It’s generally understood that a country is not vulnerable to a dictatorial take-over if its domestic, economic and political climate(s) are in good shape. So I’ve done a bit of research to make a comparison between the United States a few days before our election and the Weimar Republic shortly before Hitler came to full power.
I’ve broken down specific aspects of each country’s landscape into the categories aspiring tyrants use in their demagoguery; by pounding relentlessly on problems in these areas, a demagogue tells the citizenry that things are “garbage,” but if he’s elected, he’ll clean it all up.
So are we garbage? And was Germany in 1930?
Economy
–United States 2024
- Population: Between 336 million and 345 million
- U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 3% in the second quarter of 2024, higher than the revised 1.6% expansion in the first quarter.
- Inflation decreased from 7 in 2021 to 2.2 in 2024.
- Unemployment rate, 4.1, a decrease from 4.2% in August 2024.
- Wage increase: Total wages and salaries in the US increased by 28.01% from November 2020 to August 2024.
–Weimar Republic 1930
- Population: Approximately 64,294,000
- The Great Depression – serious economic crisis. How serious? ⇓
- Unemployment: Skyrocketed. The number of people in full-time employment fell from twenty million in 1929 to just over eleven million in 1933.
- Business closures: Over 10,000 businesses closing every year.
- Wage decline: Wages fell by 39% from 1929 to 1932.
- Poverty: Sharp increase in poverty levels across the country.
- Worthless money: The German mark became essentially worthless. By November 1923, one U.S. dollar was equivalent to 1,000 billion (a trillion) marks.
- Constant price increases: Prices of goods doubled within a month.
- Wage depreciation: Salaries became worthless almost immediately after being paid.
Crime
–United States 2024
January through June 2023 and 2024 indicates reported violent crime decreased by 10.3%. Murder decreased by 22.7%, rape decreased by 17.7%, robbery decreased by 13.6%, and aggravated assault decreased by 8.1%. (And U.S.-born citizens are over 2 times more likely to be arrested for violent crimes compared to undocumented immigrants.)
–Weimar Republic 1930
- Crime rates surged after the 1929 Great Depression; criminal gangs became active in various illegal activities, including prostitution, narcotics, gambling, and robbery.
- Paramilitary groups associated with the Nazis and Communists. Violent streets clashes and fatalities resulting from political street battles.
- Political assassinations and extrajudicial killings also became common.
Immigration
–United States 2024
- Approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants as of 2022.
- Undocumented immigrants paid nearly $100 billion in federal, state and local tax revenue in 2022.
- Undocumented immigrants paid higher tax rates than the top 1% of income earners in 40 states.
–Weimar Republic 1930
No evidence of serious immigration to Germany because of disasterous economy, around 33% unemployment and political instability. Any measurable migration was out of Germany, not in.
The “Other,” i.e., the “Enemy Within”
United States 2024
“Others” have to be recognizably distinct in appearance to hostile, racist whites with Nazi-like intentions. These Americans (and their numbers) are:
- Black — 47.9 million.
- Latino (Hispanic) — 65 million.
- Asian — Approximately 19.7 million to 23.5 million.
- Native Americans — Over 9.7 million.
- Orthodox Jews — roughly 900,000.
That’s 146 million people in a total population of 336 million, i.e., 43.4% of our population. These “others” are well represented on our voting rolls and in our government, police forces and the military. That is, they are not “others”; they are us.
Weimar Republic 1930
- Jews — approximately 505,000-525,000.
- Roma — educated guess, 30,000 to 100,000.
- Homosexuals — Exact population numbers are not available, but the scope of the community is suggested by 170 clubs, bars and pubs catering to gays and lesbians in Berlin. Between 1933-1945, an estimated 100,000 men were arrested for homosexuality across Germany.
At maximum, that’s a total of 725,000 fairly identifiable “others” out of a total population of over 64 million. That is around 1.2% of the population.
As I re-read this just now, I see clearly that Trump, et MAGA al., are running for election not in the United States today but in 1930’s Germany.
It’s as if the entire MAGA crowd has lapsed into a 94-year time warp, chosen to live in mass amnesia rather than live in substantially good and promising contemporary reality.
It’s weirder and weirder and weirder and weirder…