History repeats itself.
Great and terrible events stretch themselves out over the expanse of time and space giving no heed to people or culture.
Genocide, war, murder, oppression, and ignorance are most assuredly permanent companions of human life.
This is why Hitler was able to do the same thing that countless dictators had done before him, and why it will happen again.
Since this is he case what is keeping us, the human race from throwing our hands up and succumbing to every whim of every wild-eyed dictator that happens by.
Of course, this is the worst case scenario and ridiculous to even entertain for a moment.
However, I would contend that this is precisely what the vast majority of the world is doing at this very moment.
The ignorant are the prey of the fascists.
James A Baldwin once wrote, "It is certain, in any case, that ignorance allied with power is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.
" It is no coincidence that he who cannot read is he who is ruled.
Aldous Huxley, the brilliant author of the Brave New World (1932) stated that, "Hitler made his strongest appeal to those members of the lower middle classes who had been ruined by the depression" This is exactly the case in many sovereign states throughout the world, including the United States of America.
America, as a whole, is not currently in the grip of a national depression; however, there are many individuals that are experiencing their own depression.
This creates vulnerability and susceptibility to authoritarian rule.
Even those who are not in the clutches of individual depression need to be wary of a a nasty and powerful wolf in sheep's clothing.
Education is the only protection against a totalitarian state.
Huxley also states, "Unlike the masses, intellectuals have a taste for rationality and an interest in facts.
Their critical habit of mind makes them resistant to the kind of propaganda that works so well on the majority.
" This is precisely why this nation is facing such a catastrophe.
Literacy does not necessarily reflect directly upon education.
America is a perfect example.
While almost 97% of Americans are considered literate there are only a select few that have become educated.
Many students would argue this point referencing their diploma or degree.
This is all well and good, for "It is commendable to do what is required, but merely meeting the requirements can at best make one trained or taught-never educated," in the words of Eliot A.
Butler, a brilliant emeritus faculty member of Brigham Young University.
Evidence abounds to support claims of mass American ignorance.
Newspapers are dying, books are being traded for television sets, and critical thinking is being replaced by the bias of an agenda driven media.
Americans are asphyxiating from lack of knowledge, and are happy to do so.
We are unknowingly depriving ourselves of the proper mental stimulation and the necessary progress that will become our guardians.
Neil Postman, a popular essayist, discovered that "The only activity that occupies more of an American youth's time than TV-viewing is sleep.
" The cunning and motivated demagogue would salivate at America's condition.
Why haven't we been overrun by such a sinister evil? Perhaps it is because it takes a certain type of individual to ensnare an entire culture.
Adolf Hitler was a unique specimen, not likely to be replicated.
Maybe a campaign by someone of his stature is what it would take to control a country as large and diverse as America.
Maybe not.
Perhaps the most chilling suggestion is that this great and indestructible nation has already succumbed to the fascist totalitarian dictation of a demagogue.
The evils that are so intertwined with the history of the human race adapt to fit each generation.
They take on new forms in order to deceive and go on unmolested.
There had been countless tyrants and authoritarian dictators before Hitler.
Why then did the German people not see it and slide helplessly into a relapse of history? Hitler did not declare himself king and demand unequivocal devotion.
He lauded himself as a savior and champion of the downtrodden.
Just as this evil shifted and acclimated itself to the culture, so has it adapted to our culture.
America is slowly dying, regressing into the chasm of ignorance and nihilism.
Decadence is our motto, and self promotion is our mantra.
There is no knowledge, no education in this.
No independent or progressive thought.
It is purely self-gratification.
Our pleasures have become our demagogues - our emotions our masters.
How sad it is to contemplate the possibility that the greatest nation in the history of world has been conquered.
Not by some worthy and noble opponent through courage and bravery, but by the great nation herself.
I wonder, is it considered suicide if the perpetrator is unaware of her crime? In this condition, it would be rather inviting for a less noble and brave nation to accelerate America's demise.
For those subscribing to either the views of George Orwell's 1984 or Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, I would grant both the ignominious recognition of being right on the mark.
America is now experiencing the frightening, prophetic realities of Huxley's writing.
And, if she continues on her course, America will become a most welcome refreshment for one of Orwell's totalitarian states.