Living the Dream; Then & Now…

Capitalism >> Crisis >> Populism >> Myth creation >> Extremism >> Violence >> Democracy Destruction >> Fascism >> Myth Failure & back again to Crisis. The vicious circle of fascism never stops spinning…

This striking image has Hitler addressing the German parliament at the Reichstag. Known for his strong populist rhetoric and use of slogans to appeal to the masses, he used tones that Dorothy Thompson described as alternately ‘brutalising and seductive,’ that culminated ‘in orgiastic outbursts that were distinctly uncomfortable and embarrassing to the detached spectator.’ Image from Museum of Jewish Heritage.

‘When a drastic revolution occurs in a society the change in atmosphere and behavior is so overwhelming that one cannot believe one’s eyes and ears. This is not the society with which one was familiar, the place where one felt so much at home. The old society had a face which one knew and trusted. Suddenly it is gone. Another face is there — a strange, foreign face. One thinks, “This is a nightmare.” One closes one’s eyes and pinches oneself, naively expecting that with another look the distorted vision will have passed, and the old familiar face will be there again. The first impression which a revolution gives anyone not a part of it is that it will certainly pass, and almost immediately. One says to oneself, comfortingly, “These people are not like that! I have known them for years!”’

Dorothy Thompson, The Problem Child of Europe, Foreign Affairs, April, 1940.

The unreality of it all…

I imagine this (above) is how many Americans are feeling right now. Waking up each…