Hitler, ISIS, and Donald Trump

What do Hitler, ISIS and "the Donald" have in common--beyond the obvious obnoxiousness?

They have in common the roots of their popularity and success with those people that have been led to a state of arousal---by truly impressive rabble-rousers.

It is not just the actions of these men/groups, but where the most willing followers were before they were roused.  There are old films of Hitler's speeches being cheered, arms waving, faces impassioned.  There are young men leaving their homes and going to other lands with no more purpose than to use themselves as a human explosive for the cause.  And we have that same group, the fearful, the hopeless, those that most want to return to a "better time"  although not one of them has actually experienced that better time/place/world.

They are hate-mongers, war-mongers, and pot-stirrers.  There only enemy is thinking people that can see the holes in their logic.  We need more thinking people.  We need more people that understand history in the context of the people and politics and perspective it was written (this is why no one should flunk history for not remembering the dates of anything, although a chronology is very helpful)  We need people that are self-aware of their own fears and anxieties and understand that the person desperate enough to try to stick a  sirloin steak in his coat is not so much a criminal as he is a desperate, hopeless person.  We need empathy for those whose lives seem to hold no hope, no future opportunities.  And we need to not let big-talking cheerleaders get us all riled up and ready to do something crazy or stupid or horrifying.

"if you friends jumped off a cliff would you follow them?"

Fear must never lead.  We lost so many people to the verbal powers of Hitler, a man that rose as much because of the economic depression that covered the world, making people open to fear and hate due to there own feeling of unfairness, their own need to blame someone for their suffering.  ISIS because of the horrible confluence of world oil grubbing (worse than the gold-rush of 1849), political destabilization by outside powers that wanted that oil, and a euphoric desire to return to the rule of the Caliphate.

And now we have Donald; a man that has risen from  humble beginnings as the son of a very wealthy man, a Hotel Magnate, a man that is not afraid to brag when we goes bankrupt repeatedly since he never personally lost a dime (someone lost, guess they don't count),  and went on to become the older and more masculine version of Kim Kardashian. (you know, twitter feeds, reality tv)   He's became a household name, first via the National Enquirer, then on his own reality TV show.  He flaunts his bad comb-over.  He is loud, rude, and proud to be the son of one of the Leaders of the KKK.

How does this equal hope?  He promises nothing but hate, meanness, and a return to a time when rich white men could treat everybody else like human garbage. And every poor white person I meet is thrilled.  They are thrilled because they can now openly blame their financial strife on immigrants and people of color.  They can shoot someone for scaring them by looking different.  They can go back to being better than someone else based on no personal attribute except their birth.

This country has problems.  Those of us with brains, eyes, ears, need to not let the hysteria bring us all down.

Be an agent of PEACE.