This is from the always worth reading Kaye Lee at The Australian Independent Media – I hope she will forgive me for reblogging without her express permission (and I note that several Pubkateers have commented already).
(Image Credit: Daily Fumes)
An excerpt from They Thought They Were Free – The Germans, 1933-45 by Milton Mayer:
What no one seemed to notice was the ever widening gap, after 1933, between the government and the people. Just think how very wide this gap was to begin with, here in Germany. And it became always wider. You know, it doesn’t make people close to their government to be told that this is a people’s government, a true democracy, or to be enrolled in civilian defense, or even to vote. All this has little, really nothing, to do with knowing one is governing.
What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it.
This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter.
The dictatorship, and the whole process of its coming into being, was above all diverting. It provided an excuse not to think for people who did not want to think anyway. I do not speak of your ‘little men,’ your baker and so on; I speak of my colleagues and myself, learned men, mind you. Most of us did not want to think about fundamental things and never had. There was no need to. Nazism gave us some dreadful, fundamental things to think about—we were decent people—and kept us so busy with continuous changes and ‘crises’ and so fascinated, yes, fascinated, by the machinations of the ‘national enemies,’ without and within, that we had no time to think about these dreadful things that were growing, little by little, all around us. Unconsciously, I suppose, we were grateful. Who wants to think?
To live in this process is absolutely not to be able to notice it—please try to believe me—unless one has a much greater degree of political awareness, acuity, than most of us had ever had occasion to develop. Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, ‘regretted,’ that, unless one were detached from the whole process from the beginning, unless one understood what the whole thing was in principle, what all these ‘little measures’ that no ‘patriotic German’ could resent must some day lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day than a farmer in his field sees the corn growing. One day it is over his head.
How is this to be avoided, among ordinary men, even highly educated ordinary men? Frankly, I do not know. I do not see, even now. Many, many times since it all happened I have pondered that pair of great maxims, Principiis obsta and Finem respice—‘Resist the beginnings’ and ‘Consider the end.’ But one must foresee the end in order to resist, or even see, the beginnings. One must foresee the end clearly and certainly and how is this to be done, by ordinary men or even by extraordinary men? Things might have. And everyone counts on that might.
Your ‘little men,’ your Nazi friends, were not against National Socialism in principle. Men like me, who were, are the greater offenders, not because we knew better (that would be too much to say) but because we sensed better. Pastor Niemöller spoke for the thousands and thousands of men like me when he spoke (too modestly of himself) and said that, when the Nazis attacked the Communists, he was a little uneasy, but, after all, he was not a Communist, and so he did nothing; and then they attacked the Socialists, and he was a little uneasier, but, still, he was not a Socialist, and he did nothing; and then the schools, the press, the Jews, and so on, and he was always uneasier, but still he did nothing. And then they attacked the Church, and he was a Churchman, and he did something—but then it was too late.
You see, one doesn’t see exactly where or how to move. Believe me, this is true. Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow. You don’t want to act, or even talk, alone; you don’t want to ‘go out of your way to make trouble.’ Why not?—Well, you are not in the habit of doing it. And it is not just fear, fear of standing alone, that restrains you; it is also genuine uncertainty.
Uncertainty is a very important factor, and, instead of decreasing as time goes on, it grows. Outside, in the streets, in the general community, ‘everyone’ is happy. One hears no protest, and certainly sees none. You know, in France or Italy there would be slogans against the government painted on walls and fences; in Germany, outside the great cities, perhaps, there is not even this. In the university community, in your own community, you speak privately to your colleagues, some of whom certainly feel as you do; but what do they say? They say, ‘It’s not so bad’ or ‘You’re seeing things’ or ‘You’re an alarmist.’
And you are an alarmist. You are saying that this must lead to this, and you can’t prove it. These are the beginnings, yes; but how do you know for sure when you don’t know the end, and how do you know, or even surmise, the end? On the one hand, your enemies, the law, the regime, the Party, intimidate you. On the other, your colleagues pooh-pooh you as pessimistic or even neurotic. You are left with your close friends, who are, naturally, people who have always thought as you have.
