General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: For the first 49 years of my life, I wondered how the Holocaust could have happened. [View all]COL Mustard
(5,896 posts)All you need is to divide the populace by demonizing one or more groups (Jews, homosexuals, intellectuals) and getting enough disenfranchised people to support you as you raise them up into positions of power. Then the good people of the country, who aren't affected, are busy with their lives and not noticing it until it's too late...and then, it's too late.
We all look at Nazi Germany as the prime exemplar, but there are so many other examples like Cambodia (the Killing Fields) and Rwanda (how many thousands killed in just a few short weeks, while most of us were busy going about our everyday lives?). Don't forget the Kurds, and I know I'm missing many others.
People are cruel, and cruelty can become commonplace easily.
OK, now I need a drink!