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It CAN Happen Here... [1]

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Date: 2024-05-31  

After World War I, the Allies imposed draconian penalties on the defeated Germans. The post-war reparations bankrupted the country. The economy was destroyed. As a result, extremism reared its ugly head. So many people had it so bad, had gotten so angry, that they'd listen to anyone who fed on their fear and anger and who promised quick solutions, identified easy enemies and scapegoats and promised satisfying retribution. Thus, Hitler. The Nazis. And World War II. "It can't happen here," they said.

After World War I, the Allies imposed draconian penalties on the defeated Germans. The post-war reparations bankrupted the country. The economy was destroyed. As a result, extremism reared its ugly head. So many people had it so bad, had gotten so angry, that they'd listen to anyone who fed on their fear and anger and who promised quick solutions, identified easy enemies and scapegoats and promised satisfying retribution. Thus, Hitler. The Nazis. And World War II. "It can't happen here," they said.



In causing the Republican Great Depression, conservative economic policies decimated our economy. Record unemployment and poverty persisted for years. Then FDR and his New Deal policies (aided by a big boost from World War II) catapulted this country into an unprecedented period of prosperity, where wealth soared, education was available to most and the middle class boomed.

But then we became complacent. We elected Ronald Reagan and the GOP, who proceeded to undo all that FDR had wrought.

Consequently, since 1980 the rich and the powerful in this country have grown richer and more powerful. They subverted and bought the government, undermining the rules and protections put into place by FDR and the Democrats 50 years prior. They deregulated big business. They legalized political bribery. Since then, the rich have gotten massively richer, the poor profoundly poorer, and the shrinking middle class has been decimated. Housing, health care and college are ruinously expensive, wages are kept insultingly low, and the social safety net FDR built is constantly under attack and being chipped away. Civil rights - formerly expanded - are being reduced, and personal rights taken away. More and more Americans are suffering under the massive weight of low wages, expensive goods, unaffordable housing and increasingly limited opportunities. Social mobility - formerly the hallmark of this country - is lower now in America than in any other modern industrialized nation.

Now, in the United States, so many people have it so bad, have gotten so angry, that they'll listen to anyone who feeds on their fear and anger and who promises quick solutions, identifies easy enemies and scapegoats and promises satisfying retribution.

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