They Thought They Were Free
An excerpt from the book:
The [Peorian] individual surrenders his individuality without a murmur, without, indeed, a second thought - and not just his individual hobbies and tastes, but his individual occupation, his individual family concerns, his individual needs. The primordial community, the tribe, re-emerges, it's first function the preservation of all its members. Every normal personality of the day becomes an 'authoritarian personality.' A few recalcitrants have to be disciplined (vigorously, under the circumstances) for neglect or betrayal of their duty. A few groups have to be watched or, if necessary, taken in hand - the antisocial elements, the liberty-howlers, the agitators among the poor, and the criminal gangs. For the rest of the citizens - 95 percent or so of the population - duty is now the central fact of life. They obey, at first awkwardly, but, surprisingly soon, spontaneously.
Full Review by Thom Hartmann
_____________________________
I'm not so sure that the Germans then or the Americans now think they are "free". Rather, in both cases, I think they are engaged in what Benjamin Franklin warned us about: "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security".
I think there is also alot of what criminal defense attorneys call "willful blindness", what the psychiatrists would call "self-delusion" or "rationalization". I'm not willing to take the leap into the notion that somehow the Germans then, or the Americans now, were tricked, even gradually. If there was a seduction, I think it was consentual.
The situation in the US today is compounded by the insessant message from the corporate media and the glowing blue orb of television that we are powerless. If not adequately countered, it--more than anything else (let's face it, the Fourth Reich consists of unpleasant brutes, not geniuses) may be our undoing.
Aside from those points of contention, it otherwise sounds like a most informative book.
TLC
The [Peorian] individual surrenders his individuality without a murmur, without, indeed, a second thought - and not just his individual hobbies and tastes, but his individual occupation, his individual family concerns, his individual needs. The primordial community, the tribe, re-emerges, it's first function the preservation of all its members. Every normal personality of the day becomes an 'authoritarian personality.' A few recalcitrants have to be disciplined (vigorously, under the circumstances) for neglect or betrayal of their duty. A few groups have to be watched or, if necessary, taken in hand - the antisocial elements, the liberty-howlers, the agitators among the poor, and the criminal gangs. For the rest of the citizens - 95 percent or so of the population - duty is now the central fact of life. They obey, at first awkwardly, but, surprisingly soon, spontaneously.
Full Review by Thom Hartmann
_____________________________
I'm not so sure that the Germans then or the Americans now think they are "free". Rather, in both cases, I think they are engaged in what Benjamin Franklin warned us about: "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security".
I think there is also alot of what criminal defense attorneys call "willful blindness", what the psychiatrists would call "self-delusion" or "rationalization". I'm not willing to take the leap into the notion that somehow the Germans then, or the Americans now, were tricked, even gradually. If there was a seduction, I think it was consentual.
The situation in the US today is compounded by the insessant message from the corporate media and the glowing blue orb of television that we are powerless. If not adequately countered, it--more than anything else (let's face it, the Fourth Reich consists of unpleasant brutes, not geniuses) may be our undoing.
Aside from those points of contention, it otherwise sounds like a most informative book.
TLC
posted by TLC's Place at 12:33 PM
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