Monday, November 22, 2010

Am I on the Crazy Fringe?

An emailer today wrote the following (link added):
Hi, Robert --

I knew Murray [Sabrin] years ago; he actually tutored a small group interested in Austrian economics. I'm also very close friends with one of the "Hidden Children" during the Nazi years.

But I think you do you, & your site a serious disservice, to imply in any manner what-so-ever, that TSA has any similarities to Nazi Germany. It just places you in the crazy fringe, which is not the case.

Regards,
Dear Sir.,

I can understand your objection to those who point to Nazi Germany and warn that this is what current day America is about. But I disagree with your objection.

The ultimate horrors in Nazi Germany were, indeed, much more terrible than anything close to what has occurred so far in America. But, one should do more than only consider just the ultimate horrors of what went on in Nazi Germany. One must think about the road that was travelled by the Germans to get to that point.

I believe one of the most serious misunderstandings about totalitarianism is that it arrives as a full package that requires no assembly. That it is put on the people, like a winter coat. All at one time, and in full view for all to see.

This is a grave misunderstanding.

I often wondered why more Jews didn't flee Nazi Germany. The answer did not come to me until I saw Roman Polanski's important movie, The Pianist.

In the movie, Polanski demonstrates how many Jews were simply one step behind. When Nazi Germany limited how much money a Jew could have, instead of leaving the country, many Jews debated where they should hide their money. When Jews were required to move to certain parts of the city, many Jews simply focused on how to find the best place to live, instead of leaving the country. And then, of course, eventually it was too late to leave the country.

Would some Jews, perhaps a few, have listened and benefited from early warnings of "fringe" voices about dangers? I think so. Would it have made sense to object to the Nazi limit on how much money a Jew could hold, and thus put at least a speed bump in the way of the Nazis? I think so.

No, they haven't pulled up the trains in America, yet. But, when the trains do pull up, it is too late.

It's clear what totalitarianism looks like and when I see it in America, I am going to object loud and clear. Whether it is groping TSA agents, or spying SEC agents. For it is those first steps where the battle needs to be won. Dehumanization in Germany, as Murray Sabrin points out, came step-by-step.

Dehumanization, whether it is groping. or limiting how much money an ethnic group can hold, is still dehumanization. It's the same road. We all know where that road led to in Nazi Germany. Maybe we can learn from history and stop the US from heading any further down that road.

Do my cries of warning put me on the fringe? Yes, they do. But it is a fringe group that I am proud to stand with.

23 comments:

  1. And we are proud to have you with us! Down with the tyrannical TSA.

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  2. Robert, thank you for such a courageous "dressing down" of a loyal reader. I'm sure MB thought they were mildly chastising you, and didn't anticipate such an eloquent subversion of their argument.

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  3. It's interesting that you bring up the movie, The Pianist. A friend suggested I watch it, which I did, and asked how I felt. Since I have some knowledge of history, I told her I thought the protagonist remaining in Poland after the war was very bothersome to me. When she asked why, I mentioned the pogroms of 1946, which was triggered when surviving Jews tried to reclaim their property. Until this point, about 500,000 Jews remained in Poland (out of a prewar population of about 3,500,000). Shortly after, Poland was almost completely denuded of Jews. I guess they finally got the message that the Poles didn't feel like killing 3,000,000 was enough. YET THIS GUY REMAINED BEHIND EVEN AFTER THE POGROMS! It really bothered me. Given your point, this is a perfect example.

    I also live in Israel, and the airport security here is real, not theater. Despite all the propaganda, it's really about safety, not humiliation. Clearly, everything related to airport security in America is all about humiliating the people.

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  4. This might be the best thing you've ever written.

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  5. I forgot to mention. My friend, also Jewish, and the daughter of survivors, had NO IDEA of the pogroms until I told her!

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  6. Given the evil of the German Nazi era, it is surprising that more American Jews are not speaking against the TSA.

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  7. You know they have gone to far when they called it Homeland Security in the first place. Garrison Keillor nailed it then.

