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Born in the Netherlands with stories by my parents on the Nazi growth and eventually occupation, I sincerely hope that history won't repeat itself. I wish you a
by razzio 2y ago
Born in the Netherlands with stories by my parents on the Nazi growth and eventually occupation, I sincerely hope that history won't repeat itself. I wish you all the best but fear the worst.
- scarab92 2y agoGetting tired of the hysterics. If you think Nazi is a remotely valid way to describe what’s going on then you’re probably spending too much time online surrounded by catastropists, and have lost touch with reality.
- 9283409232 2y agoTrump is stacking the federal government with loyalist and preparing to outright ignore court orders(if they are not doing so already) and become a monarchy while billionaires chop up the government for fun and profit. If you don't see this then you have lost touch with reality. Democracy is on life support and Elon's fans are putting fingers in their ears acting like this isn't happening.
- scarab92 2y agoYou don’t realise how ridiculous you sound to normal people because you spend your time in an echo chamber full of left-wing conspiracy theories. The government will get a bit smaller and life will go on.
- 9283409232 2y agoI'm curious. What needs to happen for you realize what is going on? What is the action that if taken you'll see things for what they are?
- steve_adams_86 2y agoWhat I want to understand is how much smaller will it be, and why are they targeting what they are at the moment? The administrations they've cut back only make up fractions of a percent of the overall spending, and make virtually no difference for the average person. One of them actually put more money back into the pockets of taxpayers than it cost them, and seems to have made no sense to discard. Why not target major cost centres?
- wahnfrieden 2y agoThey also stopped $489 million of food aid to leave it to rot, which it has. That level of waste is not aligned with their mission statement to reduce waste. So the statement can't be trusted.
- scarab92 2y agoEven taking that unsourced statement as true, a single anecdotal accident doesn't invalidate an entire mission statement.
- wahnfrieden 2y agoSorry for not citing current mainstream headline news (I guess Fox is not airing this though) https://www.yahoo.com/news/usaid-inspector-fired-revealing-nearly-152421287.html https://www.yahoo.com/news/usaid-inspector-fired-revealing-n... If you are ignorant to widely-reported news, it's curious to dismiss it as anecdotal. It's also curious to paint this an accident (before you knew anything about it) when it's the intended result of the order and an inspector was fired for attempting to raise effort to correct it.
- 9283409232 2y agoEverything Elon claims is unsourced and often completely wrong but his followers seem to have no problem taking it at face value
- anigbrowl 2y agoI recommend this book, which you can find and read for free on archive.org. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780805087260/hitlersbeneficiaries/ https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780805087260/hitlersbenefici...
- zfg 2y agoThe philosophy behind what they're doing comes from Curtis Yarvin. JD Vance is a fan. Yarvin believes American democracy is a failed project and it should be replaced with an American monarchy. He thinks all of society should be organized like a corporation and a CEO of America should call the shots, no elections necessary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Yarvin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Yarvin https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23373795/curtis-yarvin-neoreaction-redpill-moldbug https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23373795/curtis-yarv... https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/inside-the-new-right-where-peter-thiel-is-placing-his-biggest-bets https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/inside-the-new-right... They've been thinking about it for years, including preparing themselves to ignore court rulings. To quote JD Vance from the Vanity Fair article: “I think Trump is going to run again in 2024,” [Vance] said. “I think that what Trump should do, if I was giving him one piece of advice: Fire every single midlevel bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state, replace them with our people.” “And when the courts stop you,” he went on, “stand before the country, and say—” he quoted Andrew Jackson, giving a challenge to the entire constitutional order—“the chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.” And now he's saying it as vice president: https://www.newsweek.com/jd-vance-comment-questioning-court-authority-sparks-backlash-2028651 https://www.newsweek.com/jd-vance-comment-questioning-court-... https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/02/trump-vance-courts/681632/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/02/trump-v... https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/09/us/politics/vance-trump-federal-courts-executive-order.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/09/us/politics/vance-trump-f... What remains to be seen is how far they will push it: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/doge-civil-servant-purge/681671/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/doge-civil...
