Yes, to all you wrote, Scottie.
I read an article on Greek SOTT the other day that linked to the German movie Die Welle. It is about a classroom experiment, where a professor shows through example how it is possible for any peoples to turn to Nazism at any point in history or any place in the world. The experiment took place in the 70s in a Californian high school, even though Die Welle is describing the events (and a bit more dramatically) in 2008 in a german high school. Of course I watched the movie, this is the kind of stuff that really interests me (there is a description of Die Welle here - actually that post is a spoiler because it recounts the whole movie from start to end, so warning). Anyway, after watching that movie, whatever doubts I might have ever had on whether I would support a group like the Nazis, they completely vanished. It all starts out so innocently, the lies as so well crafted, every member has the feeling that they belong in something that gives them a purpose...
I mentioned already somewhere on this forum that all these people who are rallying against Tramp, all these women wearing their pink hats in the streets, all of them are driven not just by an ideology, but also by a need to belong and have a purpose. Which are the most fundamental needs, after having food, a roof over one's head and basic needs met.
Ever since Trump's inauguration I have been staying awake at night, thinking about all these things, about the division in the US, wondering whether I truly in my heart support Trump at all, about my FB friends who became unrecognisable almost in their vehemence against Trump, and how I felt responsible to address these issues in such a way that I didn't lose friends over it, and I didn't lose my values by not addressing the lies and speaking the truth when called for. So I have been posting much less on FB than usual and I had some people responding, and me writing back, but trying at all times to see their point of view. Well, I did slip sometimes, I called Madeleine Albright a bitch, but I don't think anyone was offended.
In the end, as humans experiencing life on this earth, we have more things in common than things that seperate us (normal humans, there are pathologicals that are almost a different species). Like you say Scottie, when we start seeing our selves as members of a special group or individually, as somehow more intelligent or different (better) in any way from the rest of the people, that is when we start sliding down the slope that ends in "my people have the gods on their side thus all we do is justifiable"... said the Greeks, and the Romans, and the Nazis, and the Zionsists at different points in history. My husband and I watched Kristallnacht on youtube the other night too, and we noted how the Nazi soldiers in their letters back home, were using language almost identical to the one used by the Israelis today, to justify the atrocities they commit against the Palestinians.
So in the end, I am even more grateful to have found this group. My need for belonging is fulfilled and my need for a purpose (and it doesn't matter even if I am often feeling more confused than clear on the latter
) and I am learning so many things each day, and growing each day (even if a little bit) as a person, and I met you all 
So yes, I am feeling immensely more grateful these days for this group, I could, and I would, have done a lot worse. But if I see each misguided person outhere as a version of me who never found these material, then it is easier to find the right way to communicate with them, and include them instead of excluding them, and hopefully, someday, some people, will acquire a taste for truth. Maybe not in all things. Some of my friends like and share the anti-vaccine articles I post from SOTT for example, others read and share the weather changes events, others are interested in Paleo. If I go all out or insinuate how stupid they are for their beliefs and their ignorance, they might stop reading everything that I post. And it might be that if some people are convinced to have a look at their diet if nothing else and go towards Paleo even, it might do a whole of good not only to their brains and health, but to their relationships, their communities, their world, our world :)
I read an article on Greek SOTT the other day that linked to the German movie Die Welle. It is about a classroom experiment, where a professor shows through example how it is possible for any peoples to turn to Nazism at any point in history or any place in the world. The experiment took place in the 70s in a Californian high school, even though Die Welle is describing the events (and a bit more dramatically) in 2008 in a german high school. Of course I watched the movie, this is the kind of stuff that really interests me (there is a description of Die Welle here - actually that post is a spoiler because it recounts the whole movie from start to end, so warning). Anyway, after watching that movie, whatever doubts I might have ever had on whether I would support a group like the Nazis, they completely vanished. It all starts out so innocently, the lies as so well crafted, every member has the feeling that they belong in something that gives them a purpose...
I mentioned already somewhere on this forum that all these people who are rallying against Tramp, all these women wearing their pink hats in the streets, all of them are driven not just by an ideology, but also by a need to belong and have a purpose. Which are the most fundamental needs, after having food, a roof over one's head and basic needs met.
Ever since Trump's inauguration I have been staying awake at night, thinking about all these things, about the division in the US, wondering whether I truly in my heart support Trump at all, about my FB friends who became unrecognisable almost in their vehemence against Trump, and how I felt responsible to address these issues in such a way that I didn't lose friends over it, and I didn't lose my values by not addressing the lies and speaking the truth when called for. So I have been posting much less on FB than usual and I had some people responding, and me writing back, but trying at all times to see their point of view. Well, I did slip sometimes, I called Madeleine Albright a bitch, but I don't think anyone was offended.
In the end, as humans experiencing life on this earth, we have more things in common than things that seperate us (normal humans, there are pathologicals that are almost a different species). Like you say Scottie, when we start seeing our selves as members of a special group or individually, as somehow more intelligent or different (better) in any way from the rest of the people, that is when we start sliding down the slope that ends in "my people have the gods on their side thus all we do is justifiable"... said the Greeks, and the Romans, and the Nazis, and the Zionsists at different points in history. My husband and I watched Kristallnacht on youtube the other night too, and we noted how the Nazi soldiers in their letters back home, were using language almost identical to the one used by the Israelis today, to justify the atrocities they commit against the Palestinians.
So in the end, I am even more grateful to have found this group. My need for belonging is fulfilled and my need for a purpose (and it doesn't matter even if I am often feeling more confused than clear on the latter
) and I am learning so many things each day, and growing each day (even if a little bit) as a person, and I met you all So yes, I am feeling immensely more grateful these days for this group, I could, and I would, have done a lot worse. But if I see each misguided person outhere as a version of me who never found these material, then it is easier to find the right way to communicate with them, and include them instead of excluding them, and hopefully, someday, some people, will acquire a taste for truth. Maybe not in all things. Some of my friends like and share the anti-vaccine articles I post from SOTT for example, others read and share the weather changes events, others are interested in Paleo. If I go all out or insinuate how stupid they are for their beliefs and their ignorance, they might stop reading everything that I post. And it might be that if some people are convinced to have a look at their diet if nothing else and go towards Paleo even, it might do a whole of good not only to their brains and health, but to their relationships, their communities, their world, our world :)
