ClumsyMonkey.net

I admit, it was a stupid question.

Actually, in my History class, right at the beginning of the year before we'd started anything in the course, (and it was Canadian history anyway) we were given a list of stuff and asked if we'd agree with it. The ones that really stuck out in my head were "only citizens can vote in general elections" and "the welfare of citizens is of first and foremost importance" because everyone was like, duh.

But anything we *did* doubt on the list, our teacher explained in a very pleasant sounding manner, and we all pretty much accepted it. (Except this one kid, and we all rolled our eyes at him because he was kinda scary.)

Then our teacher goes "Congratulations! You're all Nazis!" and it hit me... the Jews weren't considered citizens.

My class was pretty much all over the place politically, but there wasn't a single person there who would *ever* support anything that violated anyone's rights. We had the most extreme right-wing "it's all about the bottom line" types who'd practically start frothing at the mouth if someone said something that was remotely pro-child labour.

But we were all taken in, because a) our teacher made it sound so *reasonable* and b) it didn't even occur to us to look for such an insidious agenda buried in something we'd all assumed was a Canadian platform from the first half of the century. It didn't suggest or even imply anything about exterminating anyone.

I'd bet money that something like that would pass in the Southern US, if it was concerning illegal immigrants from Mexico. Not the *exterminating* part, mind you, just a govt that would take more of a stand to make sure "America is for Americans".

And people, Australia's in Iraq. Those top five "diplomatic" countries aren't exactly perfect, either... Canadians especially should remember the back and forth indecision our govt had on the matter, and how upset most of the country was when we decided *not* to go to war. It's easy to point fingers.

The Nazis never hid their agenda though. They were quite open about their hate for the jews and their wishes to rid them of their country.

Believing in the policy of only allowing citizens to vote hardly makes you a Nazi. That's quite a stretch. Different policies regarding who you ALLOW to be citizens and what you do to non-citizens is a different matter.

I agree. It's like saying "do you believe we should all be happy?" and then finding out you're a communist because you answered yes.