I have long maintained that the most effective way, by far, to turn a dissenting American into a "good German" is to threaten the loss of his job. It works beautifully in this uncertain economy.
And now, at Democratic Underground, Bernard Weiner has proven me right in his piece, "Slicing Away Liberty".
Mr. Weiner makes (perhaps inevitable) parallels between Nazi Germany in the 30's and America under Bushism. He emphasizes that the change in the former was more gradual than we think... and that economic and job pressure was an integral part of this change. Under the heading titled "The Slicing Machine":
(emphases mine)
Many ordinary "good Germans" and moral arbiters went along with these violations of civil rights and liberties either because they inwardly agreed with the propagandists or because they were afraid to disagree in public. Those few leaders in academia, the church and the press who courageously or even tentatively demurred or asked too many questions tended to be punished - demoted, fired, their honors revoked, etc. - and so more and more citizens got the message to "watch what you say."
Just the other day, my dad (the Republican) told me that to increase my chances of getting a better job, I might want to remove the "Bill Winter '06", "Air America" and "Kerry On" stickers from my car.
That would be playing right into their hands.
That would be "watching what I say"... a small step to becoming a "good German" (like I fear he is).
But who can deny the power of fear of job loss? It's the most potent weapon out there.
And this may sound just a little bit paranoid to you, but... are liberals and Democrats really, as I fear, being promoted less often than are Republicans and conservatives? If you want to be in the executive suite, you've got to be both business-friendly and loyal to the company, after all. And after all, the entire Bush administration is based on (slavish, unquestioning, bootlicking) loyalty.
Will there *be* any more rich and powerful liberals like George Soros, or Teresa Heinz Kerry in the future? Will there *be* any more John Edwardses? Or are they too "unproductive" or "dangerous/destructive" for America anymore?