    It sounds like fascism and is: the Fatherland/Motherland (In)Security Dept. We already have a Dept. of Defense and they didn't do their job on 9/11. So guess what? The bureaucrats stepped up to bat and voila, the TSA is born.

    And then there was the underwear bomber, so we had to buy all the rapeiscan machines from the company that M. Chertoff - remember him - now lobbies for, but they can't detect petn explosives in the first place.
    And the patdowns are more like pre custodial searches of suspects under arrest.

    Like, are we starting to get the hint, now?

    As per the Patriot Act, the Bailout, Healthcare etc. it ain't about anything but more power to big govt.

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  8. "No, they haven't pulled up the trains in America, yet. But, when the trains do pull up, it is too late."

    Camps?!? They don't need trains. Americans are already exactly where they want them. TPTB are much more efficient and methodical than the Nazi's ever were.

    They got it down.

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  9. The government schools are now weighing and measuring students and determining their body-mass-index. The government is busy outlawing certain foods. And on and on.

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  10. There is an interesting book called "We Thought We Were Free" about the German people and there almost complete cluelessness while tyrranny was imposed on them. The analogy for today is, if you get to Grandma's for Thanksgiving, even if you have to be pornoscanned or strip searched to get there, you are still free. After all, they are not preventing you from flying to Grandma's are they? Most people don't even remember that you used to be able to fly without ID or searches of any kind. You may be on the fringe, but you're (we're) not crazy.

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  11. In this world, anyone who's head is not buried in the sand, is necessarily on the fringe, a radical, an extremist. You're in good company, Robert.

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  12. Being the age I am I do not have to read about how Nazi Germany came into being. For those of us who lived thru that time we saw first one restrictive law or policy put into effect and then another, and another. One day we awakened to find that travel outside the country was forbidden and travel and freedoms within country were curtailed. To late we realized that The State had become all powerful. This was all done to give us a better life and more security! Wake up America!

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  13. I wrote an article about a month ago comparing the TSA to Hitler's Brownshirts.

    I guess I'm on the 'crazy fringe' also...

    http://libertythinkers.com/political/americas-storm-troopers/

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  14. The acceptance of scanning and body searches by the populace is VERY important for the powers that be. If you can justify scanning and searches at the air port, it is a very simple step to scanning and searches at bus stations, train stations and stadiums. Then you will see the mobile scanners (already built and tested) that scan pedestrians on the streets. When we are at that point, then no one will be able to appear in public with any weapon, and THAT is what our rulers want more than anything. They are in a hurry about this. I wonder why...

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  15. Thanks Robert, for the needed historical overview & analysis of how tyranny gradually, covertly gains power.

    Ever since the failed effort of Nimrod to build the tower at Babel, these tyrants (and their necessary analogue, 'sheeple' driven by appetite, lacking moral restraint) have repeatedly attempted to build a humanist utopia - only delivering hell-on-earth, instead.

    As believers in the Messiah, we acknowledge that He, in His power & timing, will put down Tyrants - by working thru his people who love Truth & self-sacrifice to gain Liberty.

    For a bit of encouragement, check out Psalm 2, "kings and judges of the earth..." must obey God, as their King or be destroyed in his wrath...so history is a struggle of men to live in a state of Liberty, under God, but free of tyrants who claim the powers of an earthly god.

    What we need to do is embody the character of Liberty loving Christian Patriots (as were the Founding Fathers...) and STOP contributing to the moral abdication of personal & familial responsibilities to the State.

    I know that's easier said than done, but recognizing the path of tranny early, and making our personal & familial path to run counter to it, would be a start.

    Protest the TSA mess; Loudly. Drive, stop flying, as long as this mess continues. The Airlines will scream uncle, congress will relent and abandone this madness.

    Or so we hope....but in any case, may God awaken us to our duty to pass on Liberty undiminished to our posterity !

    Samuel Adams, Jr.
    III %

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  16. I think this article misses the point: i.e. it's not a matter of heading off the Holocaust, it's a matter of the principle of not trading liberty for security-- or trusting government to give us that security, particularly when they've always been a step behind us for 9/11, the shoe-bomber and the underwear-bomber.

