, 1987.

George Bush in The Eclipse of the Sun

Substitute George Bush for Paul von Hindenburg in Georg Grosz's "The Eclipse of the Sun" and you have an accurate depiction of America today -- war-profiteering corporations, brainless political opposition, religion and war.

With just two word substitutions, Ian Buruma's description of the Weimar Republic describes who is ruling America today: "autocratic media moguls, disaffected generals, dim-witted elites, Fundamentalist reactionaries and ultra-nationalist schemers."

It was this gang of venal bunglers who handed over the Weimar Republic to Hitler. Oh, but the Weimar Republic was the Germans' first attempt at democracy. We're so much better at it than they were . . . we'll be able to handle it, won't we? Any ideas how?

[The two substitutions: "elites" for "aristocrats" and "Fundamentalist" for "Catholic."]

Circle the Wagons

Just a few similarities:
1. Communists then, "Islamofascists"/terrorists today
2. Defeat in World War I then, 9/11 now
3. Emperor deposed, ending the hierarchical social structure; 2000 electoral coup, ending the democratic structure
4. Private armies: Freikorps then, BlackWater now
5. Germany's special destiny; America's special destiny
6. Government-created inflation to defeat war reparations then; government-created inflation to defeat credit crisis now
7. Rampant business corruption and speculation; ditto
8. Commercialized sexual drepavity; ditto
9. Jews as the enemy of the nation (despite their economic contributions) then, illegal immigrants as the enemy of the nation now (despite their economic contributions)
10. "The stab in the back" ploy then, political opposition branded as traitors now
11. The publication of hundreds of competing books, journals, newspapers as the society fragmented across ideological lines then; the publication of thousands of competing blogs, web sites, newsletters, magazines as the society fragments across ideological lines now
12. Weak political leadership that allowed a ruthless dictator to seize power -- the Nazis did well in only one election; they were not "popular" but economic hardship caused by the worldwide Great Depression gave Hitler the opportunity he needed
13. Our Great Depression is on its way. And our dictator? Only if we continue to ignore history's lessons.