Now, in small gatherings of your oldest friends, you feel that you are talking to yourselves, that you are isolated from the reality of things. This weakens your confidence still further and serves as a further deterrent to—to what? It is clearer all the time that, if you are going to do anything, you must make an occasion to do it, and then you are obviously a troublemaker. So you wait, and you wait.
But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That’s the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked—if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in ’43 had come immediately after the ‘German Firm’ stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in ’33. But of course this isn’t the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.
And one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush in upon you. The burden of self-deception has grown too heavy, and some minor incident, in my case my little boy, hardly more than a baby, saying ‘Jewish swine,’ collapses it all at once, and you see that everything, everything, has changed and changed completely under your nose. The world you live in—your nation, your people—is not the world you were born in at all. The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the mealtimes, the visits, the concerts, the cinema, the holidays. But the spirit, which you never noticed because you made the lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed. Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves; when everyone is transformed, no one is transformed. Now you live in a system which rules without responsibility even to God. The system itself could not have intended this in the beginning, but in order to sustain itself it was compelled to go all the way.
You have gone almost all the way yourself. Life is a continuing process, a flow, not a succession of acts and events at all. It has flowed to a new level, carrying you with it, without any effort on your part. On this new level you live, you have been living more comfortably every day, with new morals, new principles. You have accepted things you would not have accepted five years ago, a year ago, things that your father, even in Germany, could not have imagined.
Suddenly it all comes down, all at once. You see what you are, what you have done, or, more accurately, what you haven’t done (for that was all that was required of most of us: that we do nothing). You remember those early meetings of your department in the university when, if one had stood, others would have stood, perhaps, but no one stood. A small matter, a matter of hiring this man or that, and you hired this one rather than that. You remember everything now, and your heart breaks. Too late. You are compromised beyond repair.
Note: Thanks to mars08 for this chilling reminder
THE PUB 
She can afford to be magnanimous.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers.
MUST READ! Tara Moss exposes what went on inside Manus.
http://taramoss.com/manus-island-insiders-report/
Mark Kenny – Fiona Nash is in a mess.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/fiona-nash-has-been-poor-the-pm-must-be-worried-20140226-33il1.html
Oh dear! Now some evidence of Furnival’s direct role in the deals with Cadburys.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-and-axed-man-at-cadbury-photo-op-20140226-33inb.html
And yet another dock-up by Nash.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/fiona-nash-admits-resource-library-wasnt-duplicated-20140227-33iu2.html
A good Peter Fitzsimons contribution on the toll often taken on high profile sports stars.
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/swimming/grant-hackett-the-latest-swimmer-to-fall-victim-to-the-sports-relentless-demands-20140226-33i6s.html
If this is not a disgrace then nothing is!
http://www.smh.com.au/business/financial-planners-free-to-flout-advice-rules-due-for-repeal-20140226-33ige.html
Some intra-government introspection on the proposed legislation for drunken assaults.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/liberal-mp-peter-phelps-says-harsher-drink-laws-no-deterrent-for-steroidmunching-types-20140226-33ia1.html
If you don’t want to get angry don’t read these.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/royal-commission-tears-as-woman-tells-of-abuse-in-parramatta-girls–dungeon-20140226-33h5n.html
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/26/royal-commission-abuse-nsw-government-girls-homes
Virgin accuses the government of “picking winners”.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/feb/26/virgin-qantas-debt-guarantee-worth-100m
Section 2 . . .
I wonder if there has been any research on what motivates this use of steroids.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/young-men-dying-from-heart-disease-linked-to-steroid-use-20140226-33ije.html
Michael Gordon’s editorial reckons that yesterday may have been a turning point for Shorten.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/coalition-stumbles-on-high-moral-ground-20140226-33ihq.html
And The Guardian writes it up well, too.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/26/shorten-accuses-faux-patriotism-campbell-cover-up-
Kristina Keneally says good riddance to George Pell.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/george-pell–the-view-from-the-pew-20140226-33h07.html
Alan Moir on how Qantas may cut costs further.
Cathy Wilcox welcomes Pell to the Vatican.
http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/cathy-wilcox-20090909-fhd6.html
David Rowe has the toy soldier as a political football.
http://www.afr.com/p/national/cartoon_gallery_david_rowe_1g8WHy9urgOIQrWQ0IrkdO
A very clever one from Pat Campbell on Qantas “baggage” handling.
http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/pat-campbell-20120213-1t21q.html
And Ron Tandberg has his say on the potential Qantas ownership change.
http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/ron-tandberg-20090910-fixc.html
For the first time ever at The Pub my scrolling finger has had a workout.
