Donald Trump is dangerous

Donald Trump is dangerous.

I don't mean that he is dangerous to the Republican Party, though he is.  I don't even mean that he is dangerous to the United States, though he is.  I mean that he is dangerous to the world.

In the same way that Adolf Hitler was dangerous to the world.

Some of my readers may be thinking, "Oh, there he goes!  Playing the 'Nazi card.'"

There are striking similarities between Adolf Hitler and Donald Trump.

Consider this:  Adolf Hitler did not begin his political career by suggesting that all Jews should be exterminated.  He began his political career by telling Germans what my father, who was alive during Hitler's rise to power, called the "big lie."

At the time of Hitler's rise to power, the Germans were suffering economically.  Germany had lost the first world war, and the victors had imposed very strong provisions against them.  Those provisions were hurting Germany economically.  To make things worse, there was the world-wide "Great Depression."  Germans were hurting.

There were a group of people in Germany and Europe in general against whom there was historic prejudice:  the Jews.  They practiced a "different" religion.  They were often identifiable, or, at least, many Germans believed they were identifiable, by their names or their appearance.  Worse, many of them had kept themselves separate from the "Christian" population for more than a thousand years.

Part of the evidence of this historic German and European prejudice against Jews was the fact that, over the centuries, the Jews had been expelled from country after country, often to be allowed to return years or generations later, and had suffered periodic pogroms - attacks - by the "Christian" population for centuries.

Finally, there was a politician - Adolf Hitler - who was willing to take advantage of these two things - the economic hardship of Germans and their historic prejudice against this often-identifiable population - for purely political gain.

The way that Hitler took advantage of these two things was to tell the German people that their suffering was not their fault.  Rather, it was the fault of an international conspiracy by Jews.

This was the "big lie."

It was not true.  Hitler must have known - I am convinced that Hitler knew - it was not true.  If the German people had examined the "big lie" very closely, they would have seen that it was not true, could not have been true.  But, they didn't examine it closely, because they wanted to believe it was true.  They didn't want to have accept that they were to blame for their suffering.  And, it was easy to believe the "big lie," because they didn't examine it too closely and because they were only too happy to believe that this group of people against whom they harbored a long-standing, historic prejudice, was to blame.

So, they believed the "big lie."

Hitler rose to power, gradually the "big lie" morphed into extermination of all the Jews - which seemed good to the average German, since the Jews were to blame for the average German's problems - and the world was plunged into war.

When I was younger, I read extensively about the Holocaust; so much so that I began to feel a little guilty, as if I were reading because I gained some vicarious pleasure from the Jews suffering.  But, that wasn't it.

Many people, at least back then, were asking, "How could an entire race of people go so passively to their certain death?"  I wasn't trying to answer that question.  To me, the answer seemed obvious.  The question I was trying to answer with all my reading was, "How could one of the most civilized populations on the face of the earth - the Germans - almost unanimously subscribe to the extermination of an entire race?"  That was the question I couldn't understand and all my reading about the Holocaust failed to answer it.

The answer came when I read a biography of Adolph Hitler.  It struck me that, according to that author, Hitler never said or did anything that could be considered anti-Semitic until he entered politics.  Nothing I've read or heard since reading that autobiography has been contrary.  Apparently, Hitler's anti-Semitism was nothing more than a political ploy designed to gain power for Hitler.  The German people believed Hitler's "big lie" because they were suffering, they didn't want to take the blame for their own suffering, and there was someone who was telling them something that, on the surface, could be true, and they wanted it to be true.

The realization that this was the answer was chilling.  This answer meant that it could happen in America.  All that would be required was a confluence of the same events in the United States that occurred in Germany in the 1930s:  Americans suffering (or believing that they are); Americans not wanting to accept the responsibility for their suffering; a distinct group (or groups) against whom there was long-standing prejudice by other Americans; and a politician willing to lie to Americans about these issues for political gain.

Donald Trump.

Many Americans believe they are suffering.  By comparison with most of the rest of the world, they aren't, but many Americans believe they are.  Many of those Americans who believe they are suffering don't want to accept responsibility for their own suffering.  One may argue that they aren't responsible, but whether that's true or not, they don't want to accept responsibility for their own suffering.  There are identifiable groups against whom many of those same American's have long-standing prejudices - Muslims, illegal immigrants, and foreigners (i.e., the Chinese) in general.  And there is a politician who is willing to lie to those Americans about those groups for purely political gain.

The "big lie" that Donald Trump is telling is that Americans are not responsible for their suffering, Muslims, illegal immigrants, and foreigners are.  He has to know this isn't true.  Whether Americans are suffering or not is debatable.  But, the idea that Muslims, illegal immigrants, and foreigners in general are somehow responsible for the alleged suffering is, when closely examined, obviously not true.

Yet, many Americans believe the "big lie."  Because, without close or careful examination, one can think it might be true, and because many Americans want to believe the "big lie."

Donald Trump is starting exactly where Hitler started.  So, yes, I am playing the "Nazi card."  Intentionally, consciously, and on purpose.

Consider this:  Donald Trump is not starting his political career by telling Americans that all Muslims, illegal immigrants, and foreigners ought to be exterminated.  But, he is starting his political career by telling them the same "big lie" that Hitler told the Germans:  You are not responsible for your own suffering, someone else is.

Whether he ends up where Hitler ended up remains to be seen.  I hope not.