Yes, it can happen here
It’s the 1950’s in the former United States of America and life is nightmarish. It’s a world where the Axis powers won World War II. The Nazis were able to build nuclear bombs and long-range strategic bombers that delivered one of them over Washington, D.C. The Allies had to capitulate like the Japanese did after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In this world the eastern part of the country is called the American Reich. Hitler oversees it from Germany. The western part is called the Japanese Pacific States. The Chief Inspector of the Kempeitai (the Japanese equivalent of the Gestapo), based in San Francisco, rules this territory with an iron hand. In the middle, there is a neutral, lawless zone.
A Reichsmarschall aptly named John Smith rules the American Reich, subordinated to Hitler. He is a native-born American and was a decorated WWII officer acclaimed as a hero, but, like many others, switched sides after the American surrender to the German Reich. He rose in the officer ranks of the occupying Wehrmacht by dint of a perverse political genius, ruthlessness, and the betrayal of his Jewish comrades-in-arms.
The two superpowers engage in deceitful conduct and send spies and hit men to each other’s territories while pretending to be allies. The Nazis plan to nuke the Japanese, who don’t have their own nukes yet, but the Japanese manage to trick the Nazis into believing they do, which deters the Nazi attack.
Both Nazis and Japanese, however, coincide in their persecution of the enslaved population and practice the same horrific policies as in real history, including the concentration camps, extermination of Jews, eugenics, summary executions, and all sorts of lesser abuses. There in an underground movement where the Black Communist Resistance plays a leading role and gets help from Mexican and white rebels, but every action they take is followed by disproportionate retaliation against innocent people. The country is heading toward another war of independence and the existence of mysterious 35 mm films is an element that could set it off by revealing another world–our world–were the Axis powers lost the war. A young heroine named Juliana Crain risks her life to distribute these films so more patriots see there is another reality and join the uprising.
These are the premises of the TV series The Man in the High Castle, adapted by Frank Scarpa from a novel with the same name by Philip K. Dick and available through Amazon Prime. It’s one of the most thought-provoking and entertaining series one can watch because of the superb acting, direction, cinematography, script, and musical score.
The main premise is not so far-fetched. Before its defeat, Nazi Germany at one point was farther advanced than the western powers, Japan, or the Soviet Union in aviation, rocketry, nuclear science, and fundamental physics. German scientists were on the way to the creation of both a nuclear weapon and a stealth bomber that could have traveled undetected across the ocean to deliver that weapon; a conventional long-range strategic bomber was already in production. Were it not for Hitler’s many stupidities, his anti-Semitic and anti-intellectual policies that caused the loss of the greatest scientists at his disposal, and the abandonment of ongoing, bold programs for the sake of misguided pet projects of his, he might have won the war through nuclear blackmail.
The series is interesting for other reasons. One, there is an element of science fiction that challenges the popular belief in an objective reality, but I won’t go into that because it would be a spoiler for those who want to watch the episodes. Let me just say that it explores some of the discoveries of modern quantum physics and cosmology. Other reasons are that (1) it shows the horrors spawned by the fascist mind; and (2) suggests that a Nazi-like state can be home grown; an invasion is unnecessary. The series also explores how some people can be brutalized to the point where terrorism is their only perceived option, and the lines are blurred between the good guys and the bad guys. I personally believe strongly that no terrorism of any kind is ever justified, but to combat it we must understand that the reason why some people turn to such savagery is not as simple as “they hate us.” But the series is also about courage, honor, patriotism, sacrifice, and the will to fight in the face of overwhelming odds. All the threads of the drama are woven around love stories and other universal themes.
As Scarpa recently explained, the show debuted when Trump announced his candidacy for president. At that time, “The idea of Nazism in America was a purely fanciful one. It was pure alt-history,” he said. “Over the course of the next four years, we’ve seen that become a much more uncomfortable, plausible reality.” At this point, I can hear conservatives groaning, and progressives who continue to believe that “it can’t happen here.”
Except that it can. Hitler rose to power not through a coup d’état or an invasion, but rather his appointment as Chancellor in January 1933 by President Hindenburg after a series of parliamentary elections and backroom deals. From the late 1920s to the early 1930s, the Nazis became the largest political party in the Reichstag, but never achieved a majority. Hitler’s genius, mendacity and cunning translated the party’s mere plurality into governing power in the failing Weimar Republic of 1933. Blatant lies, violence, and a brilliant propaganda campaign on the press and over the radio, led by Goebbels, also made it possible. Goebbels exploited in particular the resentment of the German people over the onerous impositions of the Treaty of Versailles and dissatisfaction over the difficult worldwide conditions resulting from the 1929 Wall Street crash. Germans, in other words, met their worst enemy and saw that is was their own selves.
One may think that these were unique circumstances or that the rise of Nazism depended on the special character of the German people. Some scholars look mostly at political-economic factors. The post-Freudian and post-Marxist psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich argues that both factors are insufficient to explain the rise of right-wing populism in the guise of National Socialism and shows the flaws in the subsequent Marxist analysis. In his classic The Mass Psychology of Fascism, he explores the psychic forces that led to the rise of fascism in Germany, a process that he personally lived through. These psychic forces exist in every one of us, according to Reich, and may redirect repressed energies into an urge to submit to authoritarian figures and social architectures. This process results from a model of the family that the Nazis strongly promoted and has been analyzed in recent times by the renowned cognitive linguist George Lakoff in his political writings. There is no room here to go into a detailed exposition of Reich’s carefully documented analysis or Lakoff’s theory. I can only suggest that the reader become acquainted with their writings.