    I don't fear terrorists, for the reason that if they wanted to simply blow up a plane, then it would be a simple matter to do so; I can think of a dozen ways, in as many seconds.

    However if they wanted to actually hijack a plane ala 9/11, then ever since 9/11 they know that they'll have to pry the controls from the cold, dead hands of everyone else on board; thus, it will never again be attempted.

    These shoe and underwear-bombers are simply lame scare-tactics by terrorists to make Americans give up their freedoms-- and by golly they WORKED.

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  17. I've been singing the tune of America's horrible descent into a fascist totalitarian country for years now. I'm certain most of my family, who no longer have to hear my rantings because I know they're still buried deep in the "Matrix", still think I'm nuts. You're not on the fringe at all. The slippery slope is quite real and there is no greater entity in human history to whom the slippery slip analogy applies than government.

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  18. I've been singing the tune of America's horrible descent into a fascist totalitarian country for years now. I'm certain most of my family, who no longer have to hear my rantings because I know they're still buried deep in the "Matrix", still think I'm nuts. You're not on the fringe at all. The slippery slope is quite real and there is no greater entity in human history to whom the slippery slip analogy applies than government.

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  19. This article is simply saying that "the end of freedom will not come with a shout, but with a whisper."

    So I think I speak for all of us when I say "a-DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!!!!"

    I feel like I'm in a bad Orwellian sci-fi movie, like the public X-ray machines "Total Recall" or the universal retinal-scanners in "Minority Report," as I see that both of these being put in place. Welcome to the future.

    This author is kinder than I am; I get tired of people telling us that we can't call our government "fascist" because "it's not as bad as Nazi Germany--" well pardon me for wanting to KEEP it that way! If Ann Frank had kept a gun, she wouldn't have NEEDED to keep a diary.

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  20. This article simply says that "the end of freedom comes not with a shout but with a whisper--" and that "whoever would trade liberty for security shall lose both and deserves neither."

    Doesn't anyone read anymore? Apparently not; I feel like I'm in a bad Orwellian sci-fi movie, like the public X-ray machines "Total Recall" or the universal retinal-scanners in "Minority Report," as I see that both of these being put in place. Welcome to the future.

    This author is kinder than I am; I get tired of people telling us that we can't call our government "fascist" because "it's not as bad as Nazi Germany--" well pardon me for wanting to KEEP it that way! If Ann Frank had kept her gun when the government came for it, she wouldn't have NEEDED to keep a diary.

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  21. Hegelian Thesis:
    9/11; 7/7; induce maximum foreign hatred by mass murders and property destruction in Afghanistan and Iraq; MSM propaganda and fear-mongering.

    Hegelian Antithesis:
    Patriot Act; Homeland Security; TSA; MSM propaganda and fear-mongering, etc.

    The NAZIs left such a tempting legacy to modern government evil doers.

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  22. But I think you do yourself, & your site a serious disservice, to imply in any manner what-so-ever, that TSA has any similarities to Nazi German.

    The TSA is more akin to the KGB. There, I said it. I go there.

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  23. @scooter

    Check your facts.

    "1946, which was triggered when surviving Jews tried to reclaim their property"

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kielce_pogrom

    That wasn't a trigger for that pogrom. Also, you suggest that pogroms were common in post-war Poland, which is not reflected in facts.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Jewish_violence_in_Poland,_1944-1946

    The articles mentions 1000-2000 victims of Jewish ethnicity but we don't know the actual reasons of those deaths.

    "I guess they finally got the message that the Poles didn't feel like killing 3,000,000 was enough. YET THIS GUY REMAINED BEHIND EVEN AFTER THE POGROMS!"

    Well, you are insinuating here that Poles were somewhat responsible for the Holocaust or at least were happy with it and even decided to continue Nazi's work.

    "It really bothered me. Given your point, this is a perfect example."

    Maybe the pogroms weren't real problems after all. People were dying then quite often, mostly from the hands of communists, many of those being of Jewish descent.

    http://www.suite101.com/content/jewish-soviet-collaboration-in-stalinist-post-war-poland-a309923

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