How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy in 53 Days. “In one of the most astonishing political transformations in the history of democracy, Hitler set about destroying a constitutional republic through constitutional means.”
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Well, shit. It can happen here.
I read “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” after the 2017 election. My biggest takeaway: Trump is 1000x lazier and less motivated than Hitler, and that will be the saving grace of the United States.
I think that largely proved right during Trump's first term, but he seems a bit more determined and organized this time. Still, my guess is that he spends ~6 hours per day reading about himself in the press or watching cable news.
Better than him spending all day acting on his worst impulses!
Normally i'd agree with you. But in this case i fear the folks at the smart end of Trump's lease are going to keep him more or less pointed at their goals. He can golf and watch Hannity and then still sign whatever crap they put in front of him at the end of the day :(
My hope now is that the string-pullers have different enough goals that they're pulling against each other.
"My hope now is that the string-pullers have different enough goals that they're pulling against each other." This seems to me to be the most likely scenario. Keeping my fingers crossed.
After seeing this floating around for a few days, I finally worked up the courage to read it, and goddamn if this isn't a loud and clear echo of what is happening right this moment. Terrifying.
The turning point for the Nazis was the Enabling Act, an immediate descent into fascism. I think the distributed and deep-rooted nature of US democracy would not bear that. Perhaps more likely is the soft fascism of Orban's Hungary. It still looks like democracy but isn't.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/13/17823488/hungary-democracy-authoritarianism-trump
@kottke Sounds familiar, frighteningly familiar:
Hitler opened the meeting by boasting that millions of Germans had welcomed his chancellorship with “jubilation,” then outlined his plans for expunging key government officials and filling their positions with loyalists.
Note - the author has got a whole, excellent book on this topic, well worth a read. I believe I discovered it from one of Jason's earlier posts.
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