"A mighty antisemitic storm has broken over us," Alfred Wiener, Deputy Chair of the Central Association of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith, wrote in his 1919 pamphlet Prelude to Pogroms? Newspapers and magazines warned of "the Jewish plague," while "skillfully led organizations" with "unlimited funds" flooded Germany with posters, stickers, and hundreds of leaflets "in print runs of millions."
Take a moment and see how deep these roots of hate go. This article from Adam Serwer tells you all you need to know about Madison Grant. Hitler admired Grant and called his work The Passing of the Great Race “my bible.”
tRump and the GQP opened the floodgates of hate and bigotry which always have been there. People who can’t or won’t use their intelligence to combat this burgeoning outpouring of venom will be consumed by it.
I won't push the analogy too far but early Weimar Germany during the 20s was at the peak of western civilization in terms of art, science, music, culture, education etc. They were a functioning democracy but within ten years they descended into barbarism. Six million Jews were killed in the ovens, gas chambers and concentration camps in Poland and Germany. I was at Yad Vashem in Israel and have met survivors of the holocaust, some even showed me numbers tattooed on the inside of their forearms.
I believe we here in America as in other parts of the world are in a pre fascist moment sitting on a knife's edge about to fall into authoritarianism. One of our major political parties has now become an authoritarian leader cult. Propaganda, hate, lies, polarization and conspiracy theories have replaced reason and reality for large segments of the population addicted to right wing media like the FNC. Our electoral machinery in 18 states has become corrupted by partisan officials loyal to Trump and his big lie that the election was stolen. Health care officials, state election officials, Republican congress people, who voted to impeach Trump have all been threatened with violence and are being purged. Some even had to buy body armor. Jews and people of color have become scapegoats as far leader's stoke hate and bigotry for political gain. Someone the other day just asked me what would be a good country to move to if things don't work out? I replied New Zealand. But as of now I am not giving up hope!
The problem I see in people turning to fascism is that they don't admit that they have become fascists. It is a psychological defense mechanism that protects them from the truth. They still see Trump as a stable genius. It is a fascist fantasy. These people have been so bamboozled that truth and fiction have become meaningless.
Trump's followers are in survivalist mode as a result of years of unrelenting propaganda. They think the radical left Democrats are taking over their country with CRT, wokeness, open borders, and hostility to liberty and free markets who will then make it into a haven for socialists, who want to take their guns away and steal elections.
Interesting article! The scapegoating we see in fascism seems to reflect the sociopathic mind of the fascist leaders. Sociopaths see themselves as the "top dog" in the social structure and have an exaggerated view of social stratification. The unworthy are at the bottom and the glorious heros are at the top. So it becomes easy to target those at the bottom as the enemy of society. It is my opinion that most fascist policy is intimately linked to sociopathy (APD). Sociopathic behavior drives fascist behavior. The cold callous nature of the sociopathic leader rises to the surface in their politics. I'm beginning to wonder if fascism is possible without a sociopathic leader? Even the quasi-fascist Pinochet was a sociopath. Josef Mengele was a sociopath, as was Hitler. Trump being one as well, should be a huge warning sign about his ability to scapegoat and worse.
1. Since I began interacting with the world around me, many decades ago, as a Jew, I have been absolutely amazed that Judaism has not developed a strategy (primarily verbal, but also political, etc) for dealing with anti-Semitism.
2. I think it would be useful for someone (? Prof. ben-Ghiat? one of her students? ) to spend some time interviewing behavioral scientists to learn their thoughts on the origins of anti-Semitism, and some effective ways of dealing with it.
3. You mentioned Poland. Poland, and in particular the Polish Catholic church, have been the sources for a lot of anti-Semitism. I remember many years ago meeting a Polish Holocaust survivor. He told me about the time his Catholic friend (boyhood, pre-war Poland) invited him to church, so this fellow could see what went on in a Catholic church. Lo and behold, he heard the priest spewing vicious Jew hatred from the pulpit! And that occurred in other heavily Catholic countries, e.g. Slovakia.
