How could this happen?

Any school kid has seen pictures like this of pre-WWII Germany where hundreds of thousands of ordinary Germans flocked to get even a glimps of Adolf Hitler as he promised to pull them out of the hard times they were in.  

"How could this happen?  Didn't they see Hitler for the hateful madman he was?"  

Well, no, not really.  Hitler inflamed even the slightest prejudices most people had and convinced them better times were ahead if only they would trust him.  Prejudices against Jews of course, and the mentally and physically handicapped, and Slavs, and pretty much everyone who had it better than they did, too. 

"Times were simpler then, and people were just very naive.  That could never happen today.  We're much better educated and too sophisticated to fall for anything like that."

Really?  Have you not seen FOX News, or MSNBC, or read Breitbart or Huff Post or any number of other slanted sources of information?  We all have our prejudices, and there is one group or another out there looking for you, hoping to turn you into one of their disciples.  IMO we're even MORE susceptible today of falling into the camp of one evil group or another than Germans were back in the 1930's.

Examples?  President Trump has his "base", those who refuse to believe anything at all negative about him.  Any evidence of a tainted election victory is just sour grapes, "flip-flopping" on issues is just his way of keeping his opponents off balance, etc.  They have tasted his brand of Kool Aid and apparently loved it.  They aren't going back.

Then you have the anti-Trumpsters who can find absolutely nothing good to say about the President.  Everything he says is dismissed out of hand.  THEY are always right, and HE is always wrong.  More Kool Aid consumed.  They aren't going back.

Antisemitism is still with us.  Racial tensions are flaring...White Supremacists, Antifa...Charlottsville was NOT spontaneous.  Protestants still view Catholics warily.  My generation looks unfavorably at today's kids and their dress, music, attitudes, etc.  Gay/straight, Believers/atheists, stand or take a knee...the issues, and ardent followers of each, are almost endless.  And however they might believe, they are unlikely to ever go back.  Some believe those who own guns are just a bunch of knuckle-dragging, Tea Party bubbas.  Umm...I own guns, and I am ANYTHING but a knuckle-dragging, Tea Party bubba.  Ewww!  *Oops, even I have prejudices*

My point is, we are NOT too sophisticated to fall prey to being radicalized.  If you think you're too smart to fall for such shenanigans, they're probably already reeling you in.  Apparently we haven't learned the old lesson of history repeating itself.  I hope this ends better than last time.

S

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself"

The bastards have done it again.  I'll take the ISIS communique at face value and say "a soldier of ISIS" has blown up himself and 22 others (and counting) outside a Manchester, England music concert.  The victims are likely to be mainly young people.

By all accounts the UK police, intelligence services, and counter-terrorist units are world class.  The coming investigation will likely not find they were asleep at the wheel when this happened.  Fact is, there are just far too many sicko's among us, and not enough law enforcement to watch them all.  That applies to France, Germany, Belgium, and the US, too.

Yes, us, too.  We've seen less terrorism than our European friends probably because we are farther removed geographically from the huge discontented population groups they have there.  But that doesn't mean we don't have any of their problems here.  We have sicko Islamist malcontents, nut-job white supremacists, and warped religious zealots of all kinds.  What happened there will...WILL...happen here.

A country as large, as populous, and diverse as ours has too many soft (largely indefensible) targets.  Eventually one of these fringe groups will attack here, too.  But before you freak out and pull the covers over your head, think of the odds you will be a victim.  If an attack someday kills 20 people here, then the odds are only 1 in 16,000,000 you will be one of them.  If you don't like those odds, then don't drive a car, ride a motorcycle or bicycle, or even walk and chew gum.
 
Just be aware of what's happening around you, know where doors are if you're out on the town, etc.  Hopefully this is what you normally do anyway.  If you know someone who seems to show a major change in attitude, seeming to be sympathetic to a fringe, violent group, don't ignore the signs.  Call your police and tell them of your concern.  

But by all means, go about your daily business.  Enjoy every day, work hard, play hard, and have fun. And may I suggest saying a prayer for our brothers in Manchester.

S