HOW FASCISM WORKS: Jason Stanley, Son of Holcaust Survivors Explains

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Sat Oct 27, 2018, 11:38 PM - Edit history (1)

Oct 11, 2018. Democracy Now! Jason Stanley Speaks on Trump, Bolsonaro and the Rise of Fascism Across the Globe. In his new book “How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them,” the Yale philosophy professor warns about the dangers of normalizing fascist politics, writing, “What normalization does is transform the morally extraordinary into the ordinary. It makes us able to tolerate what was once intolerable by making it seem as if this is the way things have always been.”
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/10/16/1804749/--If-You-re-Not-Scared-About-Fascism-in-the-U-S-You-Should-Be-NYT-Video?utm_campaign=trending https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/opinion/fascists-leaders-america-trump.html 'If You're Not Scared About Fascism In the US, You Should Be,' Video Op ED, NYT, Oct. 15, 2018. https://www.democraticunderground.com/1017515834

[appalachiablue]

1. Part 2. Kavanaugh's Confirmation: Fascism Cannot Operate Without Patriarchy

https://www.democracynow.org/2018/10/12/prof_jason_stanley_in_wake_of

In his new book “How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them,” Yale professor Jason Stanley outlines the 10 pillars of fascism and warns about the dangers of normalizing fascist politics. Following the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court despite multiple claims that he sexually harassed and assaulted women, we speak with Jason Stanley in New York about how patriarchy and fascism reinforce each other.

[OnDoutside]

2. I'm actually half way through a book called Travellers in the Third Reich,

"The Rise of Fascism through the eyes of everyday people" by Julia Boyd

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP THREE BESTSELLER; One of the Daily Telegraph's Best Books of 2017; A Guardian `Readers' Choice' Best Book of 2017; Without the benefit of hindsight, how do you interpret what's right in front of your eyes?; The events that took place in Germany between 1919 and 1945 were dramatic and terrible but there were also moments of confusion, of doubt - of hope. How easy was it to know what was actually going on, to grasp the essence of National Socialism, to remain untouched by the propaganda or predict the Holocaust?; Travellers in the Third Reich is an extraordinary history of the rise of the Nazis based on fascinating first-hand accounts, drawing together a multitude of voices and stories, including students, politicians, musicians, diplomats, schoolchildren, communists, scholars, athletes, poets, journalists, fascists, artists, tourists, even celebrities like Charles Lindbergh and Samuel Beckett. Their experiences create a remarkable three-dimensional picture of Germany under Hitler - one so palpable that the reader will feel, hear, even breathe the atmosphere.; These are the accidental eyewitnesses to history. Disturbing, absurd, moving, and ranging from the deeply trivial to the deeply tragic, their tales give a fresh insight into the complexities of the Third Reich, its paradoxes and its ultimate destruction.

https://www.bookdepository.com/Travellers-Third-Reich-Julia-Boyd/9781783963812?ref=grid-view&qid=1540734915994&sr=1-1


The main difference between then and now, is that the current crowd are a clusterfuck of disorganisation, compared to the 1930s Nazis. That said, the non-questioning compliance of ordinary Germans (largely as a result of their economic circumstances), should stand out for all.

[appalachiablue]

3. Thanks for the info., sounds like a very worthwhile book, esp. in these times.

"If You're Not Scared About Fascism In The US, You Should Be," NYT Opinion, Oct. 16, 2018 by Jason Stanley. Professor of Philosophy at Yale University, Stanley has spent the better part of a decade studying fascism and fascist propaganda. He is also the son of Holocaust survivors. His short video produced for the NYT delivers a simple, direct and powerful warning about what this country is undergoing under Donald Trump.

>Video: "You might think I'm trying to frighten you by making these parallels. And do you know what? I am. My parents survived the Holocaust. And my grandmother, in her memoir, wrote about how Jews in Germany didn't see the Nazi threat until it was too late. "In 1937, we were still able to leave the country," she wrote. "We could still live in our homes. We could still worship in our temples. We were in a ghetto. But the majority of our people were still alive." I want you to be scared, because if you're not worried about encroaching fascism in America, before long, it will start to feel normal. And when that happens, we're all in trouble."

[OnDoutside]

4. Yes it is, so far the points that stand out were

1. How many (not all by any means) of the British upper and middle class bought into the New Germany, with all its pageantry, and they had similar arrogant racist opinions.

2. Echoing what Joe Stanley said, the re-adjustment to the new circumstances by German Jews, people thought if they just kept their head down, it'll all work out. That was especially sad.

3. The use of big events to big up the Fascist regime, not just Nurnberg but the Oberammergau Passion play in the 30s and the Wagner festival in Bayreuth among others, which became the hottest ticket to get in Nazi Germany.

4. The Nazis were big on inbound Tourism, and were hugely supported by the German people, in a concerted effort to put a positive spin on Fascism. They even had tour groups (in the early days) visiting labour camps like Dachau, so they could show how they were "re-educating degenerates"