4. Finally, on this matter, the Catholic church issued a famous document called We Remember, circa 1998, about the history of anti-Semitism. Everyone should read that very carefully--because the document carefully avoids indicting Catholicism for its centuries-long promotion and support of anti-Semitism.
On the subject of the Catholic church and Jews and the Holocaust, Stonehill College historian (and RCC priest) Kevin Spicer has written some excellent material.
I forgot to mention: after WW II, the president of the Slovakian republoic, thew REVEREND Josef Tiso--a Catholic priest--was executed as a war criminal.
And then, of course, there were the "ratlines", organized by Catholic priests in the Vatican, to help Nazis escape to Argentina.
P.S.: andthank you for the comments about Orthodox Jews. Amazing--though perhaps not really too surprising--that they so heavily supported the Grifter. Authoritarianism attracts authoritarianism.
I will have to think about that. It's clearly a function of personality characteristics, but are they the same for members of both groups? Yes, to the extent that members of "strict" and rigid religious groups-- evangelicals, Orthodox Jews, Mormons, konservative Catholics, etc--were supporters of the Orange Grifter.
At this moment I can't think of any obvious reason why your idea is not correct, and I guess there is a good chance it is correct, but before I accept it I want to think of reasons it might NOT be true. And then, if I cannot think of any, I wll agree with you.
Chris Hedges book, "American Fascists" is all about Christo-fascism as seen from the inside. He shows the connection between religious fascism and political fascism.
I appreciate the good will prompting your suggestion, but I will explain why I regard Hedges as a colossal waste of time.
I read his work many years ago, when he was a reporter for the NY Times, and read a few of his pieces for other publications.
I did not see much evidence of deep curiosity in his work. Nor have I ever seen, anywhere in his work, evidence that he's had any conract, in academic coursework or reading, with topics such as economics, business, science, human behavior, philosophy, logic, and other topics.
If I am recalling correctly, he describes himself as a socialist. Although such a description suggests empathy with the poor (and I sympathize with that--and support it in a concrete way), to me it suggests a poor understanding of human nature, business, economics, etc. That to me renders him very literally worse than useless as an analyst of any kind.
Amen Ruth, the same with many of the Hebrew faith who supported and backed the German fascists regime. I do not think many understand this history as we are seeing now within the chaos of our days. Some clearly have a survival instinct which plays to the wrong side again. I myself was very alarmed when the prior Netanyahu played down the actions and language of past fascists, as if to compromise or soften it's real meanings and history. Something that never should be allowed to happen and still leaves me questioning the reasons or motives for this abhorrent behavior. I am and was just as alarmed with our prior administrations behaviors also along with the blind following and behaviors of those that supposedly claim my faith also. Stephen Millers own family wrote and spoke of their contempt of his behaviors also which probably was in alignment with how I felt seeing an autographing of or upside down bible. One thing of which all dictators, authoritarian or fascist regimes do is to start by motivating and manipulating the extremes religious or other. It is as you know so well their classic playbook to takeover leadership and authority or inserection coup attempt which was plagued with this kind of religious idolatry symbolism of which is actually devoid of any real faith. Thank you for keeping us all informed and alert to these historic alarms so we can continue to fight against them. # MDDOS
I appreciate the article. 1. I think the support by any Jews of the GOP is very shortsighted. The democratic party is their natural home 2. Israel is losing a tremendous amount of support by their treatment of the Palestinians. That includes people like me who are proud of the creation of Israel but ashamed of how they've used their power. 3. Jewish organizations in the US have a been a positive force for democracy. They've strengthened the US probably like no other minority groups. Indians probably come the closest.
It's truly remarkable to me how people are able to divorce consequences from their actions. Not only are they able to rationalize historical consequences from current actions that mirror historical actions (modern times are different, what happened to someone exactly like me could never happen to me), but emotion consistently overrides logic. We've watched this happen in real-time: the rise of authoritarianism, the rise of Covid-denialism, and the rise of global warming. A sentient being should clearly understand how it will all end, yet nothing is changing except for the worse. Even the US media is pandering to the easy ratings by focusing on scandal and outrage. Ignorance, hatred and scapegoating for immediate dopamine gratification seem to be far preferable to 40% of the population while greed and power subsumed another 20%, leaving the rest of us able to clearly see the solutions but lacking the political or economic ability to effectuate said solutions. I'm bearish on humanity...I hope that others see the tide turning where I do not.