I will point out that the descent into fascism, according to Reich, begins with the social structures generated by an authoritarian patriarchy, which mesh with the desire to be told what to do instead of thinking independently. There is nothing about the German character in particular that made the German people more vulnerable to Hitler’s siren song, according to Reich, and the political-economic factors created a fertile soil but do not fully explain what transpired.
Nowadays we see worrisome signs in both U.S. culture and politics: a president who presents himself as the caretaker of the nation, where the citizens are all his children and only he can fix things for the family (“I alone can fix it,” he has screamed). Some of the children are naughty and need to be disciplined (lock her up!). Others are blindly obedient and will be rewarded (for example, with electoral endorsements or corrupt business deals). No one should challenge him because he’s bringing home the bacon (“just look at the state of the Wall Street economy”). He’s a messianic figure like Hitler, the protector of the nation/family from our previous flirtations with socialism and multiculturalism under Obama and is now a bulwark against communist infiltrators like the squad and many other Democrats in Congress, the media, and academe.
He wants to “make America great again,” a promise that the Nazis and other authoritarians exploit in their countries. The Nazis espouse the delusion of Aryan superiority, and Trump has associated himself with and defended white supremacists and racists while disparaging people of color and foreigners. The Nazis, like Trump and his enablers, promote unreason and anti-intellectualism, and place ideology over science. And no one should interfere with Trump’s plans, including any agency of the government, because, as the patriarchal law-giver, he’s above the law. As was the case with Goebbels, his lies become ever bigger and more brazen, and his Republican defenders neutralize any claim to an objective reality. A sophisticated propaganda machine in the form of Fox News far surpasses Goebbels and his master of propaganda film making, Leni Riefenstahl, who created much of the imagery for the Nazis’ political theater. And Trump’s attacks on the press accord with the actions taken by the National Socialists in the 1930’s.
Trump and others speak of “alternative facts” and refuse to accept the plain truths not only of political events, but consensual reality–as in climate change denial. They shamelessly attack critics of their mendacity by throwing back the same accusations as they receive, turning everything on its head in the Orwellian fashion perfected by the Nazis. They take advantage of complicit “Christian” institutions to inhibit rebelliousness and breed obedience, in other words, reactionary thinking, even though Trump could be the model of the anti-Christ due to his indecent, inhumane behavior, lack of empathy or humility, and evil actions. Similarly, most “Christians” in Germany embraced Nazi ideology and managed to find their justifications in scripture, although Hitler was religiously skeptical and anti-clerical; Trump was never known to be religious, although he has been feigning religiosity purely for political gain.
German industrialists financed Hitler because he promised to smash the socialists and communists; today, wealthy patrons finance Trump because they fear the threat of socialist Bernie Sanders and “liberals” in general. And just as the property-owning class in Germany was willing to forgive Hitler for anything because he had crushed the labor movement, today’s Republican party, which best represents moneyed interests, is willing to forgive Trump for everything because of his tax breaks for the super-rich and Supreme Court appointments designed to protect and increase their wealth.
In addition, the world is increasingly complex and changing fast. Demographics trend toward a more diverse country where no racial or ethnic group will command a majority. Many people cannot or will not adapt to this reality. They prefer to be told what to do and what to think, instead of thinking by themselves, which requires mental energy and conscious effort. Trump, like Hitler, has tapped into that preference and issues them red MAGA hats reminiscent of the red swastika armbands. He whips up a fervor of fanaticism during his rallies where his demeanor, tenor, and gestures are strikingly similar to Mussolini’s and the crowd reacts like Italian fascists in response to populist talking points.
He has also hinted that he should not leave office even after eight years. How many of those 45 percent unconditional, unthinking, blindly obedient American voters would follow him if he does not leave? How many gun-toting white supremacists? How many members of Congress out of the 100 percent that have debased themselves and become sycophants in the cult of Trump?
This may be only a peripheral factor, but there are marked personal similarities as well between Trump and Hitler. The Fuhrer portrayed himself frequently as a victim and had the pathetic face of a man facing intolerable wrongs, to quote George Orwell. And he hardly ever smiled or laughed. Trump is the same, and, like Hitler, loves flags and displays of loyalty. In their totality as human beings, they must be called, without compunction, for what they are: evil psychopaths.
These worrisome signs point cumulatively toward the danger of an American Reich. I wouldn’t take to the streets yet, in part because there are some very important differences between early 20th Century Germany and the U.S. Germany was a relatively new country and its democracy was in its infancy. The U.S. is one of the oldest democracies in the world and its institutions are much more robust. The American people are diverse and would resist goose-stepping in formation; they rather worship the ideals of individualism and personal freedom. But if you don’t believe it can happen here at all, please read Wilhelm Reich, and works such as Sinclair Lewis’s It Can’t Happen Here and Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America, which could be regarded as Trump’s playbooks if he ever read anything without pictures. And if you are not concerned that at least some fascist tendencies exist and need to be curbed, watch The Man in the High Castle for a reminder of what it would be like if the unthinkable does happen. Would you be a John Smith and reap the benefits of the horrible acts of man’s inhumanity to man, or Juliana Crain and confront the evil people?
Amaury Cruz is a writer and political activist from Miami Beach. He has a Juris Doctor from the FSU College of Law and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from SUNY-Binghamton.
