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When the right-wing elite turned fascist
From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee
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| Chum For Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters |
When the right-wing elite turned fascist
An interesting thing happened in Germany between World War I
and World War II. A major industrial nation weakened, conservatives embraced
public austerity, and the citizens embraced extremist authoritarian politicians
to save them from their problems. Instead, citizens lost control of their
government, pulling a whole new set of problems down upon themselves.
This could be just an interesting bit of history if not for
the fact that something very similar has been happening in America over the
last few decades. Self-seeking private interests are overwhelming public-minded
civic servants. Let’s explore these related political dynamics. The same tragedy
is not inevitable for us, especially if we take notice and choose to follow a
different path.
Germany responded to depression by enforcing austerity,
dismissing many public servants, and cutting the wages and benefits of others.
The result was that unemployment increased even further and general