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- blackeyeblitzar 2y ago> and preparing to outright ignore court orders Trump literally said in a press conference about DOGE a few days ago that he will follow all court orders, but also appeal them where he thinks they’re wrong. This claim that he is ignoring courts is false, and increasingly I am noticing journalists factually misrepresent reality to create widespread beliefs like this.
- Volundr 2y ago> Trump literally said in a press conference about DOGE a few days ago that he will follow all court order https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/us/trump-unfreezing-federal-grants-judge-ruling.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/us/trump-unfreezing-feder... The judges issuing said orders disagree. Saying a thing is not the same as doing a thing.
- blackeyeblitzar 2y agoA judge who is a major donor to Democrats, appointed by a Democrat president, has determined that. He could be correct, or he could just be an activist. Let’s see how it plays out. But the administration has said publicly that they will follow judicial rulings in response to a direct question about these rulings.
- 9283409232 2y agoTrump is a liar. Starting a sentence with "Trump said" means nothing.
- m-ee 2y agoFor anyone who thinks the comparisons to monarchy are an overreaction look up favorite philosopher of Peter Thiel and JD Vance Curtis Yarvin. He quite explicitly calls for a “CEO king” to fire all federal employees and replace them with loyalists.
- greyface- 2y agoYarvin (aka Moldbug) outlines his proposal in this talk from 2012. It's worryingly prescient. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZluMysK2B1E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZluMysK2B1E
- fjjjrjj 2y agoThe coup started 4 years ago. It's just continuing. Now with immunity almost guaranteed by the supreme court. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and we are just getting started. The checks and balance that get in the way are actively being dismantled.
- 9283409232 2y agoIt's game over. I'm not going to say comply in advance. There should be a fight but it's very bleak.
- scarab92 2y agoSo, basically just unfounded conspiracy theories.
- catlover76 2y ago[dead]
- dialup_sounds 2y agoA conspiracy theory would be claiming something vaguely defined but sinister is going on in secret and that absence of evidence is evidence. (e.g. 9/11 or Sandy Hook being false flags, Pizzagate, Qanon, the "deep state"). What most people are talking about now is resemblances between actual actions and events that aren't in dispute and things that have happened in countries generally recognized as autocratic. (e.g. the fake electors plot isn't a conspiracy theory, we know it happened; presidential immunity isn't a conspiracy theory, it is a Supreme Court ruling; pardoning people that attacked the Capitol isn't a conspiracy theory, it's an actual Executive Order; rewriting term limits isn't a conspiracy theory, it's an actual bill, etc.) Reasonable people can disagree on the extrapolation of current events into the future without either being a conspiracy theorist.
- FAAST 2y ago[dead]
- moshun 2y agoThere’s always someone standing around watching the book burning or purge telling everyone that they’re overreacting. Like clockwork.
- Redoubts 2y ago[flagged]
- reaperducer 2y agoMaybe he read history books in school like the rest of us.
- Redoubts 2y agoThen he would know better than to be so hysterical
- drew-y 2y agoYou don't think the literal nazi salute elon gave at a rally, twice, warrants any comparisons? Or that the administration flirts with annexing Canada, Greenland, and Palestine? Or that their support is driven through prejudice against migrants? Ok.
- chillingeffect 2y agoThe reopening of Guantanamo Bay as a concentration camp, at a cost of over $1 Billion, while elon musk's minion yank money from farmers and poor Alabamans $100 and $80,000 at a time, while tauting their own success on fox news...
- Volundr 2y ago> You don't think the literal nazi salute elon gave at a rally, twice, warrants any comparisons? Honestly? I was on team "he's a clueless weirdo" and was mostly amused by watching his supporters cortort themselves to avoid saying that... But he somehow managed to fish out and hire not one but two engineers with a history of blatant racism, and even decided to rehire the one that resigned once it became public. I generally think the whole "Nazi" thing is easy and reductive, but what the fuck?
