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Mar. 10th, 2011 02:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kittydesadeOh for the love of Christmas, people, STOP COMPARING WALKER TO FUCKING HITLER.
Pick a different person to compare him to. There's a lot of people out there, a lot of leaders, even dictators, who have tried to and mostly succeeded in taking away union rights. Or the equivalent thereof. Worker's rights. That's why we have a Labor Day, which is May 1, for those of you who didn't know. Except in the US, when it's in September. We have a Labor Day because a lot of people in a lot of countries have marched for worker's rights, have fought for them, suffered and bled and died for them. So there's plenty of bad, bad men to choose from.
But not Hitler. Leave fucking Hitler alone, okay? I don't think the awareness of him is going to go away anytime soon, you don't need to keep dragging him out of the closet and beating us with his rotting corpse.
Let's look at some things Hitler did that Walker shows no signs of doing. I won't go so far as to say Walker doesn't want to extend the rest of the country into the policies he's currently trying to ram down Wisconsin's throat, because he probably does. He dissolved all other political parties in Germany to consolidate power under his Nazi party; I think even Walker would have a hard time dissolving the Democratic Party in Wisconsin, no matter how hard he tries physically to keep everyone out of the damn building. He gave Germans jobs primarily by building arms factories, which Walker shows no signs of doing (thank god). Hitler refinanced the entire country by playing a pea and shell game with the banks and their money, until his own private army (since he made the army swear allegiance to him personally instead of the office which he held) was armed and outfitted. And then he went and invaded some countries, and rounded up some subsets of the population and had them all ... well, you know the rest.
Somehow, I don't think Walker's planning on rounding people up and putting them in work and death camps.
There are bad things happening. In Wisconsin and Michigan, Indiana and Idaho and Ohio most blatantly, in many other states besides. Some bad things have already happened. People are being disenfranchised in large groups, people are being stripped of their rights, and workers are being reduced to indentured servitude. Do union workers make more than non-union? Often, because union workers negotiate, en masse (strength in numbers, remember?) for their right to be paid a sum they can live on. Non-union workers get paid what they get paid, and have to make it work somehow. You know how Wal-Mart workers are in the news off and on because they're not getting paid enough, they suffer discrimination at work, sexual harassment, etc? They're not union, so Wal-Mart can do whatever they want to them. Or they can quit, and take their chances elsewhere. Would you want to quit your job right now, even if it isn't paying enough to live on? Yeah, I'd think long and hard about it too. Wal-Mart, and similar corporations don't want unions because unions force them to treat their employees fairly, and that's expensive. Hell, consumers don't want unions because the cost of products from a company that treats their employees fairly is higher. Oh noes, you might have to price things and budget and think before you buy something. Shocking.
I digress. Walker is not Hitler. Walker is his own breed of bad person, a breed we've been seeing all too often in the US lately. Someone who believes that rising up in the American dream means pushing everyone else down so you can climb on top. Someone who believes, firmly and absolutely, that if you don't have a job it's because you aren't looking hard enough, or you don't want one. Walker believes in that most Puritan of ethics, that if bad things happen to you it's because you did something bad, and while that would be nice if it were true, it just isn't. Unions exist to protect the rights of people who otherwise would have them yanked out from under them as has just happened, because when people gather in groups including corporations they tend to have more power than when they don't.
But Walker is not Hitler. He is not after the eradication of a people, or several categories of people, or anyone who isn't like him. In a sense, he's worse; you have to believe that these people are some kind of threat to you to hate them that much. The FitzGeralds might believe that; Walker, judging by what he's said and done so far, simply believes that public workers are sub-human. That public workers are the 'them' to his 'us', and puts them in the same category as most human beings would put sheep or cattle. There to be used to serve a purpose. You don't hate the cow if she balks at giving you milk, you simply take steps to get the milk anyway. Or you find some other use for the cow. It's cruel, it's disheartening, it's wrong and it's sorely lacking in any kind of empathy and compassion.
