(Written and posted 18
March 2003)
“They came for the
Communist, but I was not a Communist, so I said nothing.
“They came for the Jew, but
I was not a Jew, so I said nothing.
“They came for me, and there
was no one left to say anything on my behalf.”
This proverb, or one
similar to it, has been attributed to a Lutheran who died in the
Holocaust. How did a civilized,
educated nation allow a democratically elected government to become so
oppressive and totalitarian that it could systematically and deliberately
slaughter over six million people?
Fear.
When we live in fear, we
no longer are in control of our surroundings; they are in control of us. When we cover and hide, we give up our
freedom of choice, and allow others to dictate to us. Fear is a very effective way of controlling the masses. Fear is the tool of the totalitarian.
How did the situation get
so bad that the German people became so acquiescent as to allow themselves to
be controlled by a madman? Start with a
poor economy. Not only did the American
economy crash in the 1920s, the worldwide economy crashed as well. Millions of people were unemployed and
starving. Bread riots were common,
especially in Germany, which was saddled with an unreasonable debt placed upon
it by the French and British in the Treaty of Versailles. When people become unsure about the future,
they become more anxious. Anxiety leads
to restlessness.
During
times of trouble, it is human nature to find someone to blame for the
troubles. Right now, for example, it is
hard to accept the fact that the economy has tanked due to our own greed,
mismanagement, and stupidity. We do not
make mistakes; surely there must be some externality to blame. Numerous theories have been proffered over
the past several years – NAFTA, European protectionism, the Canadians (cheap
lumber), the Mexicans (cheap labor); take your pick. It is much easier to put the blame on someone else during times
of troubles than to accept the fact that economic malaise is all part of the
free market system. (For every boom,
there is a bust.)
When the Nazi Party was in
its infancy immediately after World War I, it had some success by blaming
Germany’s resulting economic woes on the Communists. However, as Germany started to rebuild after the Great War and
its economic health improved, Germans lost interest in the Nazis, viewing them
(correctly) as reactionary, right-wing thugs.
After spending some time in jail for plotting the overthrow of the
government, Hitler came back rejuvenated after having had ample time to think
about what he did wrong. What Hitler
concluded was that his party could only acquire power through fear, and the constant
maintenance of it. As long as Germans
were anxious and afraid, they were more than willing to support the Nazis; when
that anxiety waned, so did the support.
In short, fear is a drug that numbs the senses and makes otherwise
intelligent, rational human beings do stupid, irrational things.
Fortunately for Hitler,
and unfortunately for six million Europeans, a Great Depression would create
the general anxiety that he needed to restore his party to prominence. As if the Depression itself weren’t enough,
Hitler and his thugs heightened the sense of fear through their own anarchic
contributions. Nazis thugs would go on
crime sprees, and then Hitler would proclaim that he could restore law and
order. When you are living in constant
fear, anybody who promised to restore order, no matter how extremist and
reactionary, sounds good.
Hitler knew from his
previous experience that he had to keep the fear going. He also had to ensure that he was not blamed
for people’s woes. Hitler knew that if
people stopped living in fear that they would begin to question his
leadership. After all, the German
economy did not improve even after the rise of the Nazis. So, he brought his thuggery to a new level.
He burned down his own
government buildings to drive home the point that no place in Germany was safe,
not even the seat of government. Hitler
promised the people that if they were willing to give up some of their
freedoms, he would ensure their safety.
The German people, very much afraid, readily acquiesced.
At first, the freedoms
given up did not affect the average German.
The government was given the right to spy on the German people, but it
was considered to be a necessary evil to ensure the safety of all Germans. Non-Germans, Gypsies, and Jews had most of
their basic rights stripped away – they could be arrested without cause, tried
by military tribunals, deported without cause – but, since they flagrant human
rights violations did not affect the average German, the average German did not
care. After all, it was rationalized,
it did not affect the good German, only the “undesirables”, so “Who
cares?” Over time, as Hitler continued
to prey on the fear and paranoia of the German people, more and more rights and
freedoms were willingly surrendered by the people to the government, until what
started as a democracy ended up a ruthless totalitarian state in which no
dissent was permitted. The German
people became slaves of their own government.
