William Lindsey Sep 29, 2024

People focus on Hitler and Nazi leaders and the atrocious lethal lies they told to justify the mass murder of Jews.

But they should focus also on the willingness of very many people to believe those lies, to cheer and assist as their Jewish neighbors were rounded up and sent to their deaths.

The problem is never just the Hitlers, the Nazis. The problem is us, many of us — our propensity to stigmatize and hate.

#Trump #Republicans #Hitler #Nazis #immigrants #BloodLibel #PoliticsofHate
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Show threadWilliam Lindsey Sep 29, 2024

In a powerful essay written with his usual lucidity, Timothy Snyder comments on Trump's "Hitlerian month" and the continued refusal of many American commentators to acknowledge the clear parallels between what Trump and Vance are doing and saying what Hitler did and said.

As Snyder notes, the myth of American exceptionalism forces us to pretend it can't happen to us, the good guys.

#Trump #Republicans #Hitler #Nazis #immigrants #BloodLibel #PoliticsofHate
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https://snyder.substack.com/p/trumps-hitlerian-month

Trump's Hitlerian Month

A September to Remember

Thinking about...
Show threadWilliam Lindsey Sep 29, 2024

But:

"The reason why we keep alive the memory of Nazi crimes is not because it could never happen here, but because something similar can always happen anywhere. That memory has to include the details of history, or else we will not recognize the dangers.

'Never again' is something that you work for, not something that you inherit."

#Trump #Republicans #Hitler #Nazis #immigrants #BloodLibel #PoliticsofHate
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Show threadLooking for explanations…
@wdlindsy
Unfortunately “never again” has come to mean that such a thing could not ever happen again because of what we’ve learned as a result. But if we’re not encouraged to analyse & compare, to use critical thinking skills, then it’s not just possible, it’s likely.
Sep 30, 2024 at 7:36amWeb
Show threadWilliam Lindsey Sep 30, 2024
@Susan60 I agree. Very well-stated. You put the point precisely.
Show threadLooking for explanations…Sep 30, 2024
@wdlindsy
I’m a history teacher, & while I find history fascinating, I think our ability to learn from it is very limited.
Show threadWilliam Lindsey Sep 30, 2024
@Susan60 I agree, and I'd say that's particularly the case for Americans, who have a shallow, uninformed sense of history, many of us.
Show threadLooking for explanations…Sep 30, 2024

@wdlindsy

Sadly, that’s the impression I get.

Show threadWilliam Lindsey Sep 30, 2024
@Susan60 Same for me. My area of concentration in my Ph.D. work was history, so that field has long interested me, and my work in it convinces me more and more that many Americans just have little interest in history or much of a clue about it.
Show threadLooking for explanations…Oct 1, 2024

@wdlindsy

Mine, in Australia, was modern feminist history, including units on sexuality & “deviance”, or rather, the treatment of those who don’t “fit”. Also a unit on religion, & units on American history & politics.

What gets me is the professed patriotism of Americans, alongside their ignorance. How can anyone think that their country is “great”, when they know so little? Either about their own country &/or anywhere else?

Show threadWilliam Lindsey Oct 1, 2024
@Susan60 I think the professed patriotism of many Americans positively demands historical ignorance. It's impossible to sustain the myth of American innocence if you know much history at all. This is why so many of those on the political right and even the center want to shut down teaching of real history in our schools. Better to tailor what we say about our history in history books to those wanting to sustain the myths.
Show threadLooking for explanations…Oct 1, 2024

@wdlindsy

It’s a very sad state of affairs. I thought the opening scene of The Newsroom summed it up well.

Show threadWilliam Lindsey Oct 1, 2024
@Susan60 I hadn't thought of that good movie for a long time. Thanks for bringing it back to mind.