And from the Land of the Free –
Same sex marriage ban in Texas ruled unconstitutional.
http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2014/02/26/same-sex-marriage-ban-in-texas-ruled-unconstitutional-two-tweets-say-it-all-lgbt/
How’s this for hypocrisy!!
http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2014/02/26/exxon-mobile-ceo-suing-his-own-company-to-stop-fracking-at-least-in-his-neighborhood/
Guns again. How mad are they?
http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2014/02/25/supreme-court-inflicts-flesh-wound-nra-kids-guns/
The FBI is perfect and beyond reproach. Just ask them!
http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2014/02/26/will-fbis-win-streak-stop-at-150-0-or-does-their-cheating-continue/
Policing New Jersey style.
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/02/secret-video-reveals-cop-beat-defenseless
The Repugs are squirming over the proposed Arizona anti-gay legislation.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/26/1280562/-Republicans-squirm-over-Arizona-anti-gay-bill
Vale Chris Christie. But look at the two front runners for 2016!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/26/1280581/-Poll-Republicans-don-t-want-Christie-to-run-in-2016
Leone glad to see you ready for today’s research and publish duties
The Brisbane Times link that mentioned Angus Campbell’s role in Haneef case was a great find.
billie11
Yep. On deck bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for duty.
i can’t claim the credit for finding the Campbell/Haneef item, it was passed around last night and Mari, from over the road, passed it in my direction. The power of the interwebs in action again. I’ll be looking for more on Campbell though. The man must have done some sneaky stuff when he worked for Howard.
Kristina Keneally’s piece on Cardinal Pell is very good, she puts it all so gracefully. Everyone is a winner here, except for one man. Pell is a winner because he gets something he has always wanted – a position at the Vatican. His holiness is a winner because he gets a very capable man to handle the business. To be fair, Pell will be very good in this job. He also wins because he will have Pell right where he can keep an eye on him. Sydney Catholics (and NSW Catholics) are winners because they get rid of Pell. One bishop will be a winner because he will get Pell’s old job. Winners all around. Except for that one man – Tony Abbott. He loses a confessor and a mentor. He’s going to have to find a new priest, one willing to take Pell’s place in his life. The incomng bishop might not be too keen on that.
On a lighter note, I want a dog like this.
Press Council upholds Margo Kingston’s complaint against The Daily Telegraph with regards to the Slipper Case.
http://nofibs.com.au/2014/02/27/press-council-upholds-margokingston1-complaint-dailytelegraph-ashbygate/
The Commission of Audit has criticised the government’s proposed paid parental leave scheme as excessive at a time when fiscal restraint is needed.
The Australian Financial Review understands the commission’s interim report, delivered to the government 13 days ago, supports the concept of paid parental leave but finds that Mr Abbott’s scheme is too generous given the state of budget.
http://www.afr.com/p/national/audit_cold_on_abbott_parent_leave_WRMrop9MjDcE0wNogTLxIN
Isn’t Clochette a gorgeous cow? “Easter Show” in Paris:
http://www.france24.com/en/20140226-report-paris-agriculture-fair-farming/
Barryj, that is very good news about Margot Kingston’s press council complaint. Hopefully there will be more good news on Ashbygate later today.
Tha’s an excellent result for Margo Kingston, she must be very pleased.
Wikimedia (which includes Wikipedia) is proposing a change to their Terms of Use, which will require all paid contributors to disclose their employer/client/affiliation for any edit.
The Ashby/Harmer v. Slipper appeal judgement is being delivered today at 2.15pm.
