18 Jan 2020
14 Nov 2021 minor update
Who Killed All Those People?
It May Not Be Who You Think.
Please bear with me, there is a major political point made here.
The total number of non-combatants killed by the Nazis is about 11 million.
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2011/03/10/hitler-vs-stalin-who-killed-more/
Over six million Jews were murdered.
http://www.auschwitz.dk/holofaq.htm
Then consider that the total estimated deaths was 75 to 80 million.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties
From the web page: Prior to the collapse of the USSR and the archival revelations, some historians estimated that the numbers killed by Stalin's regime were 20 million or higher.
A quote: In 1957, he launched a campaign known as the Great Leap Forward that aimed to rapidly transform China's economy from agrarian to industrial. This campaign led to the deadliest famine in history and the deaths of 20–45 million people between 1958 and 1962.
Quoting: Pol Pot was a political leader whose communist Khmer Rouge government led Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. During that time, an estimated 1.5 to 2 million Cambodians died of starvation, execution, disease or overwork.
When we speak of those times, we say that Stalin, for example, killed all those people. In a very real sense, he did. That many people would not have met an early and ugly death if Stalin had not risen to power. In our quick sound bites, we rightfully accuse them of those deaths.
However, it is easy to forget that Stalin, Mao, and each one of these dictators, did not take a knife, gun, or anything else and commit that many murders. It is very important to remember individual people did take knife, gun, and any implement they chose and end the lives of those people. They committed cold blooded murder. Knowing full well exactly what they were doing. Their position often fell into some basic categories: I was just following orders. I had to do it. If I didn’t do it, someone else would have. If I didn’t do it, I would be killed.
My position is: No, you did not have to. For various reasons, you elected to do that. It was your choice.
The last excuse has significantly more urgency. But if you, the citizen noted, hadn’t done it, then maybe the people around you would decline to kill you. Regardless, the correct position is No. There is no excuse for murdering large numbers of people. The people who did the individual murders bear the ultimate responsibility. They did make a choice.
The people that did all these killings were also the leader’s lackeys. The sycophants. The people that were in mid-level authority that had not the courage to say No. These are the people truly responsible for the up to 67 million murders just referenced. They committed the murders, therefore they bear greater responsibility than the leaders. Whether or not they admit it, or own up to it, they bear that responsibility. They cannot abdicate it. These people bear more responsibility than those who are generally blamed. But there are too many of them. Probably, most of their names are lost to history.
We have elected Trump. He has shown himself, time and time again to be a Tyrant. (Please look it up, he is not fully successful yet, but not for effort.) He is a Racist. He spews hate. He disdains the Constitution. He has praised Putin, and Xi Jinping as being greater leaders. He mentioned how much respect Kim Jong-un gets, knowing full well that those who are not sufficiently obsequious are murdered. Because Kim Jong-un said so. Trump wants that kind of respect. He explicitly stated so.
Now ask the question: How does it get away with it?
That is an incredibly important question and thought.
The answer is that there are two groups that enable him. The most obvious are the elected Republicans in Congress. With very few exceptions, they are his support team. His lackeys and sycophants. They are, day by day, enabling him to continue his regime of hatred.
And if he continues in office, these are the people than can begin to commit crimes in his name. They are already that, to a smaller degree, int that they have taken many steps down that path. They see the evidence of Trump violating the constitution and proclaim no evidence. Very few of them have the courage to stand up and say no. Like Senator McCain that Trump hates so much.
These are the types of people that supported Hitler, Mao, Stalin, and others. They are more than complicit. They are active associates.
The second group is much larger, and much more pernicious. They are the members of this country that support Trump. They have the evidence in front of them. It cannot be denied. Yet they continue to deny. Each and every one of them is adding to the destruction of our democracy. They are the ones that might be coerced into committing cold blooded murder. Of tens to hundreds of people. Each.
There is a subgroup of those voters. These are the people with apathy. They just don’t care. They will not do anything. Each has their own little justifications. They are complicit. I am not sure how to quantify how complicit they are, so make your own conclusion.
The situation is grim. I would like to write that we are at a cross-roads. That is not the case. We have selected and taken a path. The wrong path. Now that we are there, we must exert even greater effort to backup and find the right path. This will be difficult. But our democracy depends on it.
If things go completely bad, a large portion of these people will say and claim: But we did not know!
That is flat our wrong, and merits two responses.
The evidence is abundant, clear, and plain. You made the choice to pretend you did not know.
That is the second part of the response. If we get to the point where people say: But we did not know, it may well be too late. And it won’t matter anymore because it cannot be fixed.
Please do something. … Today.