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The Germans 1933-45

Each act, each occasion, is 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 with you in resisting somehow. You don’t want to act, or even talk alone; you don’t want to “go out of your way to make trouble.” Why not?—Well, you are not in the habit of doing it. And it is not just fear, fear of standing alone, that restrains you; it is also genuine uncertainty. Uncertainty is a very important factor, and, instead of decreasing as time goes on, it grows. Outside, in the streets, in the general community, “everyone” is happy. One hears no protest, and certainly sees none. You speak privately to your colleagues, some of whom certainly feel as you do; but what do they say? They say, “It’s not so bad” or “You’re seeing things” or “You’re an alarmist.” And you are an alarmist. You are saying that this must lead to this, and you can’t prove it. These are the beginni...
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The Rally At Charlottesville

The year is 2017 and I am writing a day after the rally "Unite the Right" at Charlotesville, VA. If you do not follow the news you may not know that hundreds of white supremacists carrying citronella torches marched last night at the University of Virginia. Some of their chants, which were filmed on video, include "white lives matter", "you (sometimes heard as Jews) will not replace us", and "blood and soil", the last one being an allusion to "Blut und Boden" from Nazi Germany. Perhaps the news I consume and the people I follow influence my perception of the gravity of the situation. I'm aware that the KKK and other groups with similar views have always existed and marched in the US. Despite that, I can't help feeling genuine shock at the events, and my perception of these groups is that they have become more confident and brazen in their views. They have reason to feel confident. David Duke, Andrew Anglin, Rocky Suhaida, Alex...
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A Quick Word About The Lukewarm Left

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I am not religious. As a matter of fact I am agnostic as I lack the gift of faith but I do have respect for the figure of Jesus and his teachings and I'm familiar with the scripture. So it is not surprising to me that when I saw some people trying to somehow legitimize the claims of white supremacists as reactionaries to the left I thought of Rev 3:15-16. "I know your deeds,  that you are neither cold nor hot.  I wish you were either one or the other!   So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." There's something to be learned from this. There is value to being rational, tempered and objective. There is value to listening to the other side and not letting emotions get the best of us and I like to think of myself as such a person even though I allow myself to feel raw and uncensored. I do this because it is equally important to be human and I don't want to lose that instinct and the capacity to be outraged by ...
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