Does Our Government Stand With Hitler?

Earlier today, I wrote in praise of those who promote the cause of individual freedom, against the nationalist vision contained in a legal motion filed by lawyers representing the American Department of Justice, who wrote, “When the national security conflicts with an individual’s interest… the interests of the individual must give way.”

It was startling for me, this afternoon, to come across a similar vision of sacrifice of individual rights for the sake of the national good. This time, however, the vision was not articulated by lawyers representing the American government. It was articulated by Adolph Hitler, speaking at Buckeburg on Oct. 7, 1933. Hitler said,

“It is thus necessary that the individual should finally come to realize that his own ego is of no importance in comparison with the existence of his nation; that the position of the individual ego is conditioned solely by the interests of the nation as a whole… that above all, the unity of a nation’s spirit and will are worth far more than the freedom of the spirit and will of an individual… We understand only the individual’s capacity to make sacrifices for the community, for his fellow man.”

History has shown us what happens when the interest of government security is allowed to overrule the rights of individuals. Unless they want their nation to go the way of Nazi Germany, Americans should not support the right wing ideology that proclaims that individual rights are subservient to the uninterrupted operation of the Department of Homeland Security. Those who do support such an ideology stand on Hitler’s side of history.

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