Germany--and Japan--did have a tradition of a top down society and following the leader at the pinnacle. Plus it had a strong military tradition. When the Kaiser went into exile it left a space for another tyrant unconstrained by weak democratic norms to take over. (Arguably Russia has similarities here too.) The U.S. is more diverse and…
Germany--and Japan--did have a tradition of a top down society and following the leader at the pinnacle. Plus it had a strong military tradition. When the Kaiser went into exile it left a space for another tyrant unconstrained by weak democratic norms to take over. (Arguably Russia has similarities here too.) The U.S. is more diverse and localized than that, though I wouldn't count on our traditions to protect us either.
But the weakness of a system where people turn their brains off and do just what they are told en masse is that when the leader is gone it is hard to replace him. Trump certainly does not seem in the best of mental or physical health, and there's nobody in the wings with his animal charisma. (Of course not as he would not groom a rival--see how fast he'll have a falling out with Musk.) Still, that's a pretty weak reed on which to wait for better times. Followers don't want to hear what upsets their view of the world and their place in it, but one has to keep saying the truth as not everybody is hypnotized as most people just go along to get along and on some level still know right from wrong. As my father-in-law said after he fled Germany in 1939, "The Nazis took everything from the Jews except their knowledge that Hitler was wrong".
Good Point docrhw Weil.Russia is unique, though ostensibly a wesern(ized) culture, it is still Asiatic, and by that I mean the legacy of Jenghis Khan and his sons. 1/6th of Russians are descendants of Jehnghis and by the looks of him, so is Putin.
The Russian tradition even before Jehghis has been brutalized rule by Pechenegs (nomadic Turkic tribe), , then Ivan the Terrible and despite the epithet Great, Peter and Katherine who were brutal. Peter worked his virtual slaves to death,building his city, Petersburg in a marsh.
All they know is brutality, and brutality is normal, accepted.
Germany--and Japan--did have a tradition of a top down society and following the leader at the pinnacle. Plus it had a strong military tradition. When the Kaiser went into exile it left a space for another tyrant unconstrained by weak democratic norms to take over. (Arguably Russia has similarities here too.) The U.S. is more diverse and localized than that, though I wouldn't count on our traditions to protect us either.
But the weakness of a system where people turn their brains off and do just what they are told en masse is that when the leader is gone it is hard to replace him. Trump certainly does not seem in the best of mental or physical health, and there's nobody in the wings with his animal charisma. (Of course not as he would not groom a rival--see how fast he'll have a falling out with Musk.) Still, that's a pretty weak reed on which to wait for better times. Followers don't want to hear what upsets their view of the world and their place in it, but one has to keep saying the truth as not everybody is hypnotized as most people just go along to get along and on some level still know right from wrong. As my father-in-law said after he fled Germany in 1939, "The Nazis took everything from the Jews except their knowledge that Hitler was wrong".
Good Point docrhw Weil.Russia is unique, though ostensibly a wesern(ized) culture, it is still Asiatic, and by that I mean the legacy of Jenghis Khan and his sons. 1/6th of Russians are descendants of Jehnghis and by the looks of him, so is Putin.
The Russian tradition even before Jehghis has been brutalized rule by Pechenegs (nomadic Turkic tribe), , then Ivan the Terrible and despite the epithet Great, Peter and Katherine who were brutal. Peter worked his virtual slaves to death,building his city, Petersburg in a marsh.
All they know is brutality, and brutality is normal, accepted.