- scarab92 2y ago[flagged]
- zfg 2y ago> I don't think Elon gave a Nazi salute He gave two fascist salutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smQNNo2a9xc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smQNNo2a9xc > I think that comparison is based on superficial mechanistic similarities It looks exactly the same. These guys think so: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/elon-musk-salute-reaction-right-wing-extremists-1235241866/ https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/elon-mus... This guy too: https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/comments/1i68puj/have_we_learned_nothing/ https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/comments/1i68puj/have_we_l... Sometimes things are exactly as they appear to be.
- steve_adams_86 2y agoFrom here in Canada it doesn't appear alarmist at all. If this was occurring in our country I would be deeply scared.
- blooalien 2y agoYou should still be scared. Trump wants to "annex" Canada as the 51st state. ;)
- scarab92 2y agoYou actually think Trump is going to forcibly capture land from Canada? Zero chance that happens.
- steve_adams_86 2y agoEvery single man I know is fully committed to fight an invasion if it came to it, and most of us have aggressively cut back spending in American companies and tourism wherever possible. If the people I know are a decent representation of the country, it’ll be absolutely miserable for Trump to make an inch of progress on this without substantial losses.
- scarab92 2y agoA fantasy response to a strawman threat.
- steve_adams_86 2y agoBetter safe than sorry. Any threat to our economy, let alone sovereignty, is something I’ll take seriously.
- jemmyw 2y agoyou don't need to do any of that. you just have to say you'll be happy to join with immediate representation with the same rules as the other states. No GOP are going to be happy voting to absorb a new state who think the Dems are slightly to the right.
- chillingeffect 2y agoWhat is your experience with history? Have you read much since high school? What is your experience in shaping your government? How many times a year do you communicate with your representatives? I ask because a person not used to expending energy doing those things could quickly and easily get "tired" and believe the present situation to be "hysterics, " while those who are politcally aware - as opposed to those newly being told all of their xenophobic urges are wonderful - are rightfully alarmed. I recommend you read _Defying_Hitler_ to see how authoritarianism creeps in. You might also get to know the recent history of Hungary, Turkey, Belarus, Myanmar, Venezuela, Poland, Macedonia, and Thailand.
- dtquad 2y agoThat Vivek dude was kicked out of DOGE solely because literal Nazis on Xitter didn't like him.
- ndsipa_pomu 2y agoThat seems likely from my point of view, but is there evidence that that is what happened?
- threecheese 2y agoGiven this forum is generally serious and populated with generally serious people, it’s worthwhile to consider that there may be some context you are missing rather than dismissing them as “lefty nutbags”. Smoke/fire/etc. This cuts both ways, and there’s a productive way to help us understand why you think this its ridiculous for lots of “the smart people” to be really really really worried.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- epakai 2y agoIts worth a look at what actually happened during the rise of the third reich. People aren't just making the comparisons to be hyperbolic. I know a bit of it from reading the beginning of William L. Shirer's "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich". The power shift in the Republican party has strong parallels to shifts in power that lead to compromises with the NSDAP, and eventually to Hitler's chancellorship. The moves away from old institution norms (by both parties, though I tend to bias against R) who claim they are fighting to preserve it, whether with good intentions or not, have the effect of eroding our democracy. The Trump admin's denigration of immigrants, and gender ideology also have obvious parallels. For a time I didn't consider there to be genocidal parallels, but the recent threats to empty Gaza puts that on shaky ground. Until these trends start reversing, and the groups involved work to restore norms, we are at an increasing risk of repeating past government's failures. For one party that feels like the intent (see recent chaos monkey efforts), while at least the other recognizes they are eroding norms, but can't seem to reverse course (Biden's executive orders).
