I was in Chile a month before the coup and got out fast. Things definitely were not normal as inflation had gone to the moon and everyone was extremely nervous and angry. (Actually when Allende was elected in 1970 I predicted that Nixon would kill him. None of the older generation I talked to believed it, saying that "America doesn't do …
I was in Chile a month before the coup and got out fast. Things definitely were not normal as inflation had gone to the moon and everyone was extremely nervous and angry. (Actually when Allende was elected in 1970 I predicted that Nixon would kill him. None of the older generation I talked to believed it, saying that "America doesn't do that" when actually we had been for decades.)
But I do agree about how fast things can change. It is entirely possible that the January 6th Beer Hall Putsch will be touted as a heroic stand for democracy. After all, history is written by the victors of the moment. I keep thinking about that line in the excellent book you recommended Thom, "They Thought They Were Free". The German who saw what was happening in the Third Reich said something like, "Nothing had changed but everything was different". The trappings of the nation remained but it no longer was the country he had known. And almost everybody pretended not to notice.
I was in Chile a month before the coup and got out fast. Things definitely were not normal as inflation had gone to the moon and everyone was extremely nervous and angry. (Actually when Allende was elected in 1970 I predicted that Nixon would kill him. None of the older generation I talked to believed it, saying that "America doesn't do that" when actually we had been for decades.)
But I do agree about how fast things can change. It is entirely possible that the January 6th Beer Hall Putsch will be touted as a heroic stand for democracy. After all, history is written by the victors of the moment. I keep thinking about that line in the excellent book you recommended Thom, "They Thought They Were Free". The German who saw what was happening in the Third Reich said something like, "Nothing had changed but everything was different". The trappings of the nation remained but it no longer was the country he had known. And almost everybody pretended not to notice.
Based on Thom’s recommendation, I got that book. We are so there already.