If the country you love is sliding towards Nazism, should you stand and fight, or go into exile?

Question

A British secondary school history teacher a while back punctured the self-righteous attitude that Hitler fooled the Germans, but the British would never have fallen for it.

After getting the class to roundly condemn the Third Reich, this teacher carefully orchestrated a campaign of vilification against an arbitrary group totally out of proportion to their supposed faults. By the end of the lesson, there was little difference between the cries of hate by the class against this hapless group and a Nuremberg rally.

Answer 1

i would fight

Answer 2

When I was a teenager a teacher made us learn this by heart. It had a profound effect on the whole class.

  

When the n***s came for the communists,

I remained silent;

I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,

I remained silent;

I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,

I did not speak out;

I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,

I remained silent;

I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,

there was no one left to speak out

And my answer is fight. But then I was taught to question assertions and learned to speak out against insidious statements. 'Because I say so' is never enough.

Answer 3

I'm fighting, even in exile. Fascism is anathema and as a Brit I am ashamed of the increased interest in the BNP and UKIP. Still, I don't have a vote, so all I can do is SHOUT.

Answer 4

I'm one of those "minority groups" but was born and bread in Britain and have lived here all my life. I love this country to pieces, but if something were to arise against my minority group, I would leave faster than you could say n**i. It would be a huge shame for me if I could never return to this beautiful country ever again, but I would not try to hide my ethnic background. And if you look hard enough, no one is British British. There are Brits who have Russian parents, or Kenyan born Brits, or people who have become British, and even if you find a British person with British parents and grandparents, then THEIR parents were foreign. There is no such thing in any person that they are pure Brits.

Answer 5

How could he puncture a"myth" that the british would never fall for nazism when the electorate didnt vote in a single MP of the fascist party led by Oswald Mosley ? Both of you are as ignorant of history as each other.

Answer 6

Yeah I read the book written about it "The Wave". For the question I think it really depends. Can you be more effective in another country lampooning the practices of your homeland? If this ensures economic sanctions against your country, is this more beneficial than a futile attack?

A bit of Socratic Method here because I'm not sure.

Answer 7

It seems to me that the USA is sliding towards totalitarianism with a President who regularly tells Congress (the Legislature) "I may have to sign this law you passed, but I won't enforce it."  This should have invoked an impeachment, but the US seems to either want a dictator-like president, or doesn't understand the Constitutional requirements on the President, or just doesn't care.

This presidency has been so bad for the citizens of the middle class in America (not to mention Iraqis and Afghanis) that a lover of liberty has to at least begin to consider the idea of exile.  The two candidates for the Presidency promise to be no better at all;  they both espouse this dictatorship where they impose their will on not just Iraq and afghanistan, but on America itself!  

So your question is so valid for the US today.  Stay and fight against the imperial president, or just get out and watch America crumble from afar.  I think I'll fight, at least for awhile, but for how long?  Only time can tell.

Answer 8

It is a fact that an astute speaker can manipulate a crowd to his or her will . The ancient Greeks were the masters of oratory and had schools to teach the art , sadly lost to history now . Our lives are so wrapped up in rushing to and fro to keep up with the modern world , we do not have the time for the moderation of study and the appreciation of the spoken word . Even the art of writing letters to loved ones is a dying art . We are losing so much of ourselves i do not envy my siblings and there children's children. To run away from a problem is to expiate it .

Answer 9

Hitler was clever enough to realise that we all need a common enemy to rally against. I can see that happening in this country. We are so famous for our 'stiff-upper lip' attitude, but all that is changing. People are incredibly selfish now and would rather blame their misfortunes on a minority group of people than on their own laziness.

I'm sick to death of hearing how 5% of the country's population is responsible for all the woes of the world.

Answer 10

i would stand and fight. Because the social politics of the third reich was the best.

Answer 11

As an old historical saying goes; "Better to die fighting on your feet, than to live forever on your knees"

Answer 12

if the people of the country like Nazism more than any other religion and they are happy with it i will support it

Answer 13

Hitler managed to get where he was because good people did nothing, assuming that it was a fad that would go away, or that other people would see the problem and deal with it, or were just too afraid.

At the moment, the current hate where I am is Polish immigrants.  Travellers are also held in low esteme.  Many of the comments regarding these groups are offensive, and misinformed.  I therefore challenge ignorance wherever I see it.

You should do the same.  By running away, you take yourself out of the argument and away from the problem area.  The consequences of doing nothing can be, as history teaches us, catastrophic.

Luck