Thread 1.The past is, as L.P. Hartley put it, a foreign country. But can we learn anything from the extremism of the 1930s?

Rise and fall in the Third Reich: Nazi party members and social advancement https://theconversation.com/rise-and-fall-in-the-third-reich-nazi-party-members-and-social-advancement-123297?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=bylinetwitterbutton via @ConversationUK

2. More specifically, can we understand how extremist groups emerged and developed and what kind of people became members? This is an issue of real concern in the present climate f fear and conflict in the UK. Corrupt politics and a clear shift towards authoritarianism, mean

3. that if we have any sense left at all, we need to look at the symptoms of the same disease which infected Germany in the 30's. Research shows that those who were more likely to join the party were those with aspirations to climb the social ladder. Other studies argue that the

4. Nazis drew support from the marginalised in society as opposed to people who were already making their way in life. (Alan de Bromhead in The Conversation). Overall, de Bromhead finds that the party was most likely to be supported in the early days by affluent, educated

5. people. Those who wanted to become professionals. These kinds of aspirational politics led, over time, to oppression of the worst kind. Communist opponents were placed in camps. Anti semitism was already rife and the night of the Long Knives was designed to eliminate opponents

6. of the Nazis in the worst possible way. My Uncle, for his part in Communist resistance was sent to Dachau aged 14. I'm not a history teacher. I'm a person who struggles to understand how in our country, the UK, politics seems to be moving in a direction which is barely being

7. challenged even by those who suffer the impact of Austerity the most. Why do people vote for the Tories? They're one of the most cruel, corrupt, compassionless, law breaking, unaccountable bunch of liars the UK has ever had to bear. And we're not bearing it. Oppression is key

8. to their tactics. The poor, homeless, sick, unemployed. low paid, elderly and disabled are their targets. We know this because they IGNORED the UN report on inflicted poverty. 4 million hungry children - ignored. Illegal deportations - ignored. Unicef having to feed children

9. in this very rich country - ignored. This has become the new normality. We live with it and we fear it and we despise it but it goes on. Why? Who supports the Tories to such an extent that they can break the law with impunity? The Tories, traditional party of

10. 'small government' and least intervention, have become the most radical, interfering, oppressive and authoritarian government in my lifetime for sure and for years before that. They misuse funds. They steal.

Now the Pandemic. Have your vax, don't have it.

11. We still have a tiny semblance of freedom to choose in the UK. This isn't working though. As with Brexit it is sowing not just fear but hatred among those who should stand shoulder to shoulder. Why? Propaganda. People who don't want the vax are castigated, hated, cancelled.

12. Twitter is full of full on battles between people over a vaccination. A vax to deal with a pandemic which has been used and abused by the government both to terrify and to devalue some lives to the point that they are expendable. They have lied about everything for years

13. so how does it make any sense to a) trust them absolutely on this issue or b) to lose socialist friends and insult and demean people for freedom of choice. It is utterly shameful. Nazis/Tories, you say? WTF? We know that an entire country can get it wrong

14. and it starts somewhere. It starts with getting workers, unemployed, poor and vulnerable to attack each other instead of the evil, careless politicians of ALL flavours who have created the oppressive mess we live with. Brexit, the AS debacle, Corona - they are laughing at us.