The Rise of American Political Violence: We Are Forgetting What World War 2 Taught Us
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As the generation that survived the horrors of World War 2 dies off, I cannot help but feel like history is repeating itself.
Before the founding of the United Nations long term peace in Europe was a laughable myth. England, France and Spain were in a near constant state of war with each other for centuries.
The Industrial Revolution in the late nineteenth century brought in new technologies which also made war even more destructive than ever thought possible. This escalation of violence and industry culminated with the trench warfare used in World War I and concluded with the invention of the atomic bomb during the final years of World War 2.
The horrific evil of Hitler’s Nazi ideology led to a widespread rejection of those ideals. Racism became a universally shunned taboo, the concept of post war peace was more appealing to the masses then war fueled by passionate nationalism,
As racism, nationalism and fascist ideals were universally rejected in favor of international cooperation. A kind of New Deal globalism emerged. The Cold War was a result of not only nuclear deterrence but also this shifting mindset which valued diplomacy over warfare.
Even though Vietnam raged on in the 1960’s; it was unpopular with most of the American public. A similar sentiment was echoed in the aftermath of 9/11, where people simply wanted the terrorist’s held responsible instead of waging war against the wrong country and its civilian population.
But now this past decade, it seems that the internet has radicalized everybody. The ability for two people with opposing ideals to communicate and choose diplomacy over violence has broken down.
It was once seen that the Watergate Scandal of the 1970’s was the most horrid public scandal in the history of the American government. The more recent 2021 January 6th Capital Riots made what Nixon did look like a picnic by comparison.
Not to mention Brexit, the rise of Anti European Union sentiment, Politicians wanting to disband NATO, Putin launching an unsanctioned attack on the Ukraine that same year. Consider also how politically motivated violence in America has become normalized. The death of Charlie Kirk, the death of Renee Good, the death of George Floyd and the riots that followed.
We used to be able to talk to one another. But social media has done everything in its power to keep you socially isolated and to stop you from having empathy with the other side.
They say history repeats itself. I certainly hope it won’t come to that. The generation that came before you once paid the price of genocide and violence. The price of choosing violence over diplomacy. The price of choosing hatred over peace.
Is that a price you are willing to pay?
My Grandmother was a teenager when Nazi Germany invaded Greece and bombed her hometown. As a gypsy woman who was born in 1996; I am only two generations away from the Nazi’s attempted genocide of my people.
Violence solves nothing. Radicalism is not the answer. Dehumanizing people you politically disagree with is not the answer.
Democrats are Americans. Republicans are Americans. We are all people trying to navigate this world whilst pursuing our own happiness. The functionality of Democracy is contingent on differing ideologies cooperating in the spirit of something greater than themselves. In my opinion, their is nothing more un-American than rejecting that premise.
With the passage of time we lose all those who remember the horrors of war. They become replaced by young people who think it is nothing more than a game.
[b]As the generation that survived the horrors of World War 2 dies off, I cannot help but feel like history is repeating itself.
Before the founding of the United Nations long term peace in Europe was a laughable myth. England, France and Spain were in a near constant state of war with each other for centuries.
The Industrial Revolution in the late nineteenth century brought in new technologies which also made war even more destructive than ever thought possible. This escalation of violence and industry culminated with the trench warfare used in World War I and concluded with the invention of the atomic bomb during the final years of World War 2.
The horrific evil of Hitler’s Nazi ideology led to a widespread rejection of those ideals. Racism became a universally shunned taboo, the concept of post war peace was more appealing to the masses then war fueled by passionate nationalism,
As racism, nationalism and fascist ideals were universally rejected in favor of international cooperation. A kind of New Deal globalism emerged. The Cold War was a result of not only nuclear deterrence but also this shifting mindset which valued diplomacy over warfare.
Even though Vietnam raged on in the 1960’s; it was unpopular with most of the American public. A similar sentiment was echoed in the aftermath of 9/11, where people simply wanted the terrorist’s held responsible instead of waging war against the wrong country and its civilian population.
But now this past decade, it seems that the internet has radicalized everybody. The ability for two people with opposing ideals to communicate and choose diplomacy over violence has broken down.
It was once seen that the Watergate Scandal of the 1970’s was the most horrid public scandal in the history of the American government. The more recent 2021 January 6th Capital Riots made what Nixon did look like a picnic by comparison.
Not to mention Brexit, the rise of Anti European Union sentiment, Politicians wanting to disband NATO, Putin launching an unsanctioned attack on the Ukraine that same year. Consider also how politically motivated violence in America has become normalized. The death of Charlie Kirk, the death of Renee Good, the death of George Floyd and the riots that followed.
We used to be able to talk to one another. But social media has done everything in its power to keep you socially isolated and to stop you from having empathy with the other side.
They say history repeats itself. I certainly hope it won’t come to that. The generation that came before you once paid the price of genocide and violence. The price of choosing violence over diplomacy. The price of choosing hatred over peace.
Is that a price you are willing to pay?
My Grandmother was a teenager when Nazi Germany invaded Greece and bombed her hometown. As a gypsy woman who was born in 1996; I am only two generations away from the Nazi’s attempted genocide of my people.
Violence solves nothing. Radicalism is not the answer. Dehumanizing people you politically disagree with is not the answer.
Democrats are Americans. Republicans are Americans. We are all people trying to navigate this world whilst pursuing our own happiness. The functionality of Democracy is contingent on differing ideologies cooperating in the spirit of something greater than themselves. In my opinion, their is nothing more un-American than rejecting that premise.
