I am being absolutely serious here with the Weimar Republic comparison. Because people are fucking miserable and it’s fucking terrifying.
A hundred years ago, broke people in big cities would go to fascist rallies because they were free, and because sometimes the organizers gave out free food and beer, and because people had nothing better to do.
And they stayed because hate feels good when you’re hurting and simple violent solutions appeal to the angry monkey parts of our brains.
And the fewer community connections you have - the more the economy strips your life down to work and sleep, or to job hunting and sleep, or to scrounging in the gutter to survive and sleep, and the less you go out and socialize with actual human beings - the more appealing the fascist illusion of unity, of being part of a powerful group, becomes.
And the only difference today is that the fascist rallies are beamed directly into your home.
Yeah I get that. You reached for the most egregious example possible. It hasn’t been true for 46 years but that didn’t stop you. the fact that DINK households are struggling at any level of the economy, right now, is a giant red flag. And the GDP or numbers on the paycheck don’t matter. You could get 10,000 dollars a month and if bread is 11,000 dollars a loaf, it doesn’t matter. And yeah, that’s an exaggeration because I’m not going to hold your hand through the COL calculations, minimum wages, and modal income ranges you can easily google.