EDUC 5199
Attempts are being constantly made to use Hitler as the lowest common denominator for all things evil, such as comparing people such as Barack Obama with the former Austrian corporal. However, in most cases these comparisons are far-fetched and are based far more in fantasy than they are in reality.
www.huffingtonpost.ca/bernie-farber/jim-mcdonell-nazi_b_1875579.html Although in some cases this comparison has relevancy. The concepts of crowd psychology utilized by Edward Bernays to encourage consumerism and borrowed by Nazi Germany to enlist the masses against a host of enemies, are currently being put to use by Donald Trump in an equally terrifying way. Donald Trump uses his platform to propagate xenophobia and racism in the same fashion that Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels spoke about the conspiracy of "world Jewry". Trump is tuning into the subconscious minds of Americans and utilizing peoples instinctual fears to garner support. A practice not unique to Trump, this tactic has been applied by fascists groups across Europe including PEGIDA, the Golden Dawn, and Britain First to name just a few (www.britainfirst.org/ ). Perhaps some thing can be said of the political climate that exists today compared to U.S. elections of the past. Could Bob Dole or Bill Clinton gotten away with such vulgar and incendiary remarks while running for office in 1996? Are economic realities to blame for this rise in peoples instinctual fears? Born out of this mass hysteria of fear and xenophobia seems to thrive a blind nationalism and devotion to the state. Shown in the documentary was Adolf Hitler's seizure of power known as the Nazi Machtergreifung (seizure of power). Through his rhetoric and propaganda campaign is Donald Trump binding together the desires of the masses? Just as those supporters of the Nazi Party gathered outside the Reich Chancellery on January 30, 1933 to celebrate the end of democracy, supporters of Donald Trump devoutly follow in Trump's own blazed trail as he guides his country into oblivion. His band of loyal followers grows larger every day as he aims their fears and intrinsic desires against those who stand in the way of his quest for the presidency. The tenor and tone of Donald Trump's philosophies and beliefs mirror the values inherent within Machiavellianism. In many of Trump's speeches (the majority of which seem unplanned and ad hoc) he states "believe me" repeatedly to end his engagements. He is encouraging his supporters that he alone knows how to fix the problems and their unfailing loyalty should reside in him. Like Hitler's followers in 1933 after the Machtergreifung , will Trump's valiant supporters cheer and celebrate if he chooses to set aside democracy for the sake of stability, order, and an enlightened future?
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AuthorMy name is Colin Lindsay and I am a currently a Masters student at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. My areas of focus include sports, music, and the survival of the Canadian identity in the shadow of American culture. ArchivesCategories |