Germane to our times

Created
Tue, 30/05/2023 - 23:00
Updated
Tue, 30/05/2023 - 23:00
Army Talks fact sheet Once again, Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American offers up a historical reference germane to our times that, as the saying goes, rhymes (as does the adjective). So I’m dropping her comments in full right here: Beginning in 1943, the War Department published a series of pamphlets for U.S. Army personnel in the European theater of World War II. Titled Army Talks, the series was designed “to help [the personnel] become better-informed men and women and therefore better soldiers.” On March 24, 1945, the topic for the week was “FASCISM!” “You are away from home, separated from your families, no longer at a civilian job or at school and many of you are risking your very lives,” the pamphlet explained, “because of a thing called fascism.” But, the publication asked, what is fascism? “Fascism is not the easiest thing to identify and analyze,” it said, “nor, once in power, is it easy to destroy. It is important for our future and that of the world that as many of us as possible understand the causes and practices of fascism, in order to combat it.” Fascism, the U.S. government document explained, “is government by the few and for the few. The objective is seizure and control of the economic, political, social, and cultural life of the state.” “The people run democratic governments, but fascist governments run the people.” “The basic principles of democracy stand in the way of their desires; hence—democracy must go! Anyone who is not…