Monday, November 3, 2008

THE VELVET DICTATORSHIP pt II: Building A Better Messiah

In part I, I examined how Barack Obama has become an icon to many Americans in a short amount of time. This cult like adoration has never been seen before in American politics. Too a democratic republic, this sort of devotion is troubling. I'm not saying Obama is or has plans to be a dictator of any sorts. What I am saying is how troubling it is that American society has changed to such a degree that were Obama willing to be a dictator heis doing all the right things. I often wondered how a proud German people,living in a democracy, would blindly follow someone without question. We are seeing that now before our very eyes in America.

THE VELVET DICTATORSHIP
PT II
Building a Better Messiah

Now that you have your devil(Bush), you need your messiah(Obama). Presidents and politicians have often been deified in the past.But this was usually after that president died, and more often than not, died tragically in office. Lincoln became, in the eyes of many (especially artists) a martyr. Sacrificed on the altar of 'Freedom' and 'Union'.

Following Lincoln's assassination prints and paintings appeared portraying him as a Christ-like figure or a Platonic, humanist deity. To many of the freed slaves he was their Moses,leading them out of bondage and to the Promised Land, and yet, due to an assassins bullet, would not able to reach the Promised Land himself.











Franklin D Roosevelt was one exception. His portrait hung in many an Americans' home after his election in 1932. The multitudes of Americans, gripped by the misery of The Great Depression, hung portraits of FDR in their home because they believed he truly cared for their well-being and would personally bring them out of their misery.This was more a sign of respect and gratitude than deification.
Now, many Americans are seeking a new savior to raise them up from the despair of the Bush years. But having a simple portrait of Roosevelt above the fireplace is a far cry from the outright messianic, cult-like deification of Barack Obama:


























Nothing in American political history compares to the cult like adoration of Obama. The closest comparison one could make is to Elvis Presley, but he was not seeking the most powerful office in the world.




I daresay, no politician in any Western democracy has ever built nor fostered a cult like following as has Obama.






That's not to say that this could of religious devotion around a political figure has never been seen before.Quite the contrary.It's just these kind of carefully fostered images are usually only seen in totalitarian regimes.



















"Ja" means "Yes" in German.
Remind you of anyone else's positive reinforcement posters?




Hitler and the Nazi's cultivated the art of propaganda.Merging the State with the Person. To the faithful Nazi, Germany was Hitler and Hitler was Germany. Their mostly protestant and Christian faiths were merged with the occult and Nordic inspired symbols and mythology.








Before the rise of nazism, few Germans would have believed that they would willingly give up their freedom, their faith, and identity; and have it supplanted by blind devotion to a raging, demagogue.And this blind devotion would be their ruin.The thousand year Reich that Hitler foresaw for Germany, would be replaced by a thousand shame. The Holocaust will never be washed clean from the German people. It's not fair but it's true.

TheGerman people weren't the first, nor the last to blindly follow a dictator. Josef Stalin was in many ways more evil than Hitler. The difference is in their ascendancy to power. Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik's overthrew the benevolent tyrant,Tsar Nikolas and then the fledgling Russian republic. The communists cast off the Christian roots of Russia and replaced worship of a deity by casting Lenin in that role.Upon his death his secular divinity was passed on to Josef Stalin.




Stalin was as vicious and wicked to his own people than he was to any foreigner.The difference between the rise of Hitler from Stalin is Hitler used the democratic process that he despised, to gain power.Instead of bullets he used ballots.
















The formula for Stalin and the Communists rise to power,as
well as the worship of The State and it's Messiah, would soon be mirrored in other Communist totalitarian states such as Mao's China









One of the most iconic images of the 20th century is Communist revolutionary, Che Guevara
To the suprise and dismay of many,this image was seen hanging in Obama campaign offices

The cult like adoration of Obama has firmly been established through all levels of American society.From the destitute urban areas of the country, through to the blue-collar rural towns, and up to the elites and socialites in Hollywood, New York, Washington, and Chicago. A dictator could never force his will on Americans nor could he stifle a free press by force. But he could lull them into a blind and protective state, where force is replaced by charisma and a winning smile.

No dictator ever plans to give up his power once it's been achieved. One way to accomplish this is to indoctrinate the young.In the next chapter I'll examine the disturbing seduction of many Americas youth into this adoration of a political figure, to a degree that's never been seen before in American society, and its troubling similarities to indoctrination of the young in other totalitarian regimes, ranging from the Nazi youth to the calls of Dear Leader from the brainwashed children of Kim Jong Il's North Korea.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

There are many who share these fears. I've just been reading about it tonight. In regard to indoctrination of our youth, I sent you an e-mail with a video of a North Carolina teacher shaming students who were backing McCain. We need to keep our eyes open this time around (in history).