Leone
I loved it when I got my first mouse that had a wheel to scroll with, I had to get WD40 out last night, haven’t been to PB since we started here, so had no real use for it.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/feb/27/qantas-to-slash-5000-jobs-in-2bn-cost-cutting-drive
http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviation/qantas-chief-alan-joyce-cuts-5000-jobs-20140227-33j48.html
live blog
http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/senate-told-briefs-of-evidence-being-prepared-against-afl-and-nrl-players-as-asada-completes-investigations-into-the-two-football-codes/story-fnelctok-1226838587078
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/lend-lease-pulls-out-of-bid-for-abbot-point-coal-terminal-expansion-20140226-33i9z.html
http://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/former-liberal-leader-to-andrew-peacock-to-vote-in-kew-battle/story-fnii5sms-1226838556547
http://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/former-liberal-leader-to-andrew-peacock-to-vote-in-kew-battle/story-fnii5sms-1226838556547
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/national/a/21715057/ofarrell-defends-coal-mine-decision/
Is it my imagination, or are a majority of photos of almost everyone on the Treasury benches making them look like pre-schoolers who have broken the fish tank in a fit of pique, leaving the poor fish to flop and gasp their last on the carpet, and then stand defiantly telling you that the fish broke the glass?
I must admit that on reading the morning news (thanks BK) I occasionally feel like one of those fish!
I’ve ben digging around to see if there is any dirt on Angus Campbell. There’s not much, everyone says he’s straight as an arrow, intelligent, upright, good at his job, the very model of an Aussie Lieutenant General. But there is something. It might be drawing a very long bow, but……..
Campbell stayed on in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet after the 2007 election. He became Kevin Rudd’s Deputy National Security Adviser and Deputy Secretary. His duties in that position were –
– International Division
– Defence Intelligence & Research Coordination Division
– Homeland and Border Security Division, and
– Border Protection Working Group.
http://www.dpmc.gov.au/annual_reports/2008
Campbell stayed in that position until some time in early 2011, when he rejoined the Army and assumed command of all Australian forces deployed in the Middle East Area of Operations.
http://www.defence.gov.au/op/afghanistan/bio/angusCampbell/campbell.htm
So here’s the thing. We all know about the phone tap spying on SBY and his family. That happened over 15 days in August 2009. Campbell was Rudd’s Deputy National Security Advisor at that time. The decision to go ahead with the phone tapping was fully reported to Rudd.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/kevin-rudd-made-right-call-on-tapping-indonesian-first-ladys-phone/story-e6frg76f-1226782835747#
Campbell must have known about the phone tapping, given his position and his duties, he might have been asked for advice, but no-one has ever said a word about that connection. Would it be a bit embarassing if the big chief of OpSOB turned out to have been involved, even indirectly, in the spying that got the Indonesians so hopping mad that they cancelled all their assistance to the very same OpSOB?
Also on the topic of dodgy coal mines, NoFibs reports this interesting exchange about the Maules Creek Monstrosity from Senate Estimates:
http://nofibs.com.au/2014/02/26/leardblockade-whitehaven-coal-criminal-investigation-allegedly-false-statements-environmental-offsets-maules-creek-mine/
I had no idea there was a criminal investigation going on…at the moment it is only the amazing efforts of locals and concerned others that are stopping this monstrous mine from destroying a large area of environmentally valuable bush.
Interesting research there, leone!
Whether the General is a good man or not, is irrelevant. The truth is, he has had two careers. One in defense, m the other in politics. At this time he is trying to combine the two. That is where the problem lies.
Is he a public servant, or army officer?
I would say the former. One cannot be both.
I believe the constitution might indicate the armed forces are a separate identity to government.
From Kate Ellis
Yesterday it was revealed in Senate Estimates that the Abbott Government has thrown away the Gonski reforms and their election promises on schools.
http://kateellis.com.au/newsroom/946/
Sally’s list is up to 110 http://sallymcmanus.net/abbotts-wreckage/
Yet another LNP MP threatening to rebel in Queensland.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/lnp-mp-sean-choat-vows-to-cross-floor-if-asset-sales-becomes-an-issue-20140227-33jl5.html
I note that Ipswich West seems to be a natural Labor leaning seat and will be a likely Labor gain next year so this is probably just posturing. But little Banana Reichsmarshall Newman hasn’t reacted to dissent well so far so it might be something to watch if this goes further.
FM Bishop offers the government deep regret at the job losses. PM Abbott obviously does not feel he has anything worth saying today. Has not appeared.
Qantas job losses are major news. Everyone, from Shorten, Albo, the Greens, the Unions, the Engineers, have come out outraged.
