#037: WTF - It's Not Hysteria, It's History

In the second of our four-part series by Atrómitos, Worried Tired Frustrated, Liz Church reads Kate McNulty’s reflection on both historical and modern-day struggles; this article delves into the erosion of personal freedoms, the dangers of authoritarianism, and how societal challenges may lead In us In down dangerous paths if we’re not careful.

Atrómitos Resources

• Kate's WTF Article: It's Not Hysteria, It's History

Sources

• Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng: https://www.celesteng.com/our-missing-hearts
• Fascism Definition: https://www.britannica.com/topic/fascism
• German Resistance: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/resistance-inside-germany
• WWII Neighbor Informants: https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/resistance-responses-collaboration/german-collaboration-and-complicity/informants/
• Hidden Rebellions: https://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/stories/schindler.html
• Ignoring the Crisis: https://time.com/5449578/kristallnacht-lessons-bystanders/
• Allured by Nazi Propaganda: https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/198435
• German Rights Lost: 
  • https://www.ushmm.org/m/pdfs/USHMM-Timeline-Activity-Laws-Decrees.pdf
  • https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/law-and-justice-in-the-third-reich
  • https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/eur/rls/or/93062.htm
  • https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/holocaust/timeprint.html
• United States Economy Post Pandemic: https://www.usnews.com/news/economy/articles/2023-11-10/the-labor-market-has-recovered-from-covid-but-it-is-hardly-the-same
• American Dollar: https://www.vox.com/money/2023/11/8/23951098/economy-inflation-prices-job-market-sticker-shock
• Nasty Political Retoric: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0221870
• American Polarization: https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2023/09/polarization-democracy-and-political-violence-in-the-united-states-what-the-research-says?lang=en
• SCOTUS Presidential Immunity: https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/supreme-court-grants-trump-future-presidents-a-blank-check-to-break-the-law

Song Credits

• The Star-Spangled Banner, U.S.A., by Ian Post

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- Liz Church, Host + Producer of The Atrómitos Way

Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;20;18
Liz Church
Welcome to the Atrómitos's Way podcast. I am your host and producer, Liz Church. Each episode, we dive into the complexities of our health and social system, gaining the experiences and insights of the guests to shape our lives and our communities. And for the next couple of weeks, we'll be on a little hiatus from hearing from our unique guests.

00;00;20;21 - 00;00;51;14
Liz Church
And you'll hear me reading the pieces from our latest worry tired and frustrated. So what is this worried tired, frustrated series? In the last iteration of Atrómitos's Founder letter, normally written by Michelle, she gave us the Atrómitos's team members the platform to speak up on issues important to us. And 2023 was a tough year, and the years before that were just, well, we remember.

00;00;51;16 - 00;01;19;09
Liz Church
And it's brought us to this point. So this gave us the opportunity to talk about the things that were making us worried, tired and frustrated. Even those moments that make you scream on the top of your lungs w t f you get the gist. We, the American people, tend to forget the saying history repeats itself and it applies to us too.

00;01;19;11 - 00;01;45;01
Liz Church
We find ourselves blinded by a system and a culture that tells us, oh, those things can't happen here. We have laws. We have government that can stop those things, when in reality it is also possible. Over the last four years, I have spent a great deal of time arguing with acquaintances and family, being told occasionally that I am over exaggerating.

00;01;45;04 - 00;02;27;16
Liz Church
I'm getting emotional. My fears are getting the best of me. Essentially, a womanly response. Well, my friends, as our history major Kate McNulty explains. It's not hysteria. It's history. So here's Kate's article for worried tired, frustrated. Last May, my book club read Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng in recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Ing's powerful novel is set in a post depression era United States, where the Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act is law.

00;02;27;19 - 00;03;00;23
Liz Church
The legislation purportedly save the country from greater economic fallout by practicing economic and cultural isolationism, mainly from China. The result is a society highly suspicious of all things Asian, where neighbors telling neighbors for committing real or perceived un-American acts. These acts are often ostensibly committed by people who appear to be Asian. I asked my book club participants if they thought violence against and the marginalization of a single group of people could happen today in America.

00;03;00;25 - 00;03;41;14
Liz Church
Well, not a single other reader thought it was possible I was the sole exception. I read this book and thought, desperation during a massive economic depression leads people to propaganda targeting an easy scapegoat when the people support discrimination against, and eventually the elimination of the targeted group. It's Nazi Germany. While studying European fascism in college, I learned about a short period after World War One where like minded individuals with a modicum of power from Italy, Russia and Germany were able to create fascist governments amid a dismal economy and a desperate citizenry.

