In your words you also outline the glimmer of hope:
Billionaires aren’t genius or superhuman or at least creative.
They’re power is a consequence of social constructs like states, econonies etc. which all in the last resort exist due to the majoritys approval and willingsnes to participate.
Since capitalism isn’t a natural law it stops functioning if the majority abandons it… which will happen if shit gets bad enough. Revolutions throughout history habe overthrown economic and societal models numerous time due to the simple fact that all of this is just a temporary agreed upon by all of us.
Thanks for the encouraging words—I see it exactly the same way, but sometimes I’m a bit disheartened by how many people remain inactive or just don’t care in the slightest.
It’s probably just as you say: Apparently, a catastrophe will have to happen first before people shake off their apathy.
The only question for me is what form that catastrophe will take: Climate change, in any case, will be irreversible. And from the history of my home country, I also know just how high a price must be paid for people to realize that fascism is merely a tool used by the powerful to realize their megalomaniacal fantasies of power in a totalitarian state that nips all resistance in the bud.
It’s hard to believe, but even in Germany, those wretched Nazis are on the rise again. The last time, the stupidity of the population—which failed to prevent their seizure of power—led to one of the greatest catastrophes humanity has ever experienced: millions upon millions were murdered. And now many of my fellow citizens have forgotten this, or are repressing all the horror and inhumanity, because they refuse to acknowledge who the true enemies of the people really are.
I find that deeply shameful—especially because I come from Germany, a country where citizens should know better.
I find all of this frightening and extremely frustrating, but of course you’re absolutely right: we mustn’t lose hope, even if the monsters of this world are tightening their stranglehold significantly these days, precisely through technology.
In my more cynical moments, I’ve come to think that maybe every few generations we need an authoritarian state to burn through all the dictatorship fans on the front lines. My main problem is that I’m caught up in it myself.
When it comes to modern fascism, it strikes me that the ideological foundation is nowhere near as solid and well-established as it was in the 1930s. Trump and his ilk are so obviously out to line their own pockets that even extremely ignorant people would likely find it hard to ignore that in the long run. Especially since, due to their short-sighted greed, it’s likely to have negative effects on the daily lives of average citizens much more quickly.
As far as I can tell, even within the AfD’s core voter base, there is currently little fanaticism that could overshadow the reality of wars of aggression and immense military casualties… unlike in 1939; I sincerely hope I am correct in this assessment. However, “Führer” Höcke is receiving backing from billionaires and autocrats around the world, and today’s surveillance tools are more sophisticated than they were back then.
Let’s just hope that Putin and Trump collapse before things get as bad as they could here… since the right wing is the party of egoists and opportunists, they would likely tear themselves apart in a fight over dwindling resources if that were to happen.
In your words you also outline the glimmer of hope: Billionaires aren’t genius or superhuman or at least creative.
They’re power is a consequence of social constructs like states, econonies etc. which all in the last resort exist due to the majoritys approval and willingsnes to participate. Since capitalism isn’t a natural law it stops functioning if the majority abandons it… which will happen if shit gets bad enough. Revolutions throughout history habe overthrown economic and societal models numerous time due to the simple fact that all of this is just a temporary agreed upon by all of us.
Thanks for the encouraging words—I see it exactly the same way, but sometimes I’m a bit disheartened by how many people remain inactive or just don’t care in the slightest.
It’s probably just as you say: Apparently, a catastrophe will have to happen first before people shake off their apathy.
The only question for me is what form that catastrophe will take: Climate change, in any case, will be irreversible. And from the history of my home country, I also know just how high a price must be paid for people to realize that fascism is merely a tool used by the powerful to realize their megalomaniacal fantasies of power in a totalitarian state that nips all resistance in the bud.
It’s hard to believe, but even in Germany, those wretched Nazis are on the rise again. The last time, the stupidity of the population—which failed to prevent their seizure of power—led to one of the greatest catastrophes humanity has ever experienced: millions upon millions were murdered. And now many of my fellow citizens have forgotten this, or are repressing all the horror and inhumanity, because they refuse to acknowledge who the true enemies of the people really are.
I find that deeply shameful—especially because I come from Germany, a country where citizens should know better.
I find all of this frightening and extremely frustrating, but of course you’re absolutely right: we mustn’t lose hope, even if the monsters of this world are tightening their stranglehold significantly these days, precisely through technology.
In my more cynical moments, I’ve come to think that maybe every few generations we need an authoritarian state to burn through all the dictatorship fans on the front lines. My main problem is that I’m caught up in it myself.
When it comes to modern fascism, it strikes me that the ideological foundation is nowhere near as solid and well-established as it was in the 1930s. Trump and his ilk are so obviously out to line their own pockets that even extremely ignorant people would likely find it hard to ignore that in the long run. Especially since, due to their short-sighted greed, it’s likely to have negative effects on the daily lives of average citizens much more quickly.
As far as I can tell, even within the AfD’s core voter base, there is currently little fanaticism that could overshadow the reality of wars of aggression and immense military casualties… unlike in 1939; I sincerely hope I am correct in this assessment. However, “Führer” Höcke is receiving backing from billionaires and autocrats around the world, and today’s surveillance tools are more sophisticated than they were back then.
Let’s just hope that Putin and Trump collapse before things get as bad as they could here… since the right wing is the party of egoists and opportunists, they would likely tear themselves apart in a fight over dwindling resources if that were to happen.