Below are the words of world-renowned poet Kalen Dion on what the typical German was thinking when Hitler came to power in the early 1930s.
I know it’s impertinent to compare the United States under Trump to the Third Reich, but I challenge the reader to deny that there are legitimate parallels here. Below Dion’s piece I have made a few comments.
Nazis didn’t realize that they were “Nazis.” Of course, they were aware that they were affiliated with the Nazi party. But they did not see themselves as the genocidal extremists that they were. They saw themselves as patriots. Defenders of their nation. Acting out of love of country. Rather than a hatred of others. Loyalty was considered a moral duty.
They believed they were restoring order. Not dismantling democracy. The takeovers of the institutions. The loyalty tests as a barrier to entrance for military and government jobs. Exclusively appointing judges aligned with party values. These were all seen as necessary corrections to chaos. Corruption. And moral decay.
They saw their country as besieged by internal conflict. They believed that their greatest threat came from within. Political opponents. Intellectuals. Journalists. Cultural figures undermining the nation. These were seen as their greatest enemies.
They saw themselves as the victims. Despite holding and seeking ultimate power. They understood themselves as persecuted. Silenced. And unfairly targeted by elites. Courts. The media. And cultural institutions.
They saw immigrants as an existential threat. They framed immigration as an invasion. Lawless. A destabilizing force. And part of an international conspiracy to destroy the German way of life.
Joeseph Goebbels, Hitler’s minister of propaganda, created a moral inversion of exclusionary policies. Discrimination. Deportation. And repression was seen as protective. Defensive. And ethically justified.
They saw alignment with the party as alignment with the nation itself. Party loyalty was national loyalty. Opposing the party was seen as treasonous.
They believed in a coordinated leftist conspiracy. A vast interconnected plot involving leftists. Universities. Cultural institutions. Media. And political elites. They thought the left intended to seize power and corrupt society.
They were obsessed with cultural degeneracy narratives. Sexuality. Gender non-conformity. And changing social norms were framed as evidence of moral decay. Something they believed was engineered by the left.
They saw themselves as truth tellers. That they alone were willing to say what everyone knew but was afraid to speak out loud. It reinforced their sense of courage and moral clarity. Even as they used their sense of morality to marginalize and oppress.
They believed time was running out. That the decisive action was immediately necessary to prevent national collapse.
They believed the law was corrupted and weaponized by their enemies. Vigilante action was therefore justified. This belief was used to justify events like the night of long knives and the night of broken glass.
There was a fusion of personal and political identity. An attack on the movement was an attack on them personally. Their values. Their families. Their way of life.
They believed that social institutions had been captured. Courts. Schools. The media. Civil service. These were supposedly controlled by ideological opponents. And made them illegitimate and corrupted. The Lügenpresse… the “lying press”… was treated as “fake news”. The state was the only source of authority. Everything else was seen as non-credible.
They framed themselves as the protectors of the youth. Children were said to be under attack by immigrants. Left us. Educators. And gender ideology. This made their extreme measures feel necessary. One of Hitler’s first actions when he took office was to burn down Berlin’s Institut für Sexualwissenschaft (Institute for Sexual Science), an LGBTQ+ and transgender rights research center.
The idea of meritocracy was used to elevate loyalty over competence. This directly led to Hitler’s downfall.
Competent military officials were dismissed. Party loyalists were installed. This was all treated as merit-based.
And lastly, they believed that history would vindicate them. They saw themselves as misunderstood. Victimized. Persecuted. And they believed that the future would see them as heroes. And that any action was justified, no matter how atrocious, as a means to an end.
Indeed, there are a great number of parallels here.
Trump supporters do believe that they are oppressed by immigrants, liberal judges, schoolteachers bringing politics into the classroom, wokeness, the acceptance LGBTQs, elites, mainstream media, etc.
Trump has surrounded himself with people whose only qualification is their loyalty. In many cases, it would be impossible to find more incompetent people to head key government positions, e.g. Pete Hegseth, RFK, Jr. and the people who lead the DoE and the EPA.
As I was taught as a child, I continue to believe that, although many of German citizens felt this way, most were interested only in living their lives: doing their jobs and raising their children. If I’m correct, this differs greatly from today’s U.S., where there are virtually zero apolitical Americans. If you’re not a Trump supporter, you understand that our president is a criminal sociopath, and you want him gone.
I’m not a historian, and I can’t swear this true, but since Trump appeals to the meanest and least intelligent Americans (and some rich greedy bastards), I’m willing to bet that the demographics of Hitler supporters are similar, if not identical. I would be shocked to learn that Germany’s doctors, authors, scientists, philanthropists, and college professors stood behind den Fuhrer.
Weather Guard Lightning Tech
As Europe Shuns Chinese Turbines and Components, Who Will Fill the Gap?