00;03;41;16 - 00;04;17;05
Liz Church
The result was tall Italian or authoritarian regimes that severely restricted individual freedoms. In disgust, I thought, what did German citizens do to stop the horror of fascism? Throughout that school year, I read that some German citizens hated the regime. Some reported on their neighbors, but they or their loved ones become someone worth reporting on. Some secretly defied the Nazis and let little hidden rebellions like Oskar Schindler, while others ignored what was happening to their neighbors to save themselves.

00;04;17;07 - 00;04;57;18
Liz Church
And then there was a minority of Germans who found the Nazi propaganda so seductive they became brainwashed. As a result, they wanted to eliminate the wrong kind of German by dehumanizing and demonizing specific groups of people to justify the gruesome disposal of fellow human beings. Another consequence of Germany's authoritarian government was a massive loss of freedom. Every German lost rights, including the freedom of speech, a right to a fair trial, privacy and personal freedom, freedom of the press, the right to an education, religious freedom, property rights and protection from discrimination.

00;04;57;20 - 00;05;31;15
Liz Church
What happened in Europe in the 1930s was real life. The possibility of a fascist government in today's American. It's there. I would argue that it's here. It is now. And it's not hysteria. That's history. How is this possible when we have not fought a war on our soil that involved our soldiers and our citizens in decades? Unlike post-World War one Germany, we have not suffered the macabre stresses associated with living in a war torn nation.

00;05;31;17 - 00;05;56;26
Liz Church
We haven't suffered a catastrophic economic collapse that displaced families, cause more people to die, and created an environment where fascism invisibly seeped into the lives of everyday Germans. Maybe living through a pandemic destabilized our American way of life and temporarily messed up our economy, but we've supposedly bounced back. Sure, our dollar doesn't seem to go as far anymore, but I don't think that's the reason.

00;05;56;29 - 00;06;27;15
Liz Church
Many in our nation are cheering for the precursors of an authoritarian regime. So then how did the nasty political rhetoric that stresses out Americans come into being? How is the insidious danger of fascism slowly creeping into our lives? Honestly, does it does it really matter? No, it doesn't matter. Even if we never discover the truth behind how we got here as a country, the fact is, this is where we are.

00;06;27;17 - 00;06;55;01
Liz Church
Somehow we are unstable and looking for a victim to blame, even though our ideologies are not very different. There is a sense that affiliation with or an appreciation for one of the two political parties is what now makes Americans fundamentally different from each other. It's important that American citizens take the threats to our democracy seriously, and listen carefully when there's a possibility that the wrong person could lead us to lose freedoms.

00;06;55;03 - 00;07;22;02
Liz Church
As the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted, is possible now, the consequences of fighting an insane battle to recover an America that is not lost there does not need to be taken back, may result in the loss of our right to be a collective of free individuals. People losing their freedoms is a worldwide, modern problem that we in the United States are facing today.

00;07;22;04 - 00;07;51;22
Liz Church
We are a community of Americans. We have a lot of differences. There are so many of us from diverse types of geographies and backgrounds. We have different immigration statuses, races, ethnicities, genders, ages, socioeconomic statuses, educations, religions, sexual orientations, and more. But we are all Americans. America belongs to me and every other American. There is no one to take it back from because it is still ours.

00;07;51;25 - 00;08;20;12
Liz Church
This is still the country where you can be yourself, where your individualism doesn't negatively change your Americanness or make a fellow citizen less of an American. So let's not pick a scapegoat and lose our right to be free. Let's allow each other to be American in the most American way possible, by living our lives our way, and respectfully allowing others to do the same.

00;08;20;14 - 00;08;54;07
Liz Church
The date that this episode was launched is October 3rd, 2024, which means there are 33 days left until the election. And if you are listening to this after that date, that means we are approaching November 5th very quickly. So my friends, for those of you who are voters, those of you who are eligible to vote this year for the very first time, those who haven't voted in a while, I would just love to say thank you so much for being a voter, and thank you so much for considering voting.

00;08;54;09 - 00;09;14;18
Liz Church
Your friends and your family may need a reminder to vote, so please ask them to vote in the Tuesday, November 5th election. And I just want you to remember that your voice and your vote matters.

00;09;14;20 - 00;10;23;24
Liz Church
The Atrómitos Way is produced by me, Liz Church. This podcast was made possible by Atrómitos, a boutique consulting firm with the imperative mission of creating healthier, more resilient, more equitable communities. Follow the show. Leave a review. Reach out to us. Let’s continue these conversations and work together towards positive change. You can find previous episodes and more content on our website, atromitosconsulting.com/atromitos-way.   

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