People focus on Hitler and Nazi leaders and the atrocious lethal lies they told to justify the mass murder of Jews.
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@wdlindsy @Burnt_Veggies @lawyersgunsnmoney @Npars01 @lolonurse Thank you for this link. It is illuminating.
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@wdlindsy @lolonurse @Burnt_Veggies @Npars01 People need to be thinking about that right this second. The MAGAs are being called to arms and have been training for years. They show their red MAGA hats and engage in intimidation all over the US. IMO no different from the Nazis of the 30s or the Klan from past to present
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@lawyersgunsnmoney @lolonurse @Burnt_Veggies @Npars01 Yes, it's definitely something my spouse and I and friends talk about — have talked about since Trump "won" in 2016. The problem is that we're getting up in years, and making a major life transition is just harder as one gets older. And this makes me think, of course, of all the stories I've heard about Jewish people knowing it was better to leave Germany and Nazi-occupied countries, but unable to do that with ease. And then horrors ensued.
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@3dogcouch @Burnt_Veggies @lawyersgunsnmoney @Npars01 @lolonurse You're welcome!
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to kmetz last edited by
@kmetz I think it's not possible to convince some people that they are being lied to and are succumbing to lies. A certain cultic mentality assures that some people are impervious to truth, fact, reason. They have ostracized themselves by placing themselves in a cultic shell where nothing beyond cultic "truth" reaches them.
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to Nihl L'Amas last edited by
@NIH_LLAMAS @lolonurse @Burnt_Veggies @lawyersgunsnmoney @Npars01
I subscribe to both Cuda's and Stewartson's blogs and have never seen them grifting anyone. They surely have not grifted to me. I think Cuda has valuable insights to offer as an Emmy-winning journalist and author of a number of books.
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to Nicole Parsons last edited by
@Npars01 @lolonurse @Burnt_Veggies @lawyersgunsnmoney Yes — people almost never willingly relinquish power over others and the privileges that dominative power brings.
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to Burnt Veggies last edited by
@Burnt_Veggies @lolonurse @lawyersgunsnmoney @Npars01 I agree. People can have a string of college degrees and be seriously uneducated. And by contrast, they can lack formal education and be educated. I think the ideal, of course, is to have actual education. But possessing a college degree is no guarantee that someone will be wise, humane, insightful — with both heart and head well-educated.
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to Toxy 🔬🇪🇺🇸🇪🇬🇧🇺🇦 last edited by
@toxy Thank you. That looks like a book I must add to my reading list. Two similar books you may find worth reading are Julia Boyd's Travellers in the Third Reich and A Village in the Third Reich.
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kmetzreplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy Yes. Trying to convince people by reason can even drive them in further. Ostracising does too, obviously, it reaffirms a „us vs. them“ cult mentality and is exactly what cult leaders are looking for. People often got trapped by propaganda, instead of having made a sane decision to join a cult. It‘s brainwashing.
What can help is expertise from cult counseling, listening to what quitters say.
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@wdlindsy What I gathered from cult experts over the years comes down to–
Not talking about it much, other than placing seeds of doubt. Instead, talking about normal, positive things, common interests, sports, hobbies, shared experiences from the past, etc. And that members always carry a scepticism or suspicions against their cult, which grows bigger, the less „cult content“ they are constantly surrounded with or have in mind (incl. any counterarguments). People can only leave on their own. -
CassandraVertreplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy
It doesn't make sense that academics would support Hitler because fascists hate education. -
William Lindsey :toad:replied to CassandraVert last edited by
@CassandraVert But academics can be interested in power, in serving powerful people. Spend a day in a university setting, interacting with faculty and administrators, and you'll see that behavior over and over.
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to kmetz last edited by
@kmetz Yes, I think there's a "gateway" aspect to cults, in which people are groomed by being shown a benign side of the cult they may eventually join. And I agree that they can get out only on their own (though often with assistance from other former members).
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kmetzreplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy Yes. Former members are so important to society.
I also see real evil recruitment tactics being used by those cults. They are fishing for fearful, vulnerable people, and for that are trying to fuel any perceived vulnerability, like constantly downtalking the economy (and a lot more, I don‘t even want to).
It reminds of 1920 Fascists and Marxists who believed making things worse for others would be some sort of „neccessity“. Such movements tend to self-corrupt and thus fail, luckily. -
@wdlindsy I believe the more there is now that motivates people out of cults, the more there will be when they implode.
And I see a lot of what happens these days as a sort of stress test, as an opportunity for societal improvements overall (in computer science / cyber security it’d be “pen testing”, one could say of democracy and our core values, which can only grow by it. Forgive me when I’m being too technical )
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to kmetz last edited by
@kmetz Yes, I agree. You're making very good points in these statements.
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@wdlindsy In essence, what I *feel* matters is (actual) truth, empathy and love. And love is stronger than hate, otherwise we wouldn’t even be here ️
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to kmetz last edited by
@kmetz I agree.
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Phoenix Gee 🥥🌴😸💃replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy @lawyersgunsnmoney @Npars01 @lolonurse "Who in their right mind would welcome authoritarianism?" - The answer is:
People who were brought up conditioned that forcing their will on others is normal.
People who were brought up conditioned that having someone else's will forced on them is normal.
People who are fervent followers of the Leopards-Eating-Peoples-Faces party.
And lastly people who dream of becoming relevant if the current society is replaced.