Statesmen, stateswomen needed, not false ‘saviors’

TO COMPARE anything happening in this country today to the horrendous evil of Nazi Germany trivializes the horrors that the victims — living or murdered — experienced at that time. I am grateful to the Journal for this excellent editorial (July 6).

Instead of making such invalid comparisons, what would really be useful would be to consider the psychological and philosophical climate in Germany that led to Hitler and his Nazis coming to power. The post WWI situation in Germany was awful for at least two reasons: 1) the economy was in terrible shape, and 2) many of the German people were looking for a “savior” to correct what they believed was wrong with the country. They got Hitler and the Nazi — National Socialist German Workers’ Party — and everything that came after.

The economy of the United States is actually in pretty good shape today. But the idea that the country can be made “good” again by a “savior” is definitely one that has gained traction in both Democratic and Republican parties at various times in the last couple of decades. That is how Donald Trump, with all his flaws, came to be elected president in 2016. There are many problems in this country today, but there is no savior who can fix them. “Saviors” can too easily lead to dictatorships, because so much power is in the hands of one person. Both parties need to be focused on developing statesmen or stateswomen who can work with both parties, rather than just giving us more politicians. That would be a welcome change from the present state of affairs.

NELL S. KROEGER Albuquerque