The United States of today
is the Germany of the 1930s. We live in
a state of fear and anxiety, and we are willing to let our own government strip
away all of our freedoms for the sake of national security, and our own
government has been instrumental in making us afraid. Why? Because if we are
not afraid, then we will be able to see the truth of how bad things really
are. Fear, then, is being used as a
distraction.
No matter what you think
about the current Administration, here are the facts. First, the economy has been in recession since the current
Administration took office, and this Administration’s policies have only made
it worse, not better. Are you better
off now than you were two years ago? I
think for many Americans, the answer is a resounding no. As our common anxiety builds, suddenly, out
of the blue, terrorists strike two of our cities, killing thousands. These terrorists who attacked us were also
funded and trained by our own government.
It is hard to admit, but it is true.
The Reagan Administration actively and willing funded, armed, and
trained al-Quieda to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Al-Quieda received funding from the Saudis,
who received billions of dollars from the United States. On top of everything, these terrorists were
not home grown terrorists a la Timothy McVeigh; instead, these were foreign
nationals whom we willing let into our country and willingly allowed to attend
flight school. For a government that
knows when a small pharmaceutical lab in California is growing marijuana, I
find it hard to believe that our government did not know of the potential
threat these terrorists were to our national security.
As a result of this
tragedy, the Administration ramrods and act, the Patriot Act, that not only
allows our government to spy on us in the name of national security, but also
to secretly arrest, detain, try, convict and deport individuals. Why were we so willing to accept it? Because the government told us that if we
didn’t, worse things were bound to happen.
In the name of security, then, we gave up many fundamental freedoms.
The catch is that the most
egregious abuses of all, the ability to secretly arrest, detain, try, convict,
and deport, does not affect the average American because it only applies to
non-citizens. Thus, because it does not
directly affect us, we have permitted this usurpation of our liberties. Our government has been frustrated, too,
because its unlimited power can only be wielded against a tiny fraction of the
population, allowing the rest of us to live our normal, daily lives. To some in the government, our right to
think for ourselves is the biggest threat of all, and they have been waiting
for the right opportunity to rectify this problem.
Enter Iraq. Time to whip up some fear again. Suddenly, a country that we armed and
supported is a threat to our national security. Unlike the terrorist attacks, this time support is not
unanimous. In fact, there are many who
refuse to take the bait and publicly criticize the government.
Introducing, Patriot
II. John Ashcroft and his bunch have
devised a way to allow the government to arrest, detain, try, convict, and
deport anyone who they deem to be a threat to national security, which is
anyone who does not agree with their policies, and it is called Patriot
II. Patriot II is a bill that the
Justice Department has drafted and is submitting to Congress that would allow
the government, without any just cause or due process, to revoke the
citizenship of any American it deems to be a threat to national security,
including native born Americans, and thus making the draconian, totalitarian
measures of Patriot I applicable. This
is extraordinary dangerous for the future of each and every American citizen
who has ever cared even an iota about freedom.
Think about the implications – the government could search the voting
records and strip the citizenship of those who voted for the opposition. Any citizen who dares criticize the mayor
about the pothole problem could end up losing their citizenship if the mayor
belongs to the “right” party, which of course he or she will because all of the
opposition will have already been “taken care of.”
My friends, if we allow
this bill to pass, we might as well replace Old Glory with a Hammer-and-Sickle,
because that is about how much liberty we will have. Do not be duped into being afraid and allowing the government to
take away all of your liberties. You
have a better chance of being shot in one of our cities than you do being
killed in a terrorist attack. Look at
the facts – there are more Americans who are shot and killed each and every
year in the United States than were killed in the terrorist attacks.
The numbers just don’t add up.
Don’t let government-encouraged paranoia get the better of you. We must stand up together, united, as patriots,
and say enough is enough to our government dictating to us how we should
live. I don’t know about you, but I
think I am the best person to make the decision as to how I should live my
life. Are you the best person to tell
yourself how to live, or do you think the government should tell you?
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