Dr. Ben Carson: America ‘very much like Nazi Germany’

Got to say, I like Ben Carson. Not because I agree with everything he says but because he's not afraid to speak his mind and has little concern with his detractors. In this case I don't completely agree with him but acknowledge we are getting there.

Dr. Ben Carson: America ‘very much like Nazi Germany’

Dr. Ben Carson, the conservative neurosurgeon who criticized President Baracks Obama at a White House prayer breakfast last year, claimed America is now “very much like Nazi Germany.”

“[We're] very much like Nazi Germany,” he responded. “And I know you’re not supposed to say ‘Nazi Germany,’ but I don’t care about political correctness. You know, you had a government using its tools to intimidate the population.”

“We now live in a society where people are afraid to say what they actually believe,” he continued. “And it’s because of the PC police, it’s because of politicians, it’s because of news. All of these things are combining to stifle people’s conversation.”

“The reason that is so horrible is because the only way you have harmony and reach a consensus is by talking,” he explained. “But if, in fact, people are afraid to talk, you never reach consensus. And instead you grow further and further apart.”

For the record I see the US as being closer to the communist, Stasi controlled eastern Europe of the cold war days. While we like to think we can say what we please (especially on ATS) I wonder if you feel you have that same freedom while at work or school where the authoritarians watch over what you do and say.

Not mentioning "nazi Germany" is a thing in America is it?

reply to post by Bassago


I like the good Doctor...

But Nazi Germany?

That's kind of a stretch....

Bassago
For the record I see the US as being closer to the communist, Stasi controlled eastern Europe of the cold war days. While we like to think we can say what we please (especially on ATS) I wonder if you feel you have that same freedom while at work or school where the authoritarians watch over what you do and say.

"Especially" on ATS? Try voicing concern about homosexuality or the LGBT political agenda and just SEE how well you are allowed to speak your own mind on ATS. Try talking against abortion or, indeed, any even mildly conservative point of view at all. You'll have the banshees screaming at you that you're a "racist hater" within seconds of clicking on "Reply." ATS is neither a bastion of tolerance nor a home for reasoned discourse.

Pulling the Nazi card ... that's serious stuff. I'm not seeing it ...
If he had said that America reminds him of Pre-WWII Germany ... then I'd say he's on to something.
But full blown NAZI Germany? I dont' think so.

reply to post by schuyler

"Especially" on ATS? Try voicing concern about homosexuality or the LGBT political agenda and just SEE how well you are allowed to speak your own mind on ATS. Try talking against abortion or, indeed, any even mildly conservative point of view at all. You'll have the banshees screaming at you that you're a "racist hater" within seconds of clicking on "Reply." ATS is neither a bastion of tolerance nor a home for reasoned discourse.

Poignant...

You nailed it.....🎯

reply to post by schuyler

"Especially" on ATS? Try voicing concern about homosexuality or the LGBT political agenda and just SEE how well you are allowed to speak your own mind on ATS. Try talking against abortion or, indeed, any even mildly conservative point of view at all. You'll have the banshees screaming at you that you're a "racist hater" within seconds of clicking on "Reply." ATS is neither a bastion of tolerance nor a home for reasoned discourse.

Having others disagree with you in a discussion is not the same as endangering your job or academics because you made a non-PC statement. The former is disagreement, the latter is PC population control. There's a difference.

I'm glad to see some of you are too smart for this hopping on the band wagon by Carson. Hopefully more rightwingers get fed up with having themselves condescendingly appealed to.

reply to post by FlyersFan

Pulling the Nazi card ... that's serious stuff. I'm not seeing it ...

Yeah he played the Nazi card.

I'm not seeing it either, as mentioned in the OP it seems the US has become more like the Stasi controlled east Europe of the cold war days.

reply to post by Bassago


I'd have to agree with the good doctor.

Just look at social media.

Make any type of comment not according to societal "norms" and you're a;
Racist
Sexist
Elitist
Hater
Sheep
Slave
Domestic Terrorist

This country has become damned scary.

Constantly invoking Hitler and Nazi Germany for any sort of Government one disagrees with gets tiring.

