July Fourth a reminder we are not united states
August, 1941: the war in Europe was about to enter its third year. For a decade, America had been watching and listening to the growing tide of fascism in Germany, and even after the fall of Poland, France and the Battle of Britain, millions of Americans continued to believe that maybe there were still some very fine people among the Nazis.
And why not? As recently as 1939, 20,000 Americans packed into Madison Square Garden to hear Nazis speak, and delight themselves with Nazi philosophy. So while by 1941 it was getting harder for Americans to defend Nazism, that didn’t mean those very fine people had either disappeared, recanted or recognized the error of their ways. In fact, many very fine Americans would not only continue to defend Nazis, but would, in the words of author Dorothy Thompson, “go Nazi.”
The prolific Ms. Thompson wrote a fascinating piece for Harper’s Magazine that August titled “Who Goes Nazi?” in which she ruminated on the type of person who, because of circumstances, greed or cowardice, might find themselves gravitating to fascist Nazi sympathies and policies. In her story, she envisions a parlor game of sorts, starting with the type of cocktail or garden party so many Greenwichites can relate to. Bring together a collection of people from various walks of life, liquor them up, then sit back, observe and wonder. Which among them, under the right conditions, might develop Nazi tendencies or sympathies, while still professing their strongly American patriotism?
And under what sort of conditions did Ms. Thompson think some of her guests might give up their personal freedoms in return for fascist authoritarianism? “A type of education, feeding, and physical training which has produced a new kind of human being with an imbalance in his nature. He has been fed vitamins and filled with energies that are beyond the capacity of his intellect to discipline. He has been treated to forms of education, which have released him from inhibitions. His body is vigorous. His mind is childish. His soul has been almost completely neglected.”
Using that criteria, Thompson goes on to dissect certain types and evaluate why or why they would not go Nazi. Those born into money and those without. The educated and the ignorant. In evaluating all her guests, Thompson determined that “Kind, good, happy, gentlemanly, secure people never go Nazi” regardless of status, class or upbringing. It is however, “the frustrated and humiliated intellectual, the rich and scared speculator,
Will 21st century America be a nation of secure, happy people committed to pursuing that ephemeral but difficult arc toward justice and a better democracy?
the spoiled son, the labor tyrant, the fellow who has achieved success by smelling out the wind of success — they would all go Nazi in a crisis.” In short, Nazis could be anyone, rich or poor, but “nice people don’t go Nazi.”
Why is this important on the weekend of our most sacred secular holiday? Because America is at a crossroads with many of its citizens suffering from imbalances in their nature. Millions of us are ready to reject the democracy we claim to hold so dear, for the easy seduction of fascism. And let’s understand something here, fascism doesn’t always mean jackboots and war. It’s easy to be caressed by the siren call of the fascist who says “you” are all that matters; “they” want to take from you; and only by joining with “us” will we hold “them” back.
True democracy has always been hard to achieve and harder still to maintain because it asks citizens to put “we” before “I.” This can only be accomplished when the citizenry is educated, openminded, reasonable, empathetic and accepting. Which is why fascists reject science, criticize education and demonize “others.” To the fascist, might must always be right and change is always to be feared.
Like it or not though, our nation is changing. The question is, which way will it go? Will 21st century America be a nation of secure, happy people committed to pursuing that ephemeral but difficult arc toward justice and a better democracy? Or will the childish, cowardly and frustrated people hanging on to power and dividing America into us and them, “go Nazi” and hold us back from true greatness? Enjoy the Fourth of July, but the time to choose wisely is upon us.