On the subject of drought…while the eastern states have several sources of water to draw off, keep in mind that we here in regional SA. have but one resource of “reliable” water…: The Murray River.
It is of no small concern to a minority of people here that the only supply of potable water for a VAST area or regional SA. inc. towns and cities is The Murray River.
That thin ribbon of “green” is all that keeps us “alive” and some thought has to go into addressing climate change before we all have to pack our swags and decamp to Western Sydney, or Nimbin!
I see Turnbull is moving through the ABC’s of classification within the LNP. He has gone from A-dvocate, to now B-uffoon..and i dread the moniker that will be attached to his person once he reaches “C”…though, given the way he has completely screwed the NBN., perhaps he is already there…though I feel it is beyond MY pristine vocabulary to select a “c” word suitable for the man and the moment!
Buongiorno was spot on on 7am. breakfast…Wilkie was once again flakey!
Abbott does not need a confessor, it is too late for that…what he needs now is an absolutionist!
Where are my posts?!!….Fioooooonaaaaaaa!!!
Geez, a girl has an early night for once, then spends from 7am until 10 minutes ago ferrying friends and relations to assorted medical appointments and what does WordPress do?
Eats Jaycee for supper, breakfast, lunch …
I hope your feathers aren’t too ruffled, Jaycee.
A few things about Qantas.
First, from Crikey’s Tips and Rumours yesterday –
http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/02/26/tips-and-rumours-1071/
So when we check in, do we get asked if we want a clean or an uncleaned seat?
And –
Last week one of the stars of modern Family was indecently assaulted as she was photographed outside a function in Sydney. This had a lot of media coverage. What didn’t get so much attention was the function itself. It was a Qantas VIP party for 150/200 guests, held at The Sebel Pier One, at The Rocks. The function must have cost a fortune. “Qantas, which hosted the party, had literally rolled out the red carpet for the night.” Alan Joyce was there, of course.
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/sarah-hyland-assault-how-vip-night-turned-sour-for-modern-family-star-20140221-3360d.html
Qantas had jpoined with Twentieth Century Fox Television to bring the stars of the show to Australia to film.
http://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/qantas-welcomes-modern-family-to-australia
I hope all those hordes of tourists expected to flock here from the US as a result of this expensive publicity enjoy their trip on a ‘smart cleaned’ aircraft.
Thanks, whoever!
Oh!…it was you , Fiona!..Ta for that!….I hadn’t posted for some while because of it….and I had soooo much to say!!
How nice – Abbott grieves with Qantas workers facing an uncertain future.
I’m sure our FM formidable is managing this http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/27/reza-baratis-family-we-want-answers-what-did-they-do-to-him
The circus continue. B Bishop is an anarchist.
http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/02/27/crikey-says-flying-into-the-dark-without-policy/
James Ashby has won his appeal against the Slipper judgement.
Yes. Tuned in to see Albo’s question knocked on the head. And just then Bronnie rejected a point of order that she repeatedly brought up when in opposition, about ministers not answering questions outside their portfolio. When Burke reminded her of it, her response was, “Well, I clearly did it better.” Farcical.
Abbott is not handling Qantas questions well. All he has is a repeated rant about the bloody carbon tax and a constant ‘why should the government do for one what it can’t do for all’ chant of his latest mantra.
leonetwo
Add another 1000 from where I grew up to your list
Rio Tinto has revealed that its Gove alumina refinery in the Northern Territory will be closed by July next year, throwing more than 1,000 people out of work.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-19/rio-tinto-gove-refinery-to-close-in-july/5167992
What’s most irritating also is the way Abbott keeps on saying that it’s Labor’s fault for not willing to scrap that carbon tax.
After watching question time the last few days and that senile old hag, B. Bishops performance I’m left wondering where are all the press gallery articles about dysfunctional parliament are???
Every day this fucked up govt remains in office sees my anger at some of these so called journalists grow.
Forget the scum at news corp, my anger is mostly at the likes of Lenore Taylor, Lara Tingle, Phil Coorey and Malcolm Farr.
So called unbiased journalists who have let this nation down so badly.
If I ever see any of these fucks on the street I swear I will punch them fair in the nose. Man/ woman I don’t care. They should be utterly ashamed of themselves.