Those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it

[ksmith]

From a bud on SFFNet, the following link, which contains an excerpt from Milton Mayer's They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933 - 1945


What happened was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to be governed by surprise, to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believe that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security.

The crises and reforms (real reforms too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter.

To live in the process is absolutely not to notice it -- please try to believe me -- unless one has a much greater degree of political awareness, acuity, than most of us ever had occasion to develop. Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, 'regretted,' that, unless one were detached from the whole process from the beginning, unless one understood what the whole thing was in principle, what all these "little measures" that no "patriotic German" could resent must some day lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day than a farmer in his field sees the corn growing. One day it is over his head.

Comments

[daveamongus.livejournal.com]

The Patriot Act is tied up in the Senate, destined to die without some serious compromises. Meanwhile, some House committee or another has put hearings about the wiretaps on their agenda, this particular committee being one of the precursors to dread impeachment.

So, yeah, while the news continues to be double-plus ungood, I think there's optimism in them thar hills.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

After 5+ years of one damned thing after another, one is reluctant to be too optimistic.

And still one hopes...

[daveamongus.livejournal.com]

Everything I've seen in the past few months has demonstrated a pretty steady unraveling of the once-stolid GOP and the administration's facade.

IOW, I don't think anyone in 1930s Germany twisted Hitler's arm like McCain twisted the administration's last week.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

It has been a case of 'what a difference a year makes.'

Let it continue.

[daveamongus.livejournal.com]

Amen. :)