Education and critical thinking matter. Read to your kids, folks. Read books. Develop empathy and the ability to analyze situations. Many of us grew up reading and learning about the Holocaust. We were told about the slow build up in Germany; the way Hitler was elected; 1/
the way he blamed Jews for Germany's problems and defeats. We read about people who had suffered in the concentration camps. We thought about our grandparents who fought abroad and worked hard at home to defeat the Nazis as heroes. 2/
But too many people don't realize that the phrases "history repeats itself" and "never again" require active participation on our part. It's not about looking for a little guy that looks like Charlie Chaplin and speaks with a funny accent. 3/
It's about understanding morality. It's about being willing to say something is wrong, even if it seems like everyone around you agrees with the part you object to. After all, we remember this guy rather fondly now: 4/
Most of all, it's about recognizing patterns and understanding that the road to the Holocaust wasn't a quick drop over a cliff. It was long and filled with small injustices aimed at marginalized groups based on the (correct) assumption that the majority would not object if it didn't affect them. 5/
We know where this can lead. We've been told. We have records from voices of those who lived it. And we owe it to them to resist. One Anne Frank's quote is circulating now: “Terrible things are happening outside. 6/
"At any time of night and day, poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. They’re allowed to take only a knapsack and a little cash with them, and even then, they’re robbed of these possessions on the way. Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. 7/
"Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared. Women return from shopping to find their houses sealed, their families gone." But this isn't just a quote. It was her life. It was the life and the end of millions. And if you see the pattern, it's time to do more.
"education and critical thinking" In the 1930 engineers with slide rules designed planes to do 400 mph to fight WWII. No transistors! How do PhD economists not figure out Planned Obsolescence in automobiles 30+ yrs after the Moon landing? NET Domestic Product & Consumer Depreciation? GDP is BS!