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- dekhn 2y agoI've read a fair amount of history (half my family is from germany, and the other half, jews who escaped in time) and what's happening now is remarkably similar to what happened in the lead-up to WWII, historically speaking. We're not being hysterical, we're being realistic. Trump is mostly a buffoon but Miller, Musk, and Vance are all truly evil people (I don't say this lightly) whose vision for America is truly terrifying. Like, Handmaid's Tale wasn't speculative fiction, but a working manual for these guys.
- dathinab 2y agowhat you missing is that it's not about literal Nazis it's about seeing exactly the same kind of patterns and dynamics as during the rise of the 3rd riche i.e. by every objective measurable metric the US is currently falling to autocracy and fascism Will that be "literal Nazis" taking over the US, no most likely not. But might it become bad for most US citizens and the World in general to a really really bad point, then yes every thing is pointing in that direction. If you then add in how much tension both the world economy and geopolitics is in (since years getting worse) it would be strange to assume we aren't at sever risk of WW3 in some form (could be a cold war or similar, too). Look at how the US is currently trying to get right of a absurd high amount of people (nearly twice as many as Jews where killed by Nazi Germany) most of which do not have a home to go back to and probably most of which other countries don't want to take in (in context of forced deportations, due to such people e.g. being jobless as they had to leave their job behind). And then look at how they started building/expanding Guantanamo and how the current head of state is constantly using dehumanizing language and look on how some of the people he puts in power have outed themself as being very inhuman and cruel in their world view. And then think how is this _not_ going to end in a catastrophe. Not necessary on the level of industrialized mass killing. But really there is no way this is going to end well. By now the question isn't if people die, but how many digits.
- ndsipa_pomu 2y ago> what you missing is that it's not about literal Nazis Although Musk gave a Nazi-style salute twice and Nazi flag bearers are not chucked out of MAGA/Trump rallies.
- wahnfrieden 2y agoLook to Viktor Orban to see the current playbook
- dtquad 2y agoViktor Orban, Robert Fico, the AfD, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens etc. all have shady ties to both Russia and Qatar.
- globalnode 2y agoIts the same pattern repeating.
- dathinab 2y agonot sure why anyone is down voting you if you list of the Nazies came into power, converted the Weimar Republic into a autocracy and you don't get hung up on things which are specific of their time but instead take the concepts behind them (e.g. "fear mongering and hate against a minority and persecuting them the moment they get in power" instead of "persecution of Jews") then what we are currently seeing is _exactly_ the same Naturally if you only look at Nazi Germany in it's final form and treat Hitler as a singularity of evil instead of a product of his time it's really easy to not get that. And yes, sure, there being a absurd amount of similarities doesn't mean that the US will next start mass killing Jews. Actually if you look at the similarities and for a moment for argumentative reasons assume it will get as bad as Hitler Germany then it still wouldn't be genocide of Jews ... but genocide of "illegal criminals" like Trump loves to say using the same kind of hate speech tools Hitler used for Jews, just using modern language and a different minority instead. Through again if we assume it gets as bad. The point here isn't (at all) that "Trump is Hitler" but that the US is on very dangerous slippery slope to autocracy and fascism which even could (but doesn't has to) end up with some form of genocide because in additional to the checks-and-balances of the US being kinda a joke by now the starting building blocks for genocide are all there too (building of a concentration camp outside of their soil, having a ton of people they want gone from the US but which often have no place to go, using intentional dehumanizing languages systematically and increasingly, starting to dehumanizing and delegitimizing of other minorities too, constantly rilling up of people by the head of the state, systematic removing of checks and balances, increasingly unchecked executive, private forces which do "especially sensitive tasks" (through atm. no private militarized forces), asking people to be loyal to the ruling power instead of the constitution, systematic reinterpreting the constitution in definitely not intended to be that way ways, putting people in power for loyalty with a cause instead of competence, ton of open and less open megalomania, tons of tons of excuses being put out with the intend to reason for unreasonable, cruel actions not possible in a state of law, did I mention rule by emergency edict? (just called executive order), sizing of assets, etc. etc.)