It must be hard to remain ignorant. That is to say, to consciously want to not know what is going on around you. I’m sure there are those who have some form of intellectual or emotional disposition to want to avoid the bleeding obvious, but that doesn’t explain those who not only avoid the truth but embellish the false notions they invent.
For example, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman". What about, "People who throw their children overboard are not welcome in this country". Then there’s that classic, "Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction". Now we have, "No Australian servicemen or women knew about the abuse in Abu Ghraib". If these were song lyrics we may have the making of the new ‘top ten’ hit list.
Last week Julian Burnside spoke at a function here in the Valley. During that address he made the point that the new Minister for Immigration, Her Tentness, Mandy V, was slowly releasing the remaining "illegals" (which of course they’re not) into the community. This was occurring, Julian told us, so that in the run up to the election the government could not be accused of holding people illegally. From a pure PR perspective this makes sense. Once used a ploy so openly false loses its impact the second time round. In short, because there was no "threat" last time and because they went so far in their hyperbole the government has left itself no where to go with that issue this time round. Julian Burnside told us to be on the lookout for a Reichstag type event this time around. A short reminder follows.
Having been frustrated by Germany’s old guard, Hitler was unable to take power in 1932. However, by the end of the year he and the Nazis had been able to cut a deal with the elites that forced the hand of the President and he was appointed Chancellor in January 1933. Having severe reservations about Hitler’s style and no clear understanding of what it was he wanted to do with the country (German nationalism had always been strong but it had never prevented them from being engaged with the world), the population did not necessarily embrace his rise. But that was to change.
On February 28, 1933 the German Reichstag was burnt to the ground. The seat of German government was destroyed and along with it a powerful symbol of freedom and German style democracy. Immediately Hitler moved his plans forward. He declared that the disaster was "a God given signal … there is nothing that shall stop us from now crushing out this murder pest with an iron fist". It’s reported that Herman Goering was the first on the scene of the fire and immediately began shouting ‘it’s the communists, it’s the communists!’
That night a young Dutchman, Marius van der Lubbe who was reportedly a communist party sympathiser and somewhat ‘slow’, was arrested for the crime of arson and having a focal point for their anger, the German parliament and people, swung behind Hitler’s Nazi party and allowed the passage of laws that suspended all personal liberty, freedoms of speech and the press and the right of assembly. In short, Hitler assumed the role of dictator and the beginning of a new history was under way.
No proof was ever offered to support the claims that van der Lubbe had set the fire and subsequent investigations and testimony from Nazi’s lead to only one conclusion. That the Nazis set fire to the Reichstag themselves. In November 1933 during his trial and after being tortured by the Gestapo, van der Lubbe "confessed" to setting the fire and was executed in January 1934. Hitler was reported to be furious when van der Lubbe’s co-accused were acquitted (on lack of evidence). He abolished the rights of the Courts and established his own "people’s court" where people were judged by hand picked members of the Nazi Party and thus had their right of appeal to a higher court suspended. Does any of this sound familiar? Do any of these processes seem more recent that half a century ago?
In fact they are exactly the tactics used by our so called leaders in the current "war on terror". The lessons of 70 years ago have been well learned but the examples used to reinforce them have changed with the times. In the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary we allow our political leaders to take us to places we don’t want to go. We allow them to implement laws and enforce the harshest conditions we could think of and we consent to being dominated by dogma and ideology. An ideology that is as cruel and demonic as that we are told we are fighting.
Julian Burnside’s message on Friday night was, in part, prophetic (if we understand that word in its true sense). He told us to be on the look out for an event that would become the focus of political heat. An event so catastrophic that we as a ‘nation’ would run to those who say they are acting in our best interests while all along plotting murder and revenge in their hearts.
Hitler said once "The size of the lie is a definite factor in causing it to be believed, for the vast masses of a nation are in the depths of their hearts more easily deceived than they are consciously and intentionally bad. The primitive simplicity of their minds renders them a more easy prey to a big lie than a small one, for they themselves often tell little lies, but would be ashamed to tell big lies".
Nothing has changed. For all our supposed sophistication we are still capable of carrying a childlike innocence that blinds us in times of fear. At those times we are most vulnerable but it also at those times we need to remain most alert and ready to resist.
Clinton denied the clear evidence. Bush and Blair denied the evidence. Howard denied the evidence more than once and we swallowed it. My point is not to cause more fear and anxiety and attempt to turn us into walking surveillance and intelligence operatives. It’s more of a plea to sensibility and real adult behavior. Ignorance is no excuse in our enlightened society. There is no excuse for us to allow ourselves, our loved ones or even the strangers like van der Lubbe to be made ‘examples’ of. Far too much swings on our ability to remain informed and critical.
Dr. Joseph Mengele once said "the more we do to you, the less you seem to believe we are doing it." The trick for us is to understand that no matter how much they tell us "it’s for your own good" we must resist and refuse to play their game or believe their lies. That is our only hope. No one else will do it for us. We must stand together in solidarity, even if it means we rub shoulders with those we don’t usually get on with. If we don’t, we can’t use the ignorance plea as a case for mercy.