I think you-re right--to put it another way, emotion overrides and distorts reason for almost all human beings. That's why, for example, science is done the way it is--to try to overcome this problem.
There's also a well-known law of human nature called confirmation bias. (See Wiki for explanation.)
These are some of the reasons I try to remember to look for information that contradicts what I think I believe, and why I ask friends to point out where they think I am wrong.
On the matter of the differences between liberals and konservatives, the psychologist (scientist) Jonathan Haidt has written some excellent material.
That's true of our political reality, but it goes deeper. How many people ignored warnings about smoking, despite horrific evidence of its carnage? Or drinking and driving? Or a host of other activities. I pleaded with people to leave Facebook 5 years ago, but they always had lame excuses for why they simply had to feed the antidemocratic propaganda monster.
Indeed! Even when gven corrective information, many will not change their position. It's called the Backfire Effect. It is common in conservatives but rare in liberals.
Although there is a very vocal group of folks who would identify as 'liberal's who are vehement anti-vaxxers. No factor study or expert can penetrate their certainty that vaccines are dangerous. I hope this is a small percentage, but I fear that it's a larger group than we might imagine.
I have been watching with increasing alarm (since 1981) the rise in Jew hatred. It was forty years ago I discovered a newspaper from the Institute for Historical Review that claimed the Holocaust was a hoax. If you’d like to read a chapter about the problems that Ruth addresses in this article, might I suggest this from the book “Cruelty is the Point by Adam Serwer.
Thanks for another great article.
Take a moment and see how deep these roots of hate go. This article from Adam Serwer tells you all you need to know about Madison Grant. Hitler admired Grant and called his work The Passing of the Great Race “my bible.”
Yikes.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/04/adam-serwer-madison-grant-white-nationalism/583258/
tRump and the GQP opened the floodgates of hate and bigotry which always have been there. People who can’t or won’t use their intelligence to combat this burgeoning outpouring of venom will be consumed by it.
I won't push the analogy too far but early Weimar Germany during the 20s was at the peak of western civilization in terms of art, science, music, culture, education etc. They were a functioning democracy but within ten years they descended into barbarism. Six million Jews were killed in the ovens, gas chambers and concentration camps in Poland and Germany. I was at Yad Vashem in Israel and have met survivors of the holocaust, some even showed me numbers tattooed on the inside of their forearms.
I believe we here in America as in other parts of the world are in a pre fascist moment sitting on a knife's edge about to fall into authoritarianism. One of our major political parties has now become an authoritarian leader cult. Propaganda, hate, lies, polarization and conspiracy theories have replaced reason and reality for large segments of the population addicted to right wing media like the FNC. Our electoral machinery in 18 states has become corrupted by partisan officials loyal to Trump and his big lie that the election was stolen. Health care officials, state election officials, Republican congress people, who voted to impeach Trump have all been threatened with violence and are being purged. Some even had to buy body armor. Jews and people of color have become scapegoats as far leader's stoke hate and bigotry for political gain. Someone the other day just asked me what would be a good country to move to if things don't work out? I replied New Zealand. But as of now I am not giving up hope!
The problem I see in people turning to fascism is that they don't admit that they have become fascists. It is a psychological defense mechanism that protects them from the truth. They still see Trump as a stable genius. It is a fascist fantasy. These people have been so bamboozled that truth and fiction have become meaningless.
Trump's followers are in survivalist mode as a result of years of unrelenting propaganda. They think the radical left Democrats are taking over their country with CRT, wokeness, open borders, and hostility to liberty and free markets who will then make it into a haven for socialists, who want to take their guns away and steal elections.
Yes, it is delusion, paranoia and anger with a bit of machismo mixed in. The anti-Marxist sentiment is McCarthyist for sure.
