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From: tim@cmu-cs-k.ARPA (Tim Maroney)
Newsgroups: net.religion,net.politics
Subject: Ignoring Fascist Hate Groups
Message-ID: <397@cmu-cs-k.ARPA>
Date: Wed, 15-May-85 22:56:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: cmu-cs-k.397
Posted: Wed May 15 22:56:17 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 17-May-85 03:01:57 EDT
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, Networking
Lines: 43
Xref: linus net.religion:6503 net.politics:8372

It appalls me that people have so little knowledge of history that they can
advocate "the cold shoulder" as an effective treatment for fascist hate
cliques, on the grounds that they are small and insignificant.  First of
all, that is anything but the truth, as anyone reasonably up to date knows:
these groups have been proliferating like cute little bunny rabbits with
machine guns in the Midwest for several years now.  Not coincidentally, this
period of rapid growth coincides with Reagan's terms in office.  But even if
we grant this fallacious premise, the argument is a foolish, ignorant, and
irresponsible one.

What alternative timeline spawned these people?  Perhaps in their world
Hitler was born with a little mustache and millions of fanatical followers.
Unlike this world, he was never an extremely obscure young adult with a few
like-minded buddies who eventually forged their way to supreme power with
the clear mandate of the German people.  In their world, he was never a
figure of ridicule, and in their 1920's he was not virtually alone and a
laughing stock in prison.  He never used his enormous charisma and the
rightward leanings of his country to rise to power from obscurity.

If you feel there is some great difference between the German mentality in
the 1930's and the American mentality today, again you must be referring to
another world.  Militarism and "we're number one" spirit was the primary
motivation for Nazism, and these attitudes reign supreme at the American
polls today.  (Hitler took power legally and democratically, in case you
didn't know.)  Xenophobia has hit its highest level in recent memory, with
more than 50% of the people in the country supporting Reagan because "He has
showed foreigners we mean business."  (You can verify this in opinion polls
if you wish.)  The country has swung further to the right than it has since
the McCarthy days.  The commander in chief is seriously considering the
invasion of nearby countries.  Statistic after statistic shows that racial
minorities are suffering inordinately under Reagan; the white majority knows
this perfectly well and couldn't care less.  (All that matters now is
whether you personally are doing better; forget that stuff about equality,
only the majority counts.)

This is precisely the time in our history when we need to be most on the
guard against fascism and racism, and yet there are people who think we are
being nervous nellies by opposing it at all.  These people are nearly as
guilty as the fascists they tacitly support.
-=-
Tim Maroney, Carnegie-Mellon University, Networking
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