Historical Deja Vu

  "If you only like Democracy when it goes your way, you don't actually like Democracy."

We are living in interesting times, as the saying goes and there are plenty of references to prove it, so I’ll let them speak to the dangerous direction our government is going.

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” Martin Niemöller, a Lutheran minister and national conservative, initially supported Adolf Hitler as a self-identified antisemite. As one of the founders of the Confessing Church, which opposed the Nazification of German Protestant churches, he was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps in 1938 and narrowly escaped execution. He later expressed deep regret at not having done enough to help victims of the Nazis.

 

“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.” -Barry Goldwater.

“When information which properly belongs to the public is systematically withheld by those in power, the people soon become ignorant of their own affairs, distrustful of those who manage them and—eventually—incapable of determining their own destinies.” —Richard Nixon.

“We now live in a nation where doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the press destroys information, religion destroys morals, and our banks destroy the economy.” --Chris Hedges.

“If you can convince the lowest white man that he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll even empty his pockets for you.” --Lyndon Johnson.

“[American democracy will fail ] if it is going to use this power to force the world into color prejudice and race antagonism; if it is going to use it to manufacture millionaires, increase the rule of wealth, and break down democratic government everywhere; if it is going increasingly to stand for reaction, fascism, white supremacy and imperialism; if it is going to promote war and not peace; then America will go the way of the Roman Empire.” --W.E.B. DuBois.

“The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow lively debate within that spectrum”--Noam Chomsky.