Interesting article! The scapegoating we see in fascism seems to reflect the sociopathic mind of the fascist leaders. Sociopaths see themselves as the "top dog" in the social structure and have an exaggerated view of social stratification. The unworthy are at the bottom and the glorious heros are at the top. So it becomes easy to target those at the bottom as the enemy of society. It is my opinion that most fascist policy is intimately linked to sociopathy (APD). Sociopathic behavior drives fascist behavior. The cold callous nature of the sociopathic leader rises to the surface in their politics. I'm beginning to wonder if fascism is possible without a sociopathic leader? Even the quasi-fascist Pinochet was a sociopath. Josef Mengele was a sociopath, as was Hitler. Trump being one as well, should be a huge warning sign about his ability to scapegoat and worse.
A century ago, Arturo Toscanini referred to antisemitism as "medieval stuff." We seem to have not made much enduring progress over the decades.
Another important piece.
A few observations:
1. Since I began interacting with the world around me, many decades ago, as a Jew, I have been absolutely amazed that Judaism has not developed a strategy (primarily verbal, but also political, etc) for dealing with anti-Semitism.
2. I think it would be useful for someone (? Prof. ben-Ghiat? one of her students? ) to spend some time interviewing behavioral scientists to learn their thoughts on the origins of anti-Semitism, and some effective ways of dealing with it.
3. You mentioned Poland. Poland, and in particular the Polish Catholic church, have been the sources for a lot of anti-Semitism. I remember many years ago meeting a Polish Holocaust survivor. He told me about the time his Catholic friend (boyhood, pre-war Poland) invited him to church, so this fellow could see what went on in a Catholic church. Lo and behold, he heard the priest spewing vicious Jew hatred from the pulpit! And that occurred in other heavily Catholic countries, e.g. Slovakia.
4. Finally, on this matter, the Catholic church issued a famous document called We Remember, circa 1998, about the history of anti-Semitism. Everyone should read that very carefully--because the document carefully avoids indicting Catholicism for its centuries-long promotion and support of anti-Semitism.
Excellent observations!
On the subject of the Catholic church and Jews and the Holocaust, Stonehill College historian (and RCC priest) Kevin Spicer has written some excellent material.
Thank you.
I forgot to mention: after WW II, the president of the Slovakian republoic, thew REVEREND Josef Tiso--a Catholic priest--was executed as a war criminal.
And then, of course, there were the "ratlines", organized by Catholic priests in the Vatican, to help Nazis escape to Argentina.
And so on and so on and so on.
P.S.: andthank you for the comments about Orthodox Jews. Amazing--though perhaps not really too surprising--that they so heavily supported the Grifter. Authoritarianism attracts authoritarianism.
It's the same reason why Christo-fascists support Trump.
I will have to think about that. It's clearly a function of personality characteristics, but are they the same for members of both groups? Yes, to the extent that members of "strict" and rigid religious groups-- evangelicals, Orthodox Jews, Mormons, konservative Catholics, etc--were supporters of the Orange Grifter.
At this moment I can't think of any obvious reason why your idea is not correct, and I guess there is a good chance it is correct, but before I accept it I want to think of reasons it might NOT be true. And then, if I cannot think of any, I wll agree with you.
Chris Hedges book, "American Fascists" is all about Christo-fascism as seen from the inside. He shows the connection between religious fascism and political fascism.
I appreciate the good will prompting your suggestion, but I will explain why I regard Hedges as a colossal waste of time.
I read his work many years ago, when he was a reporter for the NY Times, and read a few of his pieces for other publications.
I did not see much evidence of deep curiosity in his work. Nor have I ever seen, anywhere in his work, evidence that he's had any conract, in academic coursework or reading, with topics such as economics, business, science, human behavior, philosophy, logic, and other topics.
