General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Oy vey...WSJ publishes an in-depth look at MAGAts who are addicted to Trump and "attend every rally" [View all]lunasun
(21,646 posts)the trump supporters among them. It doesnt need to be confrontational but silence is acceptance
At the very least disassociate from the pack
If you wondered what you would have done during Nazi germany or during civil rights and it was keeping quiet to fit in or not make trouble , then think of how your silence makes a difference today
Remember one of the biggest problems was that many didnt take Hitler seriously
He was considerd a clown
Whether one can admit it or not trump has a following and a lot of propaganda is given to those who are curious
He may sound stupid to you but he attracts the unintelligent and bigots. There are plenty of both in the US
All the radio stations that are broadcasting the same hate message and fb. Think about FOX
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/03/early-warnings-how-american-journalists-reported-the-rise-of-hitler/254146
Then you had this period after the Beer Hall Putsch where Hitler came out of prison and a lot of people had forgotten about him. After the Great Depression hit, suddenly the Nazi Party became a major contender for power. Yet you had Americans meeting Hitler and saying, "This guy is a clown. He's like a caricature of himself." And a lot of them went through this whole litany about how even if Hitler got into a position of power, other German politicians would somehow be able to control him. A lot of German politicians believed this themselves.
Of course, everyone began to reassess that very quickly after he took power. But some of the Americans were much more prescient -- for instance, Edgar Mowrer, the Chicago Daily News correspondent, kept frantically trying to warn readers and the world, "What he's saying about the Jews is serious. Don't underestimate him
If you look back to the very beginning of Hitler's rhetoric about Jews, it was all there -- the talk about extermination and vermin. He didn't spell out exactly what would happen in the Holocaust, but he gave a pretty good indication of its overall thrust.
When someone lobs those kinds of rhetorical bombs, it's sort of a natural human tendency to say, "Oh, that's just a figure of speech. They don't really mean it. It's just a way to whip up supporters.