[Peace-discuss] When Democracy Failed: The Warnings of History

[Lisa Chason]

> http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0316-08.htm
>
>
>
>
> >
> > When Democracy Failed: The Warnings of History
> >
> > by Thom Hartmann
> > ___________________________________
> >
> > The 70th anniversary wasn't noticed in the United States, and was barely
> > reported in the corporate media. But the Germans remembered well that
> fateful
> > day seventy years ago - February 27, 1933. They commemorated the
> anniversary by
> > joining in demonstrations for peace that mobilized citizens all across
the
> > world.
> >
> > It started when the government, in the midst of a worldwide economic
> crisis,
> > received reports of an imminent terrorist attack. A foreign ideologue
had
> > launched feeble attacks on a few famous buildings, but the media largely
> > ignored his relatively small efforts. The intelligence services knew,
> however,
> > that the odds were he would eventually succeed. (Historians are still
> arguing
> > whether or not rogue elements in the intelligence service helped the
> terrorist;
> > the most recent research implies they did not.)
> >
> > But the warnings of investigators were ignored at the highest levels, in
> part
> > because the government was distracted; the man who claimed to be the
> nation's
> > leader had not been elected by a majority vote and the majority of
> citizens
> > claimed he had no right to the powers he coveted. He was a simpleton,
some
> > said, a cartoon character of a man who saw things in black-and-white
terms
> and
> > didn't have the intellect to understand the subtleties of running a
nation
> in a
> > complex and internationalist world. His coarse use of language -
> reflecting his
> > political roots in a southernmost state - and his simplistic and
> > often-inflammatory nationalistic rhetoric offended the aristocrats,
> foreign
> > leaders, and the well-educated elite in the government and media. And,
as
> a
> > young man, he'd joined a secret society with an occult-sounding name and
> > bizarre initiation rituals that involved skulls and human bones.
> >
> > Nonetheless, he knew the terrorist was going to strike (although he
didn't
> know
> > where or when), and he had already considered his response. When an aide
> > brought him word that the nation's most prestigious building was ablaze,
> he
> > verified it was the terrorist who had struck and then rushed to the
scene
> and
> > called a press conference.
> >
> > "You are now witnessing the beginning of a great epoch in history," he
> > proclaimed, standing in front of the burned-out building, surrounded by
> > national media. "This fire," he said, his voice trembling with emotion,
> "is the
> > beginning." He used the occasion - "a sign from God," he called it - to
> declare
> > an all-out war on terrorism and its ideological sponsors, a people, he
> said,
> > who traced their origins to the Middle East and found motivation for
their
> evil
> > deeds in their religion.
> >
> > Two weeks later, the first detention center for terrorists was built in
> > Oranianberg to hold the first suspected allies of the infamous
terrorist.
> In a
> > national outburst of patriotism, the leader's flag was everywhere, even
> printed
> > large in newspapers suitable for window display.
> >
> > Within four weeks of the terrorist attack, the nation's now-popular
leader
> had
> > pushed through legislation - in the name of combating terrorism and
> fighting
> > the philosophy he said spawned it - that suspended constitutional
> guarantees of
> > free speech, privacy, and habeas corpus. Police could now intercept mail
> and
> > wiretap phones; suspected terrorists could be imprisoned without
specific
> > charges and without access to their lawyers; police could sneak into
> people's
> > homes without warrants if the cases involved terrorism.
> >
> > To get his patriotic "Decree on the Protection of People and State"
passed
> over
> > the objections of concerned legislators and civil libertarians, he
agreed
> to
> > put a 4-year sunset provision on it: if the national emergency provoked
by
> the
> > terrorist attack was over by then, the freedoms and rights would be
> returned to
> > the people, and the police agencies would be re-restrained. Legislators
> would
> > later say they hadn't had time to read the bill before voting on it.
> >
> > Immediately after passage of the anti-terrorism act, his federal police
> > agencies stepped up their program of arresting suspicious persons and
> holding
> > them without access to lawyers or courts. In the first year only a few
> hundred
> > were interred, and those who objected were largely ignored by the
> mainstream
> > press, which was afraid to offend and thus lose access to a leader with
> such
> > high popularity ratings. Citizens who protested the leader in public -
and
> > there were many - quickly found themselves confronting the newly
empowered
> > police's batons, gas, and jail cells, or fenced off in protest zones
> safely out
> > of earshot of the leader's public speeches. (In the meantime, he was
> taking
> > almost daily lessons in public speaking, learning to control his
tonality,
> > gestures, and facial expressions. He became a very competent orator.)
> >
> > Within the first months after that terrorist attack, at the suggestion
of
> a
> > political advisor, he brought a formerly obscure word into common usage.
> He
> > wanted to stir a "racial pride" among his countrymen, so, instead of
> referring
> > to the nation by its name, he began to refer to it as "The Homeland," a
> phrase
> > publicly promoted in the introduction to a 1934 speech recorded in Leni
> > Riefenstahl's famous propaganda movie "Triumph Of The Will." As hoped,
> people's
> > hearts swelled with pride, and the beginning of an us-versus-them
> mentality was
> > sewn. Our land was "the" homeland, citizens thought: all others were
> simply
> > foreign lands. We are the "true people," he suggested, the only ones
> worthy of
> > our nation's concern; if bombs fall on others, or human rights are
> violated in
> > other nations and it makes our lives better, it's of little concern to
us.
