8/ Complete moral degradation, abandonment of care for life and the environment, doublethink and newspeak. And so very powerful. Shocking times.

Of course the US is not Germany, and this is not the 30s. But there is remarkable similarities in belligerence and pace of change. And, like the Nazis, this new regime has no real allies ... it will use anyone and anything to achieve its aims, which are still shrouded.

6/ ... on March 17, 1933, [in]stepped the jaunty Dr. Schacht, the former head of the Reichsbank and devoted follower of Hitler, who had seen the “truth and necessity” of Nazism. No single man in all of Germany would be more helpful to Hitler in building up the economic strength of the Third Reich ..

5/ The free trade unions, which, as we have seen, once had crushed the fascist Kapp putsch by the simple means of declaring a general strike, were disposed of as easily as the political parties and the states—though not until an elaborate piece, of trickery had been practiced on them.

4/ The Nazi Party alone remained, and on July 14 a law decreed: The ... Party constitutes the only political party in Germany. Whoever undertakes to maintain the organizational structure of another political party ... will be punished with penal servitude up to three years ...

3/ The preamble to the law of January 30, 1934, proclaimed that it was “promulgated with the unanimous vote of the Reichstag.” This was true, for by this time all the political parties of Germany except the Nazis had been quickly eliminated. It cannot be said that they went down fighting.

2/ One by one, Germany’s most powerful institutions now began to surrender to Hitler and to pass quietly, unprotestingly out of existence. The states, which had stubbornly maintained their separate powers throughout German history, were the first to fall.

1/ it really is depressing but also illuminating to reread the chapter entitled 'The Nazification of Germany' in Shirer's famous history. Some select quotes, starting here:

I woke up this morning and realised that the US is serious about destroying Canada; is actively abetting Russia in murdering soldiers in an allied country; and is doing what Goering did to universities. It's just so incredibly scary and bizarre. The world upended.

@melissa-chan.bsky.social. Melissa, you sound like you're quite the scholar. There is a very large body of English language literature about trans identity and history in Thailand. I'm sure you would find it interesting.

@mfwitches.bsky.social Onya witches! If you actually manage to hole those dropkicks and their enabling radio station below the waterline, there will be a national celebration.

#booksky

I work in Asia and I'm old. My brilliant young colleague, a 24 year old socialist from Nottingham, said everyone in her office - all her age, some gay, some non-white - are 100% for Trump. He'll fix it, just like Jimmy Savile - the economy, immigration, just everything. Shit is mad.

@mikecarlton01.bsky.social Very pleased you have switched over.