Yeah, the only comments sections I read are those on Imzy and on my own Facebook feed (I know and trust everyone there, and if someone says something I disagree with, we can discuss it respectfully).
Coincidentally, I've taken a renewed interest in the Holocaust in the last few months, and I have to admit that it is in part because what I've seen from Donald Trump and what I've heard about the Syrian refugee crisis. I actually read Anne Frank's diary again - it's so different reading it as a 21-year-old as opposed to reading it as a 10-year-old.
I've been learning a lot about the Weimar Republic, and the world of Germany right before World War II. I'm currently rehearsing a production of "Cabaret" that takes place in 1931 in Berlin. The similarities are pretty alarming. I don't know what the future holds, and I'm glad I have the opportunity to tell the story of "Cabaret," now, when it really really really matters.
Without a doubt, the Western world is in a much stronger position to defeat this new strain of fascism than it was in the 1930s. But unlike in the 1930s, this new fascism was not cultivated mostly by actual economic malaise but rather merely the perception of economic malaise (US and UK especially) or crime/terrorism. The new targets - Middle Eastern refugees and Latino immigrants in the US - also look much more different than the typical white European/American than the Jews did from non-Jewish Europeans. But in both cases, fascism is plotting its takeover using the ballot box.
It's a product of media sensationalism - because catastrophes, like terrorist attacks, ESPECIALLY those carried out by foreign terrorists like ISIS, are so uncommon, they are reported in the news, which gives the perception that they are common because of the availability heuristic.
That comments section is horrible. Nothing new.
Comments sections are pretty much horrible everywhere.
True story.
Yeah, the only comments sections I read are those on Imzy and on my own Facebook feed (I know and trust everyone there, and if someone says something I disagree with, we can discuss it respectfully).
What's sadder is that Otto Frank tried to get his family US visas, but was denied. Why? Because most Americans thought German refugees could be Nazi spies, and therefore opposed bringing in refugees.
Yep. #historyrepeatsitself
Coincidentally, I've taken a renewed interest in the Holocaust in the last few months, and I have to admit that it is in part because what I've seen from Donald Trump and what I've heard about the Syrian refugee crisis. I actually read Anne Frank's diary again - it's so different reading it as a 21-year-old as opposed to reading it as a 10-year-old.
I've been learning a lot about the Weimar Republic, and the world of Germany right before World War II. I'm currently rehearsing a production of "Cabaret" that takes place in 1931 in Berlin. The similarities are pretty alarming. I don't know what the future holds, and I'm glad I have the opportunity to tell the story of "Cabaret," now, when it really really really matters.
Without a doubt, the Western world is in a much stronger position to defeat this new strain of fascism than it was in the 1930s. But unlike in the 1930s, this new fascism was not cultivated mostly by actual economic malaise but rather merely the perception of economic malaise (US and UK especially) or crime/terrorism. The new targets - Middle Eastern refugees and Latino immigrants in the US - also look much more different than the typical white European/American than the Jews did from non-Jewish Europeans. But in both cases, fascism is plotting its takeover using the ballot box.
YES! John Oliver recently talked about this idea: that the perception of "badness" is a more powerful motivator than actual facts.
It's a product of media sensationalism - because catastrophes, like terrorist attacks, ESPECIALLY those carried out by foreign terrorists like ISIS, are so uncommon, they are reported in the news, which gives the perception that they are common because of the availability heuristic.