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Something of Historic Proportion is Happening

Making the email rounds.... I don't know anything about it validity, or who Pam Geller is, but it makes some interesting points (accusations).

"Something of Historic Proportion is Happening" by Pam Geller

I am a student of history. Professionally. I have written 15 books in six languages, and have studied [History] all my life. I think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is just a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes, these exist, but, they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus.

Something of historic proportions is happening. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it. Yes, a perfect storm maybe brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about 10 - 1 5 years. The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two.

We demand and then codify into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people whom we know can never pay back? Why? We learn just days ago that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has "loaned" two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms. That is our money. Yours and mine. And that is three times the $700B we all argued about so strenuously just this past September.

Who has this money? Why do they have it? Why are the terms unavailable to us? Who asked for it? Who authorized it? I thought this was a government of "We the People," who loaned our powers to our elected leaders. Apparently not.

We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy. Why?

We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving. Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate. Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, and school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why?

We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (now violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it wants marriage to remain between one man and one woman. Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?). We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into a banana republic. To what purpose?

Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, Social Security is nearly bankrupt, as is Medicare and our entire government. Our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and know precisely what I am talking about.) The list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth. It is potentially 1929 x 10. And we are at war with an enemy we cannot name for fear of offending people of the same religion who cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so.

And now we have elected a man no one knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla , Alaska . All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders? No? Oh, of course. The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it. Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe is more important.)
Mr. Obama's winning platform can be boiled down to one word: Change. Why?

I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now. This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life. In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure. Change is indeed coming. And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again.

And that is only the beginning.

I thought I would never be able to experience what the ordinary, moral German felt in the mid-1930s. In those times, the savior was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing. What they did know was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory and promises.
Economic times were tough, people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker. And he smiled and waved a lot. And people, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his "brown shirts" would bully them into submission. And then he was duly elected to office, with a full-throttled economic crisis at hand [the Great Depression].
Slowly but surely he seized the controls of government power, department by department, person by person, bureaucracy by bureaucracy. The kids joined a Youth Movement in his name, where they were taught what to think. How did he get the people on his side? He did it promising jobs to the jobless, money to the moneyless, and goodies for the military-industrial complex. He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe and across the world.

He did it with a compliant media - Did you know that? And he did this all in the name of justice and.... change. And the people surely got what they voted for. (Look it up if you think I am exaggerating.) Read your history books. Many people objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and made fun of. When Winston Churchill pointed out the obvious in the late 1930s while seated in the House of Lords in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker. He was right, though.

Don't forget that Germany was the most educated, cultured country in Europe . It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities. And in less than six years - a shorter time span than just two terms of the U. S. presidency - it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors. All with the best of intentions, of course. The road to Hell is paved with them.

As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice: I can either believe what the objective pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust); I can believe what history is shouting to me from across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong, close my eyes, have another latte and ignore what is transpiring around me.

Some people scoff at me; others laugh or think I am foolish, naive, or both. Perhaps I am. But I have never been afraid to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe - and why I believe it. I pray I am wrong. I do not think I am.
Pamela "Atlas" Geller
 
It started off alright, but the more I read the more I couldn't believe what she was saying. I mean, it's an interesting read, and I agree with her on some points, but she seems like another doomsayer to me. You can't deny that things are pretty crappy right now, but comparing Obama to Hitler? She goes too far.
 
I don't believe this simply because there are spelling errors. I never take things like this seriously if there are grammatical or spelling errors.
 
Substantionally true - whether by accident or design, although naturally calling Obama, Hitler is going a little too far (for the time being.)
 
Obama does say some scary shit. And the scariest thing is that 99% of the people who voted for him don't have any idea what he wants to do. Even if the author is some crazy conspiricy-theorist, there are some very good points in here. Personally, I'm worried about where this "change" is going, and I can't wait until the police kick down my door and rape my Second Amendment.
 
Interesting idea. However, I think Pam Geller is missing something here.
Germany, 1930 was full of desperate people who have yet to internalize the idea of democracy. Other people, who they thought to be inferiors to them, were successful, while them- the "better" people were in trouble (economic, employment).
What happened then was due to millions of German people who either cooperated / were too scared to stand up to the government.
Thanks heavens that period is over. Every kid in the USA is raised to believe in equality and civilian rights. I think we can sleep in peace. ;)
 
silver wind":1abu8i3o said:
Interesting idea. However, I think Pam Geller is missing something here.
Germany, 1930 was full of desperate people who have yet to internalize the idea of democracy. Other people, who they thought to be inferiors to them, were successful, while them- the "better" people were in trouble (economic, employment).
What happened then was due to millions of German people who either cooperated / were too scared to stand up to the government.
Thanks heavens that period is over. Every kid in the USA is raised to believe in equality and civilian rights. I think we can sleep in peace. ;)

You got it 100%, dude.

