US more like apartheid South Africa than 1940s Germany?

[Rev. Rye]

What a totally rediculous, stupid, inaccurate and historically offensive accusation.

Obviously whoever said this has no idea what apartheid was like. Not to mention pre-apartheid south Africa. Not to mention what Nazi Germany was like.

This is where anti Trump people totally lose me in the conversation. I'm opposed to Trump based on reality. No need to make over the top historical comparisons.

The comparison I was making, as was the twitter thread, wasn't the end result of apartheid, it was the slow boil in the lead up to apartheid: the frustration of a white working class, the apathy of the public at large, the election of an extremist political party. Just like with 1940s Germany comparisons, the comparison that is apt isn't the full blown effects of the holocaust but the way that the Nazi party infiltrated German politics, took control of the country and how they demonized the Jews.

To me, to not look at historical comparisons is to not learn from history. If a path taken in the past is being repaved now it's our responsibility to recognize the similarities of the situations and take action to prevent history from repeating itself. I would rather sound false alarms when disturbing parallels appear then sit back and wait until people have their rights taken away, are being unconstitutionally jailed or deported, or killed.

That's the thing about history: there are lots of differences in the way historical events play out, but a lot of similarities, especially in the early days of any given event. Sometimes, Trump's presidency can go any number of ways, and we can see any potential outcome from the past and transpose it on the future. Then again, we as a species always keep finding new ways to fuck ourselves over.