Imagine you’re a citizen of Germany in the early 1930s. Your country is coming out of a devasting defeat in World War I, your economy is in the toilet, and your once great country is in the doldrums, seemingly unable to get back on its feet. In 1933, a strange little man by the name of Adolph Hitler, a convicted felon, was elected chancellor of Germany, promising to return the Fatherland to its former greatness.
You went about your daily life while Hitler took “unusual” steps to make things better for Germany. He immediately began dismantling Germany’s democratic norms and institutions. He suspended civil liberties, established the Gestapo (German secret police), and began building concentration camps—first outside of Germany, then inside—to house his political enemies and “undesireables,” like Jews, Roma, gays, etc. Germany passed the “Enabling Act” which consolidated power in the Fuhrer, allowing his cabinet to pass laws without input from the Reichstag (Germany’s version of Congress).
The Gestapo began conducting raids and making arbitrary arrests, including of German citizens, designed to produce terror among the people who did not support (or sufficiently support) the Third Reich. Due process became a thing of the past. Local police became an arm of the Gestapo, which was eventually integrated into the SS (Schutzstaffel), a paramilitary organization that acted as internal police, but had tools and used tactics similar to the military.
While all this was going on, you went about your business. Your focus was on doing your job, caring for your family, and making ends meet. You heard about the changes taking place around you, but you couldn’t be bothered to get involved. You were busy and you had plans. You visited relatives, spent time with your kids on the weekend, and traveled to the countryside in the summer on holiday. For you, life hadn’t changed much, despite the immense changes taking place all around you.
Then, the SS conducted a raid in your town. Some of your neighbors were arrested and taken away. When you traveled, you were constantly asked for your papers, and the SS became a constant presence on the streets near your home. You became concerned and spoke to your friends about what was happening. Your friends were concerned too, but they were reluctant to talk much about those concerns. They said “You never know who might be listening.” You thought about that and wondered to yourself, How does being frightened of the government make life better for you or make Germany great? It didn’t make any sense, but you decided to keep your thoughts to yourself.
Then, before you knew it, the Fuhrer had complete control of the military and the country. He continued to speak of the greatness of Germany, but his actions created chaos and terror among German citizens. None of this seemed right to you, but you went along to get along. After all, who were you to speak out against the government, even if it was obvious to you that what was happening to your country was wrong?
So, you kept to yourself, figuring it was safer to keep your head down rather than draw attention to yourself, your family, or what you knew were corrupt, illegal, evil actions being taken by the government. You went about your business as your country descended into an authoritarian cesspool of hate, cruelty, and murder on a scale you could have never imagined. You wished you had spoken up in the early days, when there was a chance to change the path Germany was going down, but now it was too late. The die had been cast.
Notice any similarities to where we are today in the United States? We’re not coming out of a world war and our economy is not in tatters. Yet, the president would have you believe that our cities are crime-ridden hellholes (despite crime being low and decreasing); our enemies are “invading from within,” a term that sounds ominous but makes no sense; and our allies are taking advantage of us, both militarily and in trade. Of course, none of this is true, or it’s being exaggerated so it can be used as justification for the government to turn much of our country into a police state, so civil liberties can be slowly curtailed, voting rights can be suppressed., and the president can take complete control of our economy, the military, and our government
Even as our Constitution is ignored, the rule of law is abandoned, and our democracy is weakened day-by-day, most of us go about our business, going to work, traveling, shopping, spending time with friends and family. What is happening at the edges of society doesn’t impact most of us, so we don’t say anything. But little by little, what is happening at the edges starts to close in on us.
For instance, first they went after criminal illegal aliens, then it was all illegal aliens, then people seeking asylum, then people in the country legally, but not citizens. The circle continued to close in. Citizens began getting caught up in the immigration raids. What started as a round-up of illegal brown people became a round-up of all brown people. More recently, black people became targets, as well as LGBTQ people.
Perceived enemies of the administration are being investigated, arrested, and prosecuted. Political opponents are being falsely accused of everything from pedophilia to murder,. Some, including non-Christians and anyone with an “anti-American” or “anti-capitalist” viewpoint, are being intentionally mislabeled as “terrorists.” And the circle grows ever smaller.
I’m not suggesting that Germany in the 1930s is the same as the United States in 2025. And I’m not saying that Adolph Hitler and Donald Trump are exactly the same person, although it is interesting that they were both convicted of felonies prior to being elected. As they say, history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. And at the moment, it is rhyming big time.
Here are the facts:
“The government—YOUR government—is prosecuting the President’s perceived political enemies and rewarding his supporters.
The government—YOUR government—financed a concentration camp in El Salvador, then built their own camp in the Florida Everglades to house “undesirables,” with promises of more to come.
The government—YOUR government—formed a paramilitary-style army of secret, masked police out of federal law enforcement units to carry out the orders of the president and to terrorize the citizens into compliance.
The government—YOUR government—has deployed the military on the streets of U.S. cities to wage war against the “invasion from within.”
What has to happen to make you pay attention?
What has to happen to make you speak out?
Is now the best time to get involved or should you wait until the circle closes in on your neighbors, your friends, your family, and maybe even you?
If you could ask that citizen of Germany in the 1930s what they would do right now, what do you think they would say?
