America’s fascist takeover will happen quietly

DEAR EDITOR:

History tells us about another “Big Lie.” The myth that Germany was not defeated in 1918, but “stabbed in the back” by Jewish Bolshevism, help propel Hitler and the Nazis into power by 1933.

Years earlier, while in jail (1923-24), for attempting an insurrection, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf. In it, he mused about the powerful political hammer created by weaponizing and targeting blame for Germany’s defeat. He saw the majority as simple minded, “with easily corruptible souls,” but not with small lies, instead, “a lie so colossal that no one would believe that someone would dare distort the truth so much.”

Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was stolen, continues to defy gravity.

To compare, both men are media savvy populists, one used the newly developed home-radio-receiver to spread his message over the airwaves, while the other used social media.

Both used grievance politics to fan division. Facts didn’t matter to either and the court of public opinion tended to overrule the rule of law in both cases.

Unfortunately today, it has become easier for such savvy populists. Our multimedia digital age atomizes people and multiplies choice.

Today, without some sort of grounding in media literacy, people are easily swept away by the digital torrent.

Sinclair Lewis’ 1935 book “It Can’t Happen Here” is a cautionary tale about the rise of American fascism that will come not by revolution or coup d’etat, rather evolve spontaneously from within; because he warns, “the groundwork for fascism has already been constructed in American democracy.” Jon Peter Christoff, West Kelowna