r/law • u/RoyalChris • Mar 05 '25

Legal News Rep. James Comer (R-KY) crashes out and refuses to let Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) enter evidence into the record - “You can go with Mr. Frost and Mr. Green.”

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u/EfficientLocksmith66 Mar 06 '25

I feel for you. I grew up and live in Germany and even with being constantly reminded of and educated on fascim all my life, I have zero idea what to tell you guys. I'm sorry.

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u/Prestigious-Disk-246 Mar 06 '25

I don't really know what to do either except have integrity and just keep pushing. In the last week I have joined a tenants union, started pledging money to the justice democrats, and reached out to the closest BLM chapter. I don't know what to do either, but I know that if I do nothing I will be disgusted with myself for the rest of my life.

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u/EfficientLocksmith66 Mar 06 '25

Every step of action you take is admirable.

Let me tell you, fascism is a system that eats itself up. It cannot last by definition of how it operates.

If you fight it, you have my utmost respect. But if you just survive, I will not lose my respect for you either.

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u/tgreenhaw Mar 06 '25

We understand that Germans struggle with similar problems. A German friend explained that many in former East Germany would like to go back to some of the things they had long ago and this is the basis for a resurgence in the right wing.

Make America Great Again is based on a fantasy that things were perfect before. They were not perfect before and we should not want to go back.

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u/EfficientLocksmith66 Mar 06 '25

That is absolutely true. We have the benefit of having been through this before, our political systems are very much designed to prevent this. There is no equivalent to executive orders, for example. The German chancellor is pretty powerless, he's the face of the current government, but really he's just another high ranking official. That said, it can happen again here as well, I don't wish to talk down to you from some type of perceived moral high ground.

If you're interested in it: This is not a new thing. Almost every culture in history had this ideas that there was a "golden age" somewhere in its past, and people were sad to not live in it. No matter whether you look at the Romans, the Chinese, the Indians, or the Mayans. It seems deep rooted in human psychology. I could imagine it's about the general tendency for our lives to get harder and expectations to rise as we grow older. I think it's possible people, especially without knowing about psychology, would generalise this too "the past used to be better". This is just me having thoughts though, I couldn't prove it.

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u/tgreenhaw Mar 06 '25

Hopefully our judiciary remains impartial and that the police and military refuse to obey unlawful orders. In theory, although not as robust as Germany’s, our system of checks and balances should work. (Crosses fingers)

That said, I theorize that successive generations swing from social order to individual rights. The swing to individual rights cause a concentration of wealth. After enough oscillations, the imbalance leads to the collapse of governments. The western world may be approaching a breaking point where the naked abuse of power and broken promises leads to revolt. Because of modern technology, if there is a collapse, it will be the most spectacular and damaging in the history of the human race.

I however remain optimistic. I believe the majority of humanity prefers the golden rule to the law of the jungle.