Its been a serious concern for some time, most of modern political demagoguery is based on Nazi speech writers, its powerful stuff, there is a very real and dangerous parallel with the insidious propaganda of the third Reich and the west.

End of the day though were not putting people in ovens on an industrial scale, so there's that.

Based on the Dr's comments that I have read so far, I have to ask if he even knows what 'Nazi Germany' was like.

He's just using the term as an attention-getter.

beezzer
reply to post by Bassago

 

I'd have to agree with the good doctor.

Just look at social media.

Make any type of comment not according to societal "norms" and you're a;
Racist
Sexist
Elitist
Hater
Sheep
Slave
Domestic Terrorist

This country has become damned scary.

Poor you! Poor delusional you... your eyes must glaze over all the racial, gay, misogynist comments that are literally on every goddamn site you're allowed to comment on including this one, luckily we have some good mods. If anything it used to be more like Nazi Germany than it is today as far social issues go. Have you ever been dragged out of your house? Murdered in a public bathroom? Followed from school and beaten the crap out of? Swung from a tree? Told to use a different fountain, told your kind isn't welcome here? Fking hell what a bunch of crybabies.

reply to post by Bassago


There are some chapters in Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism where he addresses the rise of fascism in Europe, including Nazism, and I think that's much closer to where we are, witnessing the rise of a form of fascism. The easiest way to communicate that is to compare it to Nazism because that's the form of fascism most people are the most familiar with.

However, for example, look at one of the way the need for "change" is being fueled in society. No one can really articulate why we need to change except that the traditional ways or old and therefore must be outdated and unsuited to progress, but that doesn't really articulate why we need to change. Therefore, it really often becomes an empty movement of change for the sake of change without needing to weigh the merits.

Young Germans fell for this trap, and I see parallels with young Americans and uninformed/ignorant Americans.

He is illustrating how the "state" is using divisive tactics to cast blame for economic and societal ills.

It's the "rich".
The "1%"
We have had white vs black.


Instead of looking at bad policy, the administration is casting blame on a subgroup, similar to what Hitler did.

Kali74

beezzer
reply to post by Bassago

 

I'd have to agree with the good doctor.

Just look at social media.

Make any type of comment not according to societal "norms" and you're a;
Racist
Sexist
Elitist
Hater
Sheep
Slave
Domestic Terrorist

This country has become damned scary.

Poor you! Poor delusional you... your eyes must glaze over all the racial, gay, misogynist comments that are literally on every goddamn site you're allowed to comment on including this one, luckily we have some good mods. If anything it used to be more like Nazi Germany than it is today as far social issues go. Have you ever been dragged out of your house? Murdered in a public bathroom? Followed from school and beaten the crap out of? Swung from a tree? Told to use a different fountain, told your kind isn't welcome here? Fking hell what a bunch of crybabies.

Sorry I didn't agree with you.

Please put the "star" on me now.

reply to post by Kali74

Have you ever been dragged out of your house?

Followed from school and beaten the crap out of?

Told your kind isn't welcome here?

Er... actually yes.

reply to post by Bassago


I don't see an issue using the term "Nazi". It is a comparison of things that have happened in the past (history) is it not? How can we learn from our mistakes as human beings, if we bury the past?

It seems to me that there are people out there trying to make us all forget about terrible things that happened in the past so that we are unaware of the same kinds of tactics that were used way back then, being used against us today. I won't get into specifics to derail the OP, but how is it that the PC crowd can come down on one part of history that was terrible, but willingly promote other terrible historical events to promote an agenda?

I also find it odd that those whom scream the loudest and demand tolerance are the same groups whom show the least tolerance.

I find it disturbing that speaking the truth these days is becoming a criminal act in the eyes of those whom are creating our laws.

Perhaps it isn't totally accurate comparing our government to Nazi's, but it sure as hell an accurate comparison to how the politically correct crowd has taken over the freedom of speech!

I can see "Fahrenheit 451" becoming as much of a reality as "1984" if it isn't stopped though.....

reply to post by beezzer


Get an actual cause before martyring yourself.