> >
> > Playing on this new nationalism, and exploiting a disagreement with the
> French
> > over his increasing militarism, he argued that any international body
that
> > didn't act first and foremost in the best interest of his own nation was
> > neither relevant nor useful. He thus withdrew his country from the
League
> Of
> > Nations in October, 1933, and then negotiated a separate naval armaments
> > agreement with Anthony Eden of The United Kingdom to create a worldwide
> > military ruling elite.
> >
> > His propaganda minister orchestrated a campaign to ensure the people
that
> he
> > was a deeply religious man and that his motivations were rooted in
> > Christianity. He even proclaimed the need for a revival of the Christian
> faith
> > across his nation, what he called a "New Christianity." Every man in his
> > rapidly growing army wore a belt buckle that declared "Gott Mit Uns" -
God
> Is
> > With Us - and most of them fervently believed it was true.
> >
> > Within a year of the terrorist attack, the nation's leader determined
that
> the
> > various local police and federal agencies around the nation were lacking
> the
> > clear communication and overall coordinated administration necessary to
> deal
> > with the terrorist threat facing the nation, particularly those citizens
> who
> > were of Middle Eastern ancestry and thus probably terrorist and
communist
> > sympathizers, and various troublesome "intellectuals" and "liberals." He
> > proposed a single new national agency to protect the security of the
> homeland,
> > consolidating the actions of dozens of previously independent police,
> border,
> > and investigative agencies under a single leader.
> >
> > He appointed one of his most trusted associates to be leader of this new
> > agency, the Central Security Office for the homeland, and gave it a role
> in the
> > government equal to the other major departments.
> >
> > His assistant who dealt with the press noted that, since the terrorist
> attack,
> > "Radio and press are at our disposal." Those voices questioning the
> legitimacy
> > of their nation's leader, or raising questions about his checkered past,
> had by
> > now faded from the public's recollection as his central security office
> began
> > advertising a program encouraging people to phone in tips about
suspicious
> > neighbors. This program was so successful that the names of some of the
> people
> > "denounced" were soon being broadcast on radio stations. Those denounced
> often
> > included opposition politicians and celebrities who dared speak out - a
> > favorite target of his regime and the media he now controlled through
> > intimidation and ownership by corporate allies.
> >
> > To consolidate his power, he concluded that government alone wasn't
> enough. He
> > reached out to industry and forged an alliance, bringing former
executives
> of
> > the nation's largest corporations into high government positions. A
flood
> of
> > government money poured into corporate coffers to fight the war against
> the
> > Middle Eastern ancestry terrorists lurking within the homeland, and to
> prepare
> > for wars overseas. He encouraged large corporations friendly to him to
> acquire
> > media outlets and other industrial concerns across the nation,
> particularly
> > those previously owned by suspicious people of Middle Eastern ancestry.
He
> > built powerful alliances with industry; one corporate ally got the
> lucrative
> > contract worth millions to build the first large-scale detention center
> for
> > enemies of the state. Soon more would follow. Industry flourished.
> >
> > But after an interval of peace following the terrorist attack, voices of
> > dissent again arose within and without the government. Students had
> started an
> > active program opposing him (later known as the White Rose Society), and
> > leaders of nearby nations were speaking out against his bellicose
> rhetoric. He
> > needed a diversion, something to direct people away from the corporate
> cronyism
> > being exposed in his own government, questions of his possibly
> illegitimate
> > rise to power, and the oft-voiced concerns of civil libertarians about
the
> > people being held in detention without due process or access to
attorneys
> or
> > family.
> >
> > With his number two man - a master at manipulating the media - he began
a
> > campaign to convince the people of the nation that a small, limited war
> was
> > necessary. Another nation was harboring many of the suspicious Middle
> Eastern
> > people, and even though its connection with the terrorist who had set
> afire the
> > nation's most important building was tenuous at best, it held resources
> their
> > nation badly needed if they were to have room to live and maintain their
> > prosperity. He called a press conference and publicly delivered an
> ultimatum to
> > the leader of the other nation, provoking an international uproar. He
> claimed
> > the right to strike preemptively in self-defense, and nations across
> Europe -
> > at first - denounced him for it, pointing out that it was a doctrine
only
> > claimed in the past by nations seeking worldwide empire, like Caesar's
> Rome or
> > Alexander's Greece.
> >
> > It took a few months, and intense international debate and lobbying with
> > European nations, but, after he personally met with the leader of the
> United
> > Kingdom, finally a deal was struck. After the military action began,
Prime
> > Minister Neville Chamberlain told the nervous British people that giving
> in to
> > this leader's new first-strike doctrine would bring "peace for our
time."
> Thus
> > Hitler annexed Austria in a lightning move, riding a wave of popular
> support as
> > leaders so often do in times of war. The Austrian government was
unseated
> and
> > replaced by a new leadership friendly to Germany, and German
corporations
> began
> > to take over Austrian resources.