This lady is a nut. She pretty much established that the world is an economic crisis, but comparing it to A.) 1929 x 10, and B.) Hitler - is taking it too far. For reasons clearly defined, 'A' will never occur because there are too many government safeguards in play. In our current state we are NOWHERE near the depravity that was experienced in the Great Depression. And 'B', well...come on. There will never be another Hitler. I don't want to get into a history lesson, but if you've taken basic World or American history, it's quite apparent there were many things we could have done to stop Hitler - stupid mistakes. Appeasement in Czechoslovakia. Letting him have Austria. Mistakes like that won't be made again. So if Obama, or any world leader for that matter, tries to pull a Hitler - we'll/they'll be in serious trouble.

That's how I see her two completely erroneous and false statements as being. The rest of it's very true statements rectified in the news daily; nothing new or unheard of. The other Obama stuff is clearly a conservative subjectivity against Obama. I don't really trust this woman...with a nick name like "Atlas" this just seems like a joke to me really.

EDIT: Did some research on "Pam Geller", she is obviously not a significant author of fifteen books. She isn't even on Wikipedia. Seems like a farce e-mail campaign.
 
You can't say that it is impossible for something like that to ever happen again. Though it is somewhat improbable for it to occur, to THAT extent, during our generation.

Mass genocide and military/economic warfare is happening at this very moment. But it's happening in third world countries, such as Rwanda and Darfur, and they do not have the power to incite a world war. You should note: it IS happening. But will Obama or the housing crisis have anything to do with a worldwide instability on the same level as Hitler or The Great Depression? Probably not.
 
I dunno sounds like the standard, "back in my days" rant any grandfather with a partisan slant would give. And that alone makes me question the validity of its authorship since its an opinion thats just rife with glib fallacious arguments. My favorite being the dumbing down of the school system, one of those beautifully trite things people love to say particularly when they know little of it. That thought being rejoined by the priceless (I should know i'm a college professor) is good stuff. Hey why not name drop while your at it to lend this thing more credibility: "I had a tea with Wesley Clarke and he found Obama's handling of Afghanistan deplorable. (And he should know he's an ex general!)"

More sophomoric than collegiate in my opinion. But yeah over the top, but who emails each other insightful things any more. That's old hat really.

As far as the bailout rant was concerned its always seemed to me that any non disclosed recipient information was always intended to prevent panic sales on the securities of bailed out firms, and generally to minimize the government's manipulation on the securities and bond marketplace in terms of trading habits. The fact is the free market isn't free without risk. And just because the market's risk managers, the bond rating agencies and the insurers, spectacularly screwed up their risk assessment doesn't mean the government should come in and take away all risk by making kings and paupers as it sees fit in as arbitrary a manner it feels.
 
Some of the respondants seem to think that by invoking Hitler and the 30s, the obvious point the article is making is that we may be about to experience Hitler Mk II - and this is madness.

Hindsight is 20/20 folks. Hitler wasn't predictable then, and a similar figure is not predicable now, and he certainly won't be anything like Hitler or Stalin.

And while we're at it, let's not whitewash things, eh? Some of the most powerful and influential men, industries and nations supported Hitler, and some did not cease that support until *after* the war. The sort of people who we are basically running the show now.

Being so complacent about the future is très foolish. Wasn't it Mark Twain who said that history doesn't repeat, but occasionally rhymes?

America would never become an open dictatorship: open dictatorships are a waste of everyone's time, hold the truncheon over someone's head, and there will always be those who rebel, and frankly, I think there are very few Americans in the right positions who, even in the darkness hour would tolerate the measures needed to keep these people in line - Americans will lose all meaningful say in their government and end up arguing about abortion or gay rights. This (hypothetical) America could slaughter hundreds of people in the third world, but so long as a government spokesperson says that they are very sorry, tried to avoid it, and it was necessary for national security - let's face it... a lot of Americans will continue to support it.

Morality isn't proportional to the number of people it affects.
 
Mega Lenin":25trasw0 said:
And while we're at it, let's not whitewash things, eh? Some of the most powerful and influential men, industries and nations supported Hitler, and some did not cease that support until *after* the war. The sort of people who we are basically running the show now.

1938 Time's Man of the year

Yep. But I was thinking even later than that.

The family of one of my friend's were in a Labor Camp working for the benefit of certain international businessmen who defended their right to use slave labor with the usual justifications. The same ones which are still in circulation, in fact, when some of China's er... "working institutions"... are brought up.



http://www.amazon.com/They-Thought-Were ... 0226511928

On this topic, I strongly recommend people find the time to read the above book. It's not bad (considering it comes out of the University of Chicago!) and is a very honest portrayal of the average German citizen's self image. The main point of reading it is to ask yourself, honestly, would you have recognised what was going on?

I think we can safely say that WWII was *the* greatest paradigm shift mankind has ever experienced. Collectively, we cannot tell what may happen next, or the extent to which events will shift our perceptions of the past, present and future in the days, months or years to come.
 

