2008 - 1933 = 75 Years

1933 was the year that Adolf Hitler achieved absolute power in Germany. Prior to this there was a democracy of sorts, known as the Weimar Republic. But challenged with economic and institutional political problems, it fell prey to a highly charismatic leader who promised the German people positive change.

After several attempts, enough of the voters finally put their doubts aside and gave Hitler the power he had been seeking. It was the worst mistake they ever made.

While doing some research on this subject I came across this post by a fellow Canadian named James Laxer. He's clearly a bright guy and provides a detailed analysis of what occurred back then. I just happen to disagree with his conclusions about how this historical lesson relates to the situation we face today. To that end, I left him this message:

Interesting analysis, James. I came upon your post, about 9 months after you wrote it by searching for: Obama Hitler 75 years ago

In your world view, I sense that you believe that the worst things today are religion, multinational businesses, and conservative governments.

I, on the other hand, view arrogance, ignorance, and intolerance as the necessary key ingredients that lead to a blind overthrow of our long held institutions. Nothing more represents this trio nowadays than the blind followers of Obamanation; not all Democrats, but way too many of them.

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For the record, I have never made any comparison between Barack Obama and Adolf Hitler, and am not making one now.

Only time will tell what Obama's true agenda really is. In the meantime, my views of him are a medley between what Bill O'Reilly and Jeremiah Wright have said: He's an opportunistic politician who will say anything and betray anyone to achieve power. In this regard, he's not the first and far from the last. But he definitely is the slickest snake oil salesman (read "politician") in recent memory.

My difficulty, and often disgust, lies with two distinct groups:

1. MSM "Journalists" who have completely given up all pretenses of being unbiased, professional, and holding ALL politicians to account. Anyone who says that the Fourth Estate is, in fact, doing their jobs is either in deep denial or has been paid off by the Obama Campaign; there is no other plausible explanation.
   
   
2. The ignorant, blind, arrogant followers of Obama, especially the Under 30 crowd who question nothing but have simply replaced the chant of "Kumbaya My Lord" with "Obama: Hope and Change".

Take a look at some videos and be honest with yourself about whether you see some scary similarities:

A Sad Ending To A Short Life

I recently found out that a friend's daughter in Victoria committed suicide. What may be a little strange is that you can view her Facebook page here, though you do have to be a member. She wasn't quite 20 years old but succumbed to the pressures around her. So incredible sad.

May you finally find peace, Brittany.

Generation Next

One of my favourite podcasts is from Peter Day's In Business radio programme on the BBC. The latest segment is called "Generation Next" and is all about how marketers are dramatically shifting gears to market [quite differently] to teenagers and 20-somethings. You can listen to it here.

One obvious change revolves around the omnipresence of mobile phones. As one marketer on the show said, "From the perspective of a young person, what kind of idiot would possibly have a landline?" [paraphrasing] I did a double-take when I first heard this, as I grew up in a household with just one phone (a big green one) and only had a second one when I reached my late teens. Nowadays, several people I know only have a mobile phone.