Willful stupidity is a powerful thing. Historical research is one dimensional and the end is always clear. Thus, we look back on things like the rise of the Nazis and think “how could you NOT know/stop it?!” Now we understand it perfectly. - ThreadSky

rachelbitecofer.bsky.social • 78 days ago

Willful stupidity is a powerful thing.

Historical research is one dimensional and the end is always clear.

Thus, we look back on things like the rise of the Nazis and think “how could you NOT know/stop it?!”

Now we understand it perfectly.

Comments

thomascameron512.bsky.social•78 days ago

I've seen several folks say "if you wonder what you'd have done in 1930s Germany, you're doing it now." It hits hard.

jek6.bsky.social•78 days ago

We understand how THEY couldn't have known what would happen. We have no such excuse.

vtgrnvet.bsky.social•78 days ago

We’ve stopped teaching real history at least in US. It’s whitewashed.

maryhruth.bsky.social•78 days ago

Indeed. Humans always can choose between learning and willful ignorance. We could define the parties that way in America: Dems (progressives) revere learning while Reps (esp Magats) hate it.

kmbrknits.bsky.social•78 days ago

Intra-family fighting during the civil war is becoming comprehensible, too.
Greeeaat.

paul.ofthenorth.ca•78 days ago

The Germans did not have the kind of access to information as we do now, they couldn't simply use a keyboard to find out what history would have explained to them. History speaks, too few listen.

rachelbitecofer.bsky.social•78 days ago

Which to me has always been the most interesting point of my research. Back then they took over the entire system and itv was assumed you would have to to get people to believe crazy shit but now we know that people will opt in to that propaganda

raemaenyc.bsky.social•78 days ago

I'm just hoping that our history of the Civil Rights movement, robust free speech, and federalism will be enough. We can't live like the lie is the truth, and they can't arrest all of us!

nckgry.bsky.social•78 days ago

Absolutely correct. Snipping away at democratic freedoms whilst distracting the electorate with blame of third parties for hardships is a well trodden path.

Only fools, idiots and those who failed to pay attention to history classes fall for it.

lesliehilton0131.bsky.social•78 days ago

I have been saying willful stupidity 🙄 for awhile now. Pissing me off is how damaging to our Nation it is..willful will bring us down to 1930s Germany.

cclark557.bsky.social•78 days ago

Have not thought about it but I imagine Hitler still had a large part of the German population supporting him all the way through including at the end.

spin4srv.bsky.social•78 days ago

Nixon was at 25% getting on the helicopter

rachelbitecofer.bsky.social•78 days ago

They still supported him standing in the ashes of their own homes

el-intrepido.bsky.social•78 days ago

Very sad, very true. We are SO CLOSE to a perfect understanding; it’s absolutely terrifying

crhumphreys.bsky.social•78 days ago

There also an awful lot of people who would rather see the world burn than admit they were wrong.

melaniewildman.bsky.social•78 days ago

Dorothy Thompson’s 1941 seminal essay, “Who Goes Nazi” is one of the best windows into the psychology of fascism I’ve ever read:

https://harpers.org/archive/1941/08/who-goes-nazi/

contractjames.bsky.social•78 days ago

It sucks that so many people don’t see it yet. By the time they do, it might be too late.

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply