(07-19-2023 12:34 PM)andybible1995 Wrote: I really don't know what to say anymore. I have repeatedly said that I am not a leftist, nor do I have leftist values. Unfortunately, people still don't believe me, and they're beyond my help at this point. I have a bad habit of making enemies for no reason. In the words of the creators of South Park, I don't like Republicans but I really don't like Democrats. That sums up my political beliefs. If anything, this thread was a strech.
Chin up. I'm an old cold warrior. I didn't take you for a commie, nor do I have an issue with you. You are likely about my grandchildren's age as have I one in Europe now in our Army. Your generation just didn't get a solid fact based education in history. So instead of writing a provocative statement and getting pounced upon by those who lived through whatever you are stating. Ask questions instead of making assertions. They are open ended, will lead to more civil discussions, and you will learn from people who were actually there.
I knew an older woman (think 78) in a nursing home I had to go to in Atlanta. She was Austrian by birth and this was in the 1990's. Her father had been a general in the Prussian Army. When Austria was taken over in the Anschluss her father was pressed into the service for the Third Reich. She was in her late teens at the time. Goebbels, Himler, and Hitler forced her father to have dinner with them once a year at his home. All of his family was required to be there. Why? Because having them present was a reminder to him of what he stood to lose if he changed allegiances. It was a period of intimidation. She recalled her father's instructions not to speak unless spoken to, to smile even if they were nervous, and to answer any direct questions with short to the point answers and to always refer to Hitler as Mein Fuehrer.
My point. History books and history lessons never conveyed to me the anxiety that such an occupation, even between closely aligned countries, that could exist when the people are forced to accept someone as their leader whom they did not support prior to the leader's ascendency. Americans now know just a small portion of that fear of tomorrow, and if that woman taught me anything it's that once such a regime is in place the fear only goes up as the regime grows more unpopular.
2020 was a kind of an American Anschluss in what happened is a conspiracy, and the lies that followed may not be challenged without threat. It only gets worse if we get to a point where elections are suspended, and COVID this time around could be such an excuse, especially if the Arcturus strain is claimed to be more deadly than the others. I can't imagine that high fever and conjunctivitis qualifies, but all it will take is the declaration of a medical emergency by the W.H.O. or C.D.C. and once again dictatorial powers will be claimed.
And that's why the young need to believe nothing they hear, talk to the elderly, and weigh what they hear with what they see happening in order to know the truth.
