Hitler Campaigned for Change

America has undergone many changes since its creation, and many of them have been good. Many of them have also been bad.

I don't get involved in politics, and I've never felt passionate about one candidate or another in the past elections. But I have felt a growing sense of caution in this election. To be honest, I don't really like either of the candidates that much, and I'm not sure which one will ultimately make America better.

But I have been hearing the buzzword "change" a great deal, and it has awoken a sense of uneasiness in my mind...

After WWI, Germany sank into a depression on many levels. Burdened with making reparations for the war, the economy was crushed and large portions of the country were divided as spoils for the victors. The country as a whole was demoralized and angry, and it wanted change. It was tired of the current leadership and was looking for someone charismatic and passionate who would lead Germany back to glory.

It found its answer in Adolf Hitler. Hitler wasn't a military genius; he was aggressive and focused, but certainly not a strategist. He wasn't a brilliant politician either; he chose poorly early in his political career and ended up in prison.

Hitler was an incredible orator, a charasmatic speaker who told Germany what it wanted to hear. He promised a rise to glory. He tapped into the dissatisfaction and frustration that the people were feeling and offered relief.

He promised change.

And he delivered. The war machine boosted the economy, gave everyone unity of purpose, and bolstered national pride. Of course, when he spoke of change, he didn't mention the genocide or the antagonism of the rest of the world. He neglected to mention that "change" meant much more than what people were expecting.

Germany wasn't a dictatorship before Hitler took power. He was elected by a country that thought his promise of change would solve all its problems. He may not have fooled the entire nation, but he fooled a majority--for a long time. At the end of the war, a good many Germans still had no idea about the extermination camps or how many minorities were killed as a result of Hitler's "change".

Today, America is displeased with the state of affairs. Everyone wants the situation to change, and there is someone out there with pomp and charisma who is promising just that. The main difference between modern America and post-WWI-Germany is that America is not surging with national pride. The rest of the world doesn't seem to agree with us, we're told that we are judgmental and hypocritical, and many are under the impression that we are fighting a useless war because of greed and stupidity.

Chalk it up to media bias, gulibility, general low-self-esteem, or guilt, but the bottom line is that America is no longer unified and proud the way it was after 9/11. We're not looking for someone with fierce patriotism and a love for this country--we're looking for someone who wants to change America. To what? We don't know. We just want change.

As election day approaches, be wary of promises and stirring speeches. Yes, a new president has the potential to bring change, but there are things about this country that you may not want changed. We are the nation we are today because of what we've been. The foundation of this country and its laws have allowed us to surpass other countries that have been in existence far longer than ours. We certainly have our shortcomings, failures, and embarrassments, but no more than any other nation on this earth.

The next president of the UNITED STATES needs to have a love for this country, its traditions, its people, and its unity. That president needs to have more to his agenda than simply, "I'm going to do the opposite of what the last guy did".

"Change" is a reaction, not an action. It's also ambigious. What change will you be willing to accept to get the results you want? Hitler promised a stronger nation with a powerful military and flourishing economy. What he didn't mention was that the nation would be stronger because he was going to eliminate "inferior" citizens of Germany: minorities and the disabled. He didn't mention that he was going to instigate a global conflict that would claim the lives of millions of German civilians, or that his lauded "pure German race" meant the ultimate elimination of an entire race of people.

I am not claiming that right now we have a candidate who is planning on genocide, and clearly no one wants to stop the war we're in right now more than the two gentlemen who will be on the ballot this November. But "change" doesn't have to be overt or confrontational to divide a nation and set it on the path to destruction.

Think long and hard about the upcoming election. We're being told what we want to hear. Hitler's message of change would not have been nearly as effective if the nation was not already discontent and fearful. People bought into his words because of how he spoke them and because they were desperate for their lives to be different.

This is history, not politics. It's not about R or D, white or black. It's about understanding that change always brings consequences, and that there is no such thing as a quick fix. It's about making a responsible decision with the understanding that we are unhappy with the way things are, and that those who desire power will use that to manipulate and drive us towards something we would normally stay away from.

If Germany had not elected Hitler, it might have faced another 30 years of economic depression and low morale.

Was the price of change worth it?