But Walker is not Hitler. And every time you compare him to Hitler, you do two things. You invoke a whole other kind of atrocity to the tiny detriment of that atrocity, and you make people think a little less of the fight to undo these bills. Because pithy ideas like Godwin's law exist for a reason. Crying Hitler is like crying wolf, it only works for so long before people stop taking you seriously, and that time has long, long since passed. Walker isn't Hitler. Surely there are other dictators and politicians to compare him to, and I'm sure if you stop and look some at your history you'll find some. Some more accurate ones, too. Please stop comparing him to Hitler. It demeans everyone and serves no purpose.
Comparing the people of Wisconsin to an angry badger, on the other hand, seems eminently appropriate.
And now, in a moment of supreme... irony, synchronicity, something...
Sie wollen morgen snowboarden gehen und Sie fragen Ihre Partnerin/Ihre Partner, ob sie/er mitkommen möchte. Sie/er antwortet negativ mit Bedauern.
1. Kommst du morgen mit zum Snowboarden? Leider kann ich morgen nicht.
2. Kannst du Tanja dein Snowboard ausleihen? Nein, es tut mir Leid.
3. Weißt du, wer ein Snowboard hat? Nein, leider nicht.
4. Weißt du, was ein Snowboard etwas kostet? Nein, es tut mir Leid.
5. Weißt du, wo es billige Snowboards gibt? Nein, leider nicht.
6. Fährst du am Wochenende zum Skilaufen? Nein, es geht leider nicht.
7. Jobbst du im Winter wieder als Skilehrer in Österreich? Nein, leider nicht.
Andrea möchte ins Kino gehen, aber sie muss leider zu Hause bleiben. Sagen Sie warum.
1. Andrea möchte heute Abend ins Kino gehen.
2. Sie muss aber noch viel lernen.
3. Sie kann nicht mehr ihre Notizen lesen.
4. Sie muss morgen eine Klausur schreiben.
5. Sie muss auch noch ein Referat vorbereiten.
6. Sie woll später in Kanada studieren.
Pick a different person to compare him to. There's a lot of people out there, a lot of leaders, even dictators, who have tried to and mostly succeeded in taking away union rights. Or the equivalent thereof. Worker's rights. That's why we have a Labor Day, which is May 1, for those of you who didn't know. Except in the US, when it's in September. We have a Labor Day because a lot of people in a lot of countries have marched for worker's rights, have fought for them, suffered and bled and died for them. So there's plenty of bad, bad men to choose from.
But not Hitler. Leave fucking Hitler alone, okay? I don't think the awareness of him is going to go away anytime soon, you don't need to keep dragging him out of the closet and beating us with his rotting corpse.
Let's look at some things Hitler did that Walker shows no signs of doing. I won't go so far as to say Walker doesn't want to extend the rest of the country into the policies he's currently trying to ram down Wisconsin's throat, because he probably does. He dissolved all other political parties in Germany to consolidate power under his Nazi party; I think even Walker would have a hard time dissolving the Democratic Party in Wisconsin, no matter how hard he tries physically to keep everyone out of the damn building. He gave Germans jobs primarily by building arms factories, which Walker shows no signs of doing (thank god). Hitler refinanced the entire country by playing a pea and shell game with the banks and their money, until his own private army (since he made the army swear allegiance to him personally instead of the office which he held) was armed and outfitted. And then he went and invaded some countries, and rounded up some subsets of the population and had them all ... well, you know the rest.
Somehow, I don't think Walker's planning on rounding people up and putting them in work and death camps.
