Well, we all hear that famous quote; “never more!” And yet, as I look at history and review what has happened, and I bring all of that to the current period. In fact, I’ve noticed that history really repeats itself, and when you’re stuck in the game, you often don’t see the obvious signs, as things go off track or someone went the wrong way.
When I see this happen as a writer, I like to bring it up, to wake people up and make them realize that they’re no better than people in the past if they look the other way and don’t use their mind. sharpness to stop a future tragedy or parody.
To further illustrate this point, there is a book that I think everyone should read, especially anyone in the United States, and reflect on exactly how NAZI Germany came to be, how Hitler came to power, and how dangerous things can be when society starts moving in the wrong direction. The book I would like to recommend is;
“In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin,” by Erik Larson, Broadway Publishers, New York, NY, 2012, Pages 480, ISBN: 978-0307408853.
There are many philosophical and ethical conundrums in this book, and it shows that it is difficult to keep peace in the world regarding our State Department and all of our ambassadors as they travel to nations with Third World dictators. Even emerging quasi-first world nations often have dynamic, charismatic, and potentially terrifying leaders. Some of them have seized power by military force, guerrilla warfare, political insurrection, vote rigging, or coup d’état.
The slow rise of NAZI Germany certainly went unchecked, and people should have seen it coming, and should have listened to those who were watching things that others may not have seen behind the scenes. It’s interesting that so much of this came to light, but nothing happened because no one bothered to do anything about it, it just got worse and worse until it was too late. This book talks about the time period between 1934 and 1936 and leads into some of the atrocities that followed.
There were posters everywhere, but we chose not to listen and played the game of international diplomacy without regard for human rights. Shame on us, shame on the world, and shame on anyone who doesn’t read this book and see what’s happening right now here today, as things are slowly changing, while no one is paying attention, thinking they can’t happen again, hoping for the best. Horse shit, it can’t happen again. Pay attention, study your history and read this book. Please consider all this and think about it.