Scorched Earth, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @Brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

Scorched earth, in the bunker
In 1945 Berlin, sat the psychopath
Knowing finally that he couldn’t win

Blamed is population for disloyalty
Blamed German civilians for his loss
Refused to let them surrender

Bury them at all costs. Military
Decimated, all that was left was youth
Desperate he forced young and elderly

To fight down to their last tooth
Ignoring all the General’s pleas
To save their remaining population

That evil narcissist was the one
Who convinced the entire nation
To follow him down that dark road

“Compassion was for the weak “
That monster often sold
Bastardizing real evolution

Left empathy out in the cold
This what happens when
You scapegoat and vilify

The bully claims to be the victim
The venom’s battle cry
The truth for these authoritarians

They have no value at all
It is all about lust for power
Blind obedience is the call

It was the abominable notion
The master race should rule over all
I am glad that bastard ate a bullet

That lead to his inevitable downfall.
(end)

I am an atheist. I hate Hitler, I hate Stalin, I hate Po Pot, I hate Mao, I hate Gadaffi, I hate Fidel Castro. I hate Authoritarians.

Any human being selling you a political, religious, or business “plan” where blind loyalty where questioning is not allowed, it is the sign of tyranny and will lead to eventual disaster.

Cult leaders, mafia bosses, dictators and abusive spouses all operate the same way. They convince their followers that they cannot live or function without them. They tell you nobody understands you like they do, and they tell you not to trust anyone. They rely on creating a dependent relationship where they are the only ones that know what is best for you. They demand blind loyalty and any questioning will be met with verbal abuse, mental abuse, physical abuse and even murder. Or they will convince you to commit suicide with them. It is the behavior of a madman.

In normal healthy relationships there is cooperation, communication, no absolute power, but cooperation and compromise. And especially the ability to leave a situation without fear of threat or reprisal.

Hitler never cared about anyone else but himself, and maybe his dog Blondie and his wife Eva Braun. Stalin also never cared about anyone but himself, and lust of power. But both of them were very effective in convincing supporters to do their bidding blindly. And once they rose to enough power, all hope was lost for anyone living under them that saw the problem and knew what was really going on.

Hitler was to blame for the entirety of WW2. He was to blame for starting the war. He was to blame for bastardizing evolution claiming that it was solely about might makes right. He was a bastard for claiming that there was a master race and that Jews deserved to eliminated from the face of the planet.

The problem with humans though is long term. That war is almost 100 years in the past since it’s start. There are very few survivors left to recall the brutality of that monster.

Yet today, humans still scapegoat and vilify minorities. They use one religion against the other to create in groups and out groups. And far too many people get wrapped up in zero sum games they are willing to follow authoritarians down that same dark road.

I don’t want history to repeat itself with any group of people. I want a peaceful pluralistic society that uses democracy and voting and diplomacy and checks on power.