Martin Niemöller was a pastor in Germany during the rise and fall of Adolf Hitler. His most famous quote (for which he was sent to a German concentration camp) goes as follows:
First, they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Is this yet another googled comparison of Trump and Hitler you ask? Well sort of, but it's a bit deeper than that. Aside from all the death and destruction, Hitler wrote the book (literally) on how to execute a hostile takeover of a modern, advanced western parliamentary democracy. It's no secret that Trump idolized Adolf, and his books may be the only books Trump has actually studied. In any event, Niemöller's observations essentially outline the strategy for co-opting a modern democratic government.
First, note that in Niemöller's quote, the first three groups “they came for” were communists, socialists, and trade unionists. What all of these groups have in common is that they theoretically elevated the proletariat (workers) to challenge the bourgeois (property owners). In many ways, WWII’s disruptive influence ushered in an industrial age that had as its basis democracy. But that’s another topic, maybe to be addressed in another post.
So why even bother with democracy if your ultimate goal is single party or dictatorial control? The answer is that democracies are the most productive governing systems devised to date. Oppressing an entire country takes an extensive amount of resources and would be perpetually dangerously unstable. Further, the population won’t give their best effort in building a strong economy when they have no perceived control over outcomes. It follows then that if you want to control a country, maintaining the impression of some level of an empowered majority is essential.
Taking over a democracy means controlling who can vote. It’s very difficult (maybe impossible) to do this across the board so an aspiring dictator must use a distraction tactic. Pick a minority and adjust the laws to limit their access to the political process. The public is not going to react until “They come for me”, so it’s possible to make fairly invasive changes to the rules governing eligibility and access. While the electorate is focused on the minority, they don’t even notice that the laws squeezing down voting rights don’t say “Blacks cannot vote” – they just reduce access to the political process in a way that those in control can disenfranchise any decenters. Remember, while the general population is focused on keeping the minorities behind them, the aspiring dictator is primarily focused on how to manipulate the majority into obedience.
In any democratic system, minorities (religious, gender, race, or simple demographics) are the canaries in the “democratic coal mines”. When the canary falls to the bottom of the cage, it warns of a threat that will eventually imperil the miners too. And this, to a great extent, is why Black Lives Matter.
First, they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Is this yet another googled comparison of Trump and Hitler you ask? Well sort of, but it's a bit deeper than that. Aside from all the death and destruction, Hitler wrote the book (literally) on how to execute a hostile takeover of a modern, advanced western parliamentary democracy. It's no secret that Trump idolized Adolf, and his books may be the only books Trump has actually studied. In any event, Niemöller's observations essentially outline the strategy for co-opting a modern democratic government.
First, note that in Niemöller's quote, the first three groups “they came for” were communists, socialists, and trade unionists. What all of these groups have in common is that they theoretically elevated the proletariat (workers) to challenge the bourgeois (property owners). In many ways, WWII’s disruptive influence ushered in an industrial age that had as its basis democracy. But that’s another topic, maybe to be addressed in another post.
So why even bother with democracy if your ultimate goal is single party or dictatorial control? The answer is that democracies are the most productive governing systems devised to date. Oppressing an entire country takes an extensive amount of resources and would be perpetually dangerously unstable. Further, the population won’t give their best effort in building a strong economy when they have no perceived control over outcomes. It follows then that if you want to control a country, maintaining the impression of some level of an empowered majority is essential.
Taking over a democracy means controlling who can vote. It’s very difficult (maybe impossible) to do this across the board so an aspiring dictator must use a distraction tactic. Pick a minority and adjust the laws to limit their access to the political process. The public is not going to react until “They come for me”, so it’s possible to make fairly invasive changes to the rules governing eligibility and access. While the electorate is focused on the minority, they don’t even notice that the laws squeezing down voting rights don’t say “Blacks cannot vote” – they just reduce access to the political process in a way that those in control can disenfranchise any decenters. Remember, while the general population is focused on keeping the minorities behind them, the aspiring dictator is primarily focused on how to manipulate the majority into obedience.
In any democratic system, minorities (religious, gender, race, or simple demographics) are the canaries in the “democratic coal mines”. When the canary falls to the bottom of the cage, it warns of a threat that will eventually imperil the miners too. And this, to a great extent, is why Black Lives Matter.