There are bad things happening. In Wisconsin and Michigan, Indiana and Idaho and Ohio most blatantly, in many other states besides. Some bad things have already happened. People are being disenfranchised in large groups, people are being stripped of their rights, and workers are being reduced to indentured servitude. Do union workers make more than non-union? Often, because union workers negotiate, en masse (strength in numbers, remember?) for their right to be paid a sum they can live on. Non-union workers get paid what they get paid, and have to make it work somehow. You know how Wal-Mart workers are in the news off and on because they're not getting paid enough, they suffer discrimination at work, sexual harassment, etc? They're not union, so Wal-Mart can do whatever they want to them. Or they can quit, and take their chances elsewhere. Would you want to quit your job right now, even if it isn't paying enough to live on? Yeah, I'd think long and hard about it too. Wal-Mart, and similar corporations don't want unions because unions force them to treat their employees fairly, and that's expensive. Hell, consumers don't want unions because the cost of products from a company that treats their employees fairly is higher. Oh noes, you might have to price things and budget and think before you buy something. Shocking.
I digress. Walker is not Hitler. Walker is his own breed of bad person, a breed we've been seeing all too often in the US lately. Someone who believes that rising up in the American dream means pushing everyone else down so you can climb on top. Someone who believes, firmly and absolutely, that if you don't have a job it's because you aren't looking hard enough, or you don't want one. Walker believes in that most Puritan of ethics, that if bad things happen to you it's because you did something bad, and while that would be nice if it were true, it just isn't. Unions exist to protect the rights of people who otherwise would have them yanked out from under them as has just happened, because when people gather in groups including corporations they tend to have more power than when they don't.
But Walker is not Hitler. He is not after the eradication of a people, or several categories of people, or anyone who isn't like him. In a sense, he's worse; you have to believe that these people are some kind of threat to you to hate them that much. The FitzGeralds might believe that; Walker, judging by what he's said and done so far, simply believes that public workers are sub-human. That public workers are the 'them' to his 'us', and puts them in the same category as most human beings would put sheep or cattle. There to be used to serve a purpose. You don't hate the cow if she balks at giving you milk, you simply take steps to get the milk anyway. Or you find some other use for the cow. It's cruel, it's disheartening, it's wrong and it's sorely lacking in any kind of empathy and compassion.
But Walker is not Hitler. And every time you compare him to Hitler, you do two things. You invoke a whole other kind of atrocity to the tiny detriment of that atrocity, and you make people think a little less of the fight to undo these bills. Because pithy ideas like Godwin's law exist for a reason. Crying Hitler is like crying wolf, it only works for so long before people stop taking you seriously, and that time has long, long since passed. Walker isn't Hitler. Surely there are other dictators and politicians to compare him to, and I'm sure if you stop and look some at your history you'll find some. Some more accurate ones, too. Please stop comparing him to Hitler. It demeans everyone and serves no purpose.
Comparing the people of Wisconsin to an angry badger, on the other hand, seems eminently appropriate.
And now, in a moment of supreme... irony, synchronicity, something...
Sie wollen morgen snowboarden gehen und Sie fragen Ihre Partnerin/Ihre Partner, ob sie/er mitkommen möchte. Sie/er antwortet negativ mit Bedauern.
1. Kommst du morgen mit zum Snowboarden? Leider kann ich morgen nicht.
2. Kannst du Tanja dein Snowboard ausleihen? Nein, es tut mir Leid.
3. Weißt du, wer ein Snowboard hat? Nein, leider nicht.
4. Weißt du, was ein Snowboard etwas kostet? Nein, es tut mir Leid.
5. Weißt du, wo es billige Snowboards gibt? Nein, leider nicht.
6. Fährst du am Wochenende zum Skilaufen? Nein, es geht leider nicht.
7. Jobbst du im Winter wieder als Skilehrer in Österreich? Nein, leider nicht.
Andrea möchte ins Kino gehen, aber sie muss leider zu Hause bleiben. Sagen Sie warum.
1. Andrea möchte heute Abend ins Kino gehen.
2. Sie muss aber noch viel lernen.
3. Sie kann nicht mehr ihre Notizen lesen.
4. Sie muss morgen eine Klausur schreiben.
5. Sie muss auch noch ein Referat vorbereiten.
6. Sie woll später in Kanada studieren.