> >
> > In a speech responding to critics of the invasion, Hitler said, "Certain
> > foreign newspapers have said that we fell on Austria with brutal
methods.
> I can
> > only say; even in death they cannot stop lying. I have in the course of
my
> > political struggle won much love from my people, but when I crossed the
> former
> > frontier [into Austria] there met me such a stream of love as I have
never
> > experienced. Not as tyrants have we come, but as liberators."
> >
> > To deal with those who dissented from his policies, at the advice of his
> > politically savvy advisors, he and his handmaidens in the press began a
> > campaign to equate him and his policies with patriotism and the nation
> itself.
> > National unity was essential, they said, to ensure that the terrorists
or
> their
> > sponsors didn't think they'd succeeded in splitting the nation or
> weakening its
> > will. In times of war, they said, there could be only "one people, one
> nation,
> > and one commander-in-chief" ("Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer"), and so
> his
> > advocates in the media began a nationwide campaign charging that critics
> of his
> > policies were attacking the nation itself. Those questioning him were
> labeled
> > "anti-German" or "not good Germans," and it was suggested they were
aiding
> the
> > enemies of the state by failing in the patriotic necessity of supporting
> the
> > nation's valiant men in uniform. It was one of his most effective ways
to
> > stifle dissent and pit wage-earning people (from whom most of the army
> came)
> > against the "intellectuals and liberals" who were critical of his
> policies.
> >
> > Nonetheless, once the "small war" annexation of Austria was successfully
> and
> > quickly completed, and peace returned, voices of opposition were again
> raised
> > in the Homeland. The almost-daily release of news bulletins about the
> dangers
> > of terrorist communist cells wasn't enough to rouse the populace and
> totally
> > suppress dissent. A full-out war was necessary to divert public
attention
> from
> > the growing rumbles within the country about disappearing dissidents;
> violence
> > against liberals, Jews, and union leaders; and the epidemic of crony
> capitalism
> > that was producing empires of wealth in the corporate sector but
> threatening
> > the middle class's way of life.
> >
> > A year later, to the week, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia; the nation was
> now
> > fully at war, and all internal dissent was suppressed in the name of
> national
> > security. It was the end of Germany's first experiment with democracy.
> >
> > As we conclude this review of history, there are a few milestones worth
> > remembering.
> >
> > February 27, 2003, was the 70th anniversary of Dutch terrorist Marinus
van
> der
> > Lubbe's successful firebombing of the German Parliament (Reichstag)
> building,
> > the terrorist act that catapulted Hitler to legitimacy and reshaped the
> German
> > constitution. By the time of his successful and brief action to seize
> Austria,
> > in which almost no German blood was shed, Hitler was the most beloved
and
> > popular leader in the history of his nation. Hailed around the world, he
> was
> > later Time magazine's "Man Of The Year."
> >
> > Most Americans remember his office for the security of the homeland,
known
> as
> > the Reichssicherheitshauptamt and its SchutzStaffel, simply by its most
> famous
> > agency's initials: the SS.
> >
> > We also remember that the Germans developed a new form of highly violent
> > warfare they named "lightning war" or blitzkrieg, which, while
generating
> > devastating civilian losses, also produced a highly desirable "shock and
> awe"
> > among the nation's leadership according to the authors of the 1996 book
> "Shock
> > And Awe" published by the National Defense University Press.
> >
> > Reflecting on that time, The American Heritage Dictionary (Houghton
> Mifflin
> > Company, 1983) left us this definition of the form of government the
> German
> > democracy had become through Hitler's close alliance with the largest
> German
> > corporations and his policy of using war as a tool to keep power:
> "fas-cism
> > (fbsh'iz'em) n. A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of
> the
> > extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business
> leadership,
> > together with belligerent nationalism."
> >
> > Today, as we face financial and political crises, it's useful to
remember
> that
> > the ravages of the Great Depression hit Germany and the United States
> alike.
> > Through the 1930s, however, Hitler and Roosevelt chose very different
> courses
> > to bring their nations back to power and prosperity.
> >
> > Germany's response was to use government to empower corporations and
> reward the
> > society's richest individuals, privatize much of the commons, stifle
> dissent,
> > strip people of constitutional rights, and create an illusion of
> prosperity
> > through continual and ever-expanding war. America passed minimum wage
laws
> to
> > raise the middle class, enforced anti-trust laws to diminish the power
of
> > corporations, increased taxes on corporations and the wealthiest
> individuals,
> > created Social Security, and became the employer of last resort through
> > programs to build national infrastructure, promote the arts, and replant
> > forests.
> >
> > To the extent that our Constitution is still intact, the choice is again
> ours.
> >
> > ***
> >
> > Thom Hartmann lived and worked in Germany during the 1980s, and is the
> author
> > of over a dozen books, including "Unequal Protection" and "The Last
Hours
> of
> > Ancient Sunlight." This article is copyright by Thom Hartmann, but
> permission
> > is granted for reprint in print, email, blog, or web media so long as
this
> > credit is attached.
> >
> >
> >
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