While most of Europe has spent most of this year itemizing reasons it cannot, should not, and will not use Chinese wind turbines or components, accusations and arm-twisting tactics have garnered most of the attention.
But we invite you to consider a future – maybe just five, or ten years from now?- in which those same countries and companies are eagerly awaiting orders from wind turbine manufacturing facilities in… India.
What?!
You know that the country has a lot of installed wind.
You may think – and many in the industry would agree – that India’s blade manufacturers are a few revs behind blade-makers elsewhere in the world. But the country is newly committed to manufacturing and it’s busy installing more – provided that it’s made in India, with Indian technology, by Indian workers.
Of course, similar domestic-focused policy currents are running through European countries – where wind OEMs are almost inarguably a decade ahead of Indian manufacturers. But there’s an important reason why we say, “watch India” in wind turbine manufacturing.
It’s because you might learn something.
If you follow The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast, you probably heard this discussion a few weeks ago. It wasn’t the headline story – we try to highlight as many major news items and trends that we can, and follow up as credible information becomes available. India’s quiet moves to strengthen its own renewable energy industries didn’t grab the headlines. But it comprised a good bit of our panelists’ discussion.
With India’s expanding manufacturing capacity, and Suzlon’s strategic offerings for the European market (Blue Sky), there are reasons for European developers to take a closer look at Indian manufacturers.
If Europe continues to squelch deals with Chinese manufacturers due to data security issues, India is a relatively obvious candidate to fill the void, for several reasons:
- The country has depth and breadth in R&D: India (Suzlon, specifically) has a track record of involvement and relationships across the continent, as it operates research and development centers in Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark.
- Indian service providers have reach: Inox and Adoni Wind operate multiple wind turbine manufacturing plants and wind farms throughout several Indian states, and Apraava Energy has been commissioning wind projects, working with multiple OEMs, for more than 16 years.
- The country’s energy sector has size: Tata Power is estimated to be worth about US$16 billion and employs 22,000 people.
And major manufacturers from other countries have had a strong presence in the country for years:
- GE Vernova has turbine blade and nacelle manufacturing operations and multiple tech/R&D centers in India;
- Vestas has a R&D technology center in Chennai; and
- China’s SANY Wind has had assembly facilities in India since 2017, and in 2024, it signed a licensing agreement with JSW allowing SANY to manufacture blades and generators for JSW – enabling JSW Neo Energy to produce wind turbine generators and major components in-country.
So while there is hard data suggesting that India is already a global hub for wind turbines, sometimes the real strength comes from soft skills. Like sharing information.
We’ve noticed that Indian manufactures aren’t stingy with information. They share what they learn in the field and on the shop floor, so that the whole industry can move faster to solve problems. That bodes well for the industry overall, and particularly well for companies who figure out how to solve problems that some manufacturers aren’t even ready to admit to having.
We’ll be watching India with a great deal of interest in the coming months. Subscribe to The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast and follow along with us.
We’re not financial analysts. We’re engineers who watch the wind industry very closely. This is what we’ve noticed, and we thought it was worth sharing.
Where do you think you’ll be looking for solutions, components, and service providers in the next few years or the next decade? Tell us what you think. We’d love to hear from you.
As Europe Shuns Chinese Turbines and Components, Who Will Fill the Gap?
To the author of the meme here:
“Either” refers to two choices; “any” refers to three or more.
More importantly, it’s amazing how shamelessly the ultra-right wing exaggerates. The left side of the Democratic party would like to see the United States look like social democracies in places like Scandinavia. Having government programs that benefit the common person, e.g., Social Security, public schools, emergency relief, libraries, environmental responsibility, etc., does not equate to Stalinism.
Some of my old prep school chums from the Class of 1973 convene via Zoom approximately every six weeks for a 90-minute discussion of current events, science, and anything else that sounds interesting.
Our professions range from medicine, law, finance, and business management. All from highly ranked colleges. Over 50% hold doctorate degrees.
Here’s something I find fascinating about the group: it includes one right-wing conservative. I don’t mean a Reaganite; I mean a Trump supporter. This guy is incapable of any thought that doesn’t come directly from Nexsmax.
It’s almost eerie how closely he toes the line of the far-right. Yesterday he echoed the Newsmax talking point and told the group that all Muslims holding public office are “very dangerous” and should be removed.
Now, the rest of us are sitting there, dumbfounded at this idea, unwilling waste our breath on this racist and utterly preposterous concept.
All this raises the question: How are our political viewpoints formed? How much of this is genetics? Epigenetics? Early childhood experiences? How do take a boy from among the best environments and turn him into someone who struggles to understand the most basic principles on which our country was founded?
https://www.2greenenergy.com/2026/11/09/principles-country-was-founded/
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