If I am recalling correctly, he describes himself as a socialist. Although such a description suggests empathy with the poor (and I sympathize with that--and support it in a concrete way), to me it suggests a poor understanding of human nature, business, economics, etc. That to me renders him very literally worse than useless as an analyst of any kind.
https://hartmannreport.com/p/trump-salted-the-earth-against-biden
This is also a good article
Amen Ruth, the same with many of the Hebrew faith who supported and backed the German fascists regime. I do not think many understand this history as we are seeing now within the chaos of our days. Some clearly have a survival instinct which plays to the wrong side again. I myself was very alarmed when the prior Netanyahu played down the actions and language of past fascists, as if to compromise or soften it's real meanings and history. Something that never should be allowed to happen and still leaves me questioning the reasons or motives for this abhorrent behavior. I am and was just as alarmed with our prior administrations behaviors also along with the blind following and behaviors of those that supposedly claim my faith also. Stephen Millers own family wrote and spoke of their contempt of his behaviors also which probably was in alignment with how I felt seeing an autographing of or upside down bible. One thing of which all dictators, authoritarian or fascist regimes do is to start by motivating and manipulating the extremes religious or other. It is as you know so well their classic playbook to takeover leadership and authority or inserection coup attempt which was plagued with this kind of religious idolatry symbolism of which is actually devoid of any real faith. Thank you for keeping us all informed and alert to these historic alarms so we can continue to fight against them. # MDDOS
Agree!
I appreciate the article. 1. I think the support by any Jews of the GOP is very shortsighted. The democratic party is their natural home 2. Israel is losing a tremendous amount of support by their treatment of the Palestinians. That includes people like me who are proud of the creation of Israel but ashamed of how they've used their power. 3. Jewish organizations in the US have a been a positive force for democracy. They've strengthened the US probably like no other minority groups. Indians probably come the closest.
Agree with everything you said.
Agree
It's truly remarkable to me how people are able to divorce consequences from their actions. Not only are they able to rationalize historical consequences from current actions that mirror historical actions (modern times are different, what happened to someone exactly like me could never happen to me), but emotion consistently overrides logic. We've watched this happen in real-time: the rise of authoritarianism, the rise of Covid-denialism, and the rise of global warming. A sentient being should clearly understand how it will all end, yet nothing is changing except for the worse. Even the US media is pandering to the easy ratings by focusing on scandal and outrage. Ignorance, hatred and scapegoating for immediate dopamine gratification seem to be far preferable to 40% of the population while greed and power subsumed another 20%, leaving the rest of us able to clearly see the solutions but lacking the political or economic ability to effectuate said solutions. I'm bearish on humanity...I hope that others see the tide turning where I do not.
What you are describing is known as post-truth, where feelings are more accurate than facts, for the political subordination of reality.
I think you-re right--to put it another way, emotion overrides and distorts reason for almost all human beings. That's why, for example, science is done the way it is--to try to overcome this problem.
There's also a well-known law of human nature called confirmation bias. (See Wiki for explanation.)
These are some of the reasons I try to remember to look for information that contradicts what I think I believe, and why I ask friends to point out where they think I am wrong.
On the matter of the differences between liberals and konservatives, the psychologist (scientist) Jonathan Haidt has written some excellent material.
Yes, I'm familiar with confirmation bias as my education is in social psychology.
Excellent! To me, that says you--like me, but unlike some folks lacking in science education-- understand the need for quality data.
That's true of our political reality, but it goes deeper. How many people ignored warnings about smoking, despite horrific evidence of its carnage? Or drinking and driving? Or a host of other activities. I pleaded with people to leave Facebook 5 years ago, but they always had lame excuses for why they simply had to feed the antidemocratic propaganda monster.
Indeed! Even when gven corrective information, many will not change their position. It's called the Backfire Effect. It is common in conservatives but rare in liberals.
Although there is a very vocal group of folks who would identify as 'liberal's who are vehement anti-vaxxers. No factor study or expert can penetrate their certainty that vaccines are dangerous. I hope this is a small percentage, but I fear that it's a larger group than we might imagine.
Truth
#truth
I have been watching with increasing alarm (since 1981) the rise in Jew hatred. It was forty years ago I discovered a newspaper from the Institute for Historical Review that claimed the Holocaust was a hoax. If you’d like to read a chapter about the problems that Ruth addresses in this article, might I suggest this from the book “Cruelty is the Point by Adam Serwer.
https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Cruelty_Is_the_Point.html?id=7VQ0EAAAQBAJ
I have often wondered if the point of Holocaust denial is to get Jews (and others, of course) andgy and aroused.
...*angry* and aroused.