"What no one seemed to notice. . . was the ever widening gap. . .between the government and the people. . . And it became always wider. . . the whole process of its coming into being, was above all diverting, it provided an excuse not to think for people who did not want to think anyway . . . (it) gave us some dreadful, fundamental things to think about . . and kept us so busy with continuous changes and 'crises' and so fascinated . . . by the machinations of the 'national enemies,' without and within, that we had no time to think about these dreadful things that were growing, little by little, all around us. ...Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, 'regretted,' that unless one understood what the whole thing was in principle, what all these 'little measures'. . . 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. . . .Each act. . . (was) worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join you in resisting somehow.” -- Excerpted From Milton Mayer’s book, They Thought They Were Free, The Germans, 1938-45 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1955)
Feel a cold shiver? That book is a study of the lives of a group of ordinary Germans under the Third Reich.
History is a vast early warning system.
~Norman Cousins
I’m going for Donald Trump. Have you seen how fat he is? Obama looks a bit stringy and roasting him on a beach fire won’t bring me many meals. In addition it looks like Trump is used to flavoursome, rich foods whereas Obama looks like he’s spent his life eating healthy stuff. Hopefully those flavours will be apparent in roast leg-of-Donald.
With a bit of luck the tide will wash some other things up from the shipwreck too. Some fava beans and a nice chianti would be most welcome.
:P
"You can say any fool thing to a dog, and the dog will give you this look that says, `My God, you're RIGHT! I NEVER would've thought of that!'" ~ Dave Barry
What a delightful though ominous post. Exactly my thoughts. Brought to mind Michael Moore's wonderful rumination, something like: What exactly does it take to get our attention? The sun rising at midnight?
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
Wisewebwoman ~ Yep! Heads in the Sand Are Us! :(
ReplyDeletePerhaps America's greatest failure has been its refusal to learn from its own history, and especially that of Europe, which it has always regarded with a degree of disdain, and a strong sense of superiority. We may all end up paying the price.
ReplyDeleteRegarding time on a desert island with Trump or Obama, I believe my primary consideration would be placing as much distance as possible between me and either of them, possibly preferring to swim in the hope of finding another island rather than have to coexist with such as they.
I believe the dog in the image is actually thinking: "What the F***'s he talking about. How the hell did I end up with this idiot?"
RJ Adams ~ USA is a typical teenager (as compared with Europe)and has long been going through "a phase", which we hope will not end up destroying the lot of us!
ReplyDeleteAgreed on the desert island thought, RJ - I wouldn't trust either of 'em, they'd have me roasting on the campfire within hours!
That lovely Irish Wolfhound - I could not resist the photograph even though the expression is a bit off for context - it IS certainly a clear expression though. I just love those gangling charmers, quite impractical but adorable. :)