One Week of Trump

[xxlt]

(01-30-2017, 04:33 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Germany: A county with no democratic tradition, an autocratic history and a strong militaristic bent.  This coupled with a democratic government forced on them by the victors of a long war that killed almost a whole generation and, obviously, engendered a lot of bitterness.  Couple complete economic collapse with political chaos resulting in literal war in the streets by extreme political factions.

United States:  The longest contiguous democracy on the planet.  Self determined government by it's own people with over two hundred years of democratic institutions and tradition.  No history of authoritarianism, strong checks and balances in the government, the most robust economy on Earth.  A strong societal code and functioning criminal justice system.  No politically motivated violence between extreme factions.  The closest you get are mass group therapy sessions so people can be reassured that there are others who think like them.

Longest continuous democracy seems hardly relevant at less than 2.5 centuries - that is not a long time although you seem to view it as an eternity (note the Union almost didn't make it to 100 - see The US Civil War for more on that).

I would point out the US has a strong militaristic bent (e.g. spends ca as much as the next ten nations combined per annum on armaments, since WW II has invaded Korea, Vietnam, Iraq (twice) and those are just the "big" military actions, plus we have funneled arms and covertly and overtly supported wars all over the world - so pretty militaristic).

Complete economic collapse in Germany in the 1930's coincided with complete economic collapse here. Interestingly, we just had another significant collapse (or did you forget about the Great Recession?) and it wasn't our only post WW II dip while Germany's economy has been pretty solid post WW II. So, there's your economic parallels.

Political chaos in Germany you cited compares well to the, what's that word everyone uses to describe what is going on today in DC? Oh yeah, dysfunction. Winner of popular vote by 5 million loses Presidency because 80,000 people scattered over three states voted for the loser of the election's popular vote. Nothing chaotic about that. War in the streets. Trump and Bannon love to talk about the carnage in the streets so they seem to see a parallel there even if you and I don't.

Did Germany lack a criminal justice system in 1933? Were they locking up more of their population than any country on earth? I am just asking. Here is in the freest country in the world, we lock em up. Except for "her." There's a big broken campaign promise that has Trump supporters who chanted at rallies feeling betrayed and like this is chaos. Meanwhile his executive orders have millions more - including the descendants of immigrants (most of the country) and many members of the press corps and many intellectuals feeling things are chaotic.

So, you don't see parallels, and that is cool, but I still do.