Vadon

Member

This is sensationalist garbage that tries to extrapolate ambitious conclusions from mediocre evidence. While I don't deny that there are some troubling developments brewing right now, (the unmitigated well of bailouts, the crumbling education system, the over-zealous otherization in foreign policy, etc.) I think this Pam Geller (whose only book I could find was feminist anthropology), is utilizing the politics of fear and uses a model to reach conclusions that throw rationality out the window.

This can be seen through her obvious punditry in her analysis of Obama. While I feel all politicians are open to scrutiny, especially those who have the audacity and ambition to run for President, she uses the fear of the unknown to blast Obama. The fact of the matter is that you can get to know what style Obama has and his experience rather quickly. There are many things that people don't often realize, like Obama's cut-throat nature when it comes to getting his way. (His first Illinois election was won by him getting his opponents knocked off the ballot.) But to say that this is an enigma we've elected is silly. Look at the transparency he has created through various websites. The choices he makes for his cabinet illustrate a man open to opposition, not a man trying to swarm himself with yesmen to bolster his power. Her cheap characterization of Obama as a man who doesn't bring people together falls in the face of reality.

Where is this philosophical divide that's going on in the country? The only real divide that exists is the obstructionist nature of congressional republicans as well as the arrogant self-assured ways of congressional democrats. There's no red v blue war going on in the people, we aren't being "shifted around into new power structures." The competition between people is a construct of a media that focuses on bringing us entertainment as opposed to the truth.

Using the evidence she provided doesn't create a direct link between the current administration and Nazi Germany. This is just fear mongering that is destructive and hurts our ability to make progress. If we allow ourselves to get sucked into negative emotions, we delude our judgment and get sucked into becoming nay sayers and obstructionists as opposed to actually focusing on pragmatic solutions.

If you folks want a more rational examination between our recent administrations and Hitler/Stalin, read End of America by Naomi Wolfe. She does a much better job of staying rational by pointing to specific problems in our system that could lead to a fascist society. (Emergency powers granted in the patriot act, ignoring international law by avoiding the Geneva Convention, Utilizing torture tactics taken straight from the KGB handbook, etc.) At least in Wolfe's perception, she rationalizes it by explaining this kind of power shift works in a pendulum fashion between security and liberty. We gain security at the cost of liberty, at some point we fight and push it back by giving ourselves more liberty. People abuse those liberties and we shift back to security. This cycle continues forever assuming we don't put blocks in. But the biggest point? She says that we shouldn't be afraid of what's happening, we should just be aware of it and work towards making it right again.

It's this type of irrationality used by Pam Geller that leads to mob-mentalities that destroy societies. Fear is the most powerful and destructive force a person can utilize. Don't fall victim to it. Knowledge is your greatest asset.
 
well, I personally didn't vote for Obama, I don't like people without history.

But, Obama seems to me to be more "over his head" in deep water, trying to simply survive more than being a massive conspirator. I can see powerful forces moving "outside" of the law that have been around much longer than Obama.

I do believe there is a hidden extrapolitical force moving things behind the scenes that's been around for much longer than the last decade that will cause more damage than Obama could ever imagine.
 
intresting yet a little harsh.
I will say that I neither agree or disagree. There is a lot of truth for this to simply be regarded as comepletly false and yet it seems to over exaggerated to even have the faintest probaility that this is what is to come. Also nothing is impossible or improbable. Based on things that have happened in the past I believe in the philosiphy of the only thing certain is uncertanty.
 
I don't keep up with politics and am therefore not going to comment on the content of this article, but it reads like nothing more than dogmatic fear-mongering. This Pam Geller writes in sweeping, melodramatic generalities without any substantiation (figures without context don't count for jackshit), and she brings up her "credentials" repeatedly in an obvious grab for credibility to compensate for this. I'm not impressed.
 
I mean, it's really not even incredibly effective from a propaganda standpoint. Like, the first part isn't bad--the credentials thing might work if you're not looking for it, and the platitudes about how shitty our country is are the kind of thing people like to nod sagely to--but comparing anyone to Hitler in almost any context is going to get you laughed at. I mean, the comparison wasn't poorly done for fear-mongering propaganda, but it's Hitler. The other historical references are better but still not great. Bringing up bits of history to make you sound like you know what you're talking about (and totally disregarding context so you can twist it to your ends) can also be effective if people aren't looking closely, but lines like "1929 x 10" just come off as melodramatic. The whole "our country is going down the shitter" angle could've been a bit better, too--again, it's slightly melodramatic. More subtlety would've made this more effective.

Overall, not a poor effort as sensationalist bullshit goes, but there's lots of room for improvement. I give it a B-.
 
Although I don't suppot the fashion in which the above essay states it, I agree that something is happening politicaly. The country is a stagnant mess.
The public school systems, which were used to create industrialized factory workers, have not been reformed to any great extent. Fewer and fewer people attend a secondary schools due to costs involved. The media governs general knowledge.
I see one of two possibilities. A) The country falls into a Roman-like cycle of economic failure, or B) Someone within the country revolts with a large enough force to re-invigorate the system. I use the French Revolution(s) as an example for this.
 

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