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No one elected Hitler either - he was appointed chancellor by German president Hindenburg.
We've been following the pre-Nazi playbook to the letter, and an octogenarian just handing out a fuck-ton of power to a vocal shitstain is one of the many parallels.
When I toured the concentration camp at Dachau some years ago, the tour guide was very clear on this point: people did elect the Nazis.
In 1932, the Nazi party became the largest party in the German parliament, with 37.3% of the vote. It is true that it was not mandatory to make Hitler chancellor, but as the head of the largest party, it would have been expected.
The Nazi party received massive support in democratic elections, where the expectation of the voters would have been that if the Nazi party gained enough seats, Hitler would become chancellor.
This is an important point to me, as it shows that it is possible for democratic elections to result in a fascist government that dismantles democracy. Ignoring this historical example prevents us from applying the lesson to new situations.
There are some differences.
Hitler was relatively young and had about as much of his mental faculties as he ever did. Trump is old and senile. I'm not sure his handlers are even giving him the password to his Xhitter account anymore. Most of the posts are how Trump would have talked 20 years ago; barely literate, often childish, but meet a basic level of coherency and sentence structure. With Trump himself off to the side, the people working in the background don't have to have their plans fucked with by the whims of the fascist in chief. He can play golf and watch Fox News all day, and they're all good with it as long as he signs the papers they bring him.
He'll also die of natural causes in the not too distant future, and they don't have anyone else who can galvanize support the way Trump does.
If history rhymes then Trump is Hindenburg and Musk is the young unelected Hitler.
Months ago, everyone would have unequivocally said Trump was Hitler. Maybe these metaphors are bullshit, and we should interpret conditions without them.
Mate, metaphors like this help understand the gravity of the situation to help us see WHY certain actions are bad. From an uneducated standpoint, DOGE might not seem so bad unless you understand that Hitler rose to power on such things:
These metaphors aren't bullshit....they are just getting more accurate.
If we keep changing who The Hitler is in the metaphor, how useful is that to understand the situation?
Trump isn't as young as Hitler was, but they need him as the charismatic front. Musk is relatively young and wields power like Hitler, but he wouldn't have enough support on his own.
Okay,
They're still fascist as fuck.
Never said otherwise.
So what's your point then. That the may be fascist but the Hitler comparisons are a line to far for you?
That the metaphor isn't helpful to understanding if you keep changing who the Hitler is.
There are many examples of fascism out there, and they don't all follow the same script as what happened in Germany.
That's not what a metaphor is?
It's an analogy, not a script. Of course it's not a perfect fit. Metaphors never do. And of course it changes and life itself changes.
Your getting mad about a metaphor when you should be getting mad about facsim itself. Getting mad at nothing is just distraction.
I'm not mad, I'm pointing out that the strategy is flawed. I want that strategy to be as strong as possible. Quibbling about the definition of metaphor and analogy doesn't help anything.
And quibilling about how accurate a metaphor is at any given time is just as useful?
Let me try this.
It doesn't matter if the metaphor doesn't stay consistent or whatever.
Because anyone who would be swayed by a metaphor like that is already swayed. It's time to get in the streets.
Yes? It affects our understanding of the situation.
We're past the time of understanding the situation is my point. It's time to riot.
That sounds like a great plan to Wild E Coyote directly into a wall.
Anyone who can look at the news and not understand never will.
I also think they mixed in the fallout series lore.
Ironically, Fallout had nothing like the propaganda tools we have today. Hitler would have drooled over Twitter, TikTok, Meta, Google's, and a few influencer's grip on the collective psyche.
I all fairness, Hitler didn't get the opportunity to add atomic bombs to his playbook. He tried.