This will likely sink, but I hope some may read my thoughts. Writing them out helped.

[Betty Boom]

What would I have done?

My ancestry is 100% German. My ancestors mostly left Germany 1840-1860, but I have occasionally thought about what might have happened if they had not. Would I have close relatives who turned their heads as fascism and autocracy were upon them? Would they have been “good Germans,” as the expression went? Or would they have fought it?

It’s not an understatement to say we are in a moment where democracy is in peril. This is our 1933 Germany, my friends. And I have done my best to answer the question I pose to myself every day: what would I have done? And so for weeks now, I have risen every day, and I have phone banked. I have heard the fear and the anxiety of so many voices on the phone. And I have done what we were called to do: I have left it all on the field. I have done what I could do. And now it’s up to the rest of my fellow citizens to do the right thing, to confirm that they know the choices are binary, and to vote accordingly.

Do we choose cruelty, or do we choose kindness?

Do we choose to “other-ise” our fellow citizens and recent immigrants — or do we choose inclusiveness and an understanding that the strength of our country has always been that it is a melting pot of cultures and beliefs?

Do we embrace misogyny and racism and xenophobia and homophobia — or do we reject those weaknesses as remnants of a disgraceful past?

Do we celebrate leaders who seek to divide us — or do we embrace those who seek to unite us?

Do we want our children to see narcissism, lying, grifting, cheating, being a sore loser, and never admitting when they are wrong as being the traits of a leader — or do we want them to see that leaders are people of character who accept defeat with grace and dignity, who admit when they are wrong and then apologize?

Do we excuse incoherent ramblings bordering on dementia — or do we want a clear-eyed, rational, articulate leader at the helm?

Do we want a leader who operates within the conspiracy theory, anti-science sphere — or do we want an educated leader who respects expertise and science?

Do we want a government that respects the rights of families to make private medical decisions — or do we think the government should control those decisions?

Do we want an America that wallows in resentment, hatred, and fantasies of revenge and retribution — or do we want to move on, and rid our nation of the political minefields that have estranged friends and family?

Do we want a petulant adolescent at the helm, or do we want an adult?

Do we know that bullying is not strength — it is weakness?

It bears repeating. Do we choose cruelty, or do we choose kindness?

Please choose kindness, America. The whole world is watching and waiting to see the true character of this country I love so much. I hope that I am not disappointed. But if I am, I will continue to fight.

I will fight until this darkness is vanquished.

[irisblue]

1. Bump

[displacedvermoter]

2. Good thoughts

[Betty Boom]

10. Thank you

Writing my thoughts out has always been way to relieve stress. I do appreciate you taking the time to reply

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Your history is shared by many

3 branches of my family tree fled Europe from about 1845 to 1900. My German ancestor achieved US citizenship by serving in our Civil War. Europe had periods of turmoil in the 1800s, from the breakup of the Napoleonic Wars to the Revolutions of 1848 which reverberated in some countries into the 1900s and into WWI. They fled famine, social unrest, despotism, the Bourbon kings, and probably more factors I'll never know about.

There was also a period of German immigration in the 1600s due to the Thirty Years War. Many were farmers and settled from New England to the Great Lakes.

THoughtful OP, thanks for sharing.

[Betty Boom]

11. Thanks

It’s hard to get much traction, I have noticed. People seem to prefer to read very short posts. So I’m trying not to be discouraged by the fact that this post seems to be sinking fast. Writing it helped to relieve a little little bit of stress and that’s mostly what’s important

[KarenS]

4. Thank you for sharing your thoughts,,,,, nt

[Betty Boom]

12. Thank you

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

[Doodley]

5. Well said. Let's hope enough Americans make the right choice.

[Betty Boom]

13. ❤️

I hope so too. In the meantime, how do we get through the next 24 hours?

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

58. Breath deep, drink water or tea. nt

[Mister Ed]

6. Thank you for this post.

It's heartfelt, inspiring, and beautifully written. May the morrow bring you well-earned comfort.

[Betty Boom]

14. So kind

That is so very kind of you to take the time to respond. I’m trying to just feel that writing it was enough, and not to dwell too much on the likes and recommendations. But I’m human and so it’s nice to know that something I wrote resonated

[Think. Again.]

7. K&R

[Betty Boom]

15. 😊

[Tesha]

8. Thank you

[Betty Boom]

16. 😊

[Cirsium]

9. Not just Germany

Fascism was a powerful force across Europe and there were Nazi sympathizers and collaborators in every country.

Your post is good and raises an important issue that warrants more attention.

German authorities required the assistance of the Axis nations and of local collaborators in the regions they occupied to implement the "Final Solution." Collaborators committed some of the worst atrocities of the Holocaust era.

Axis governments, police, and military authorities aided in the roundup and deportation of Jews to killing centers, actively participated in the murder of Jews, and in several cases committed atrocities against their Jewish fellow citizens within their own national borders.
In territories they occupied (particularly in the east) the Germans depended on indigenous auxiliaries (civilian, military, and police) to carry out the annihilation of the Jewish population.

Axis government authorities and local auxiliaries in German-occupied regions were key in implementing expropriation, deportation for forced labor, and mass murder of non-Jewish populations.

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/collaboration

Collaboration with the Nazis outside of Germany was extensive and widespread. The Nazis relied on cooperation from countries, groups, and individuals outside of Germany to carry out the persecution and mass murder of Jews, as well as other victims such as Roma , Poles, Slavs and others.

Collaboration took many forms. In some countries the government actively cooperated with the Nazis. In others, individuals or groups acted on their own initiative to offer their help to the Nazis. Smaller forms of collaboration also took place on an individual basis, such as informing on Jewish neighbours (sometimes out of antisemitism, sometimes out of a desire to take over their property, jobs or valuables once they had been arrested or deported).

https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/resistance-responses-collaboration/collaboration-outside-of-germany/

[Mr.Bill]

17. I am also predominately of German ancestry.

My ancestors left Bavaria in 1852 and came to Baltimore. I have had many of the same thoughts you have had. Thank you for articulating them so well.

[Betty Boom]

22. Thank you

I appreciate your comment

[NoMoreRepugs]

18. Well said BB.

[Betty Boom]

23. 😊 🇺🇸

[dchill]

19. K&R!

[Frank D. Lincoln]

20. Eloquent, moving, thought-provoking.

I'm confident that Americans will do the right thing when it counts the most.

I look forward to Kamala Harris being our next president.

[Betty Boom]

21. Thank you

Thank you for your gracious words. It helped just writing it, but It’s always lovely to know when my writing is appreciated.

[Maeve]

24. I used the term "good Germans" earlier today

What would it mean to be a "good American" if the government is corrupt? Democracy can die, or at least, sicken badly. How do you cope in a world gone mad?
With our neighbors' help, we won't have to answer that this year. Hold on, darkest before dawn, all that.. Keep hope alive a bit longer.

[niyad]

25. Kicking to keep this OP visble. Thank you for sharing that with us. I think

you expressed quite well what many of us are thinking and feeling.

HEAR US ROAAAAAAAAAAR!!!

[Betty Boom]

28. Exactly!!!!

❤️

[wendyb-NC]

26. Thank you, excellent post

[Betty Boom]

29. Thank you

🇺🇸

[3catwoman3]

27. Being able to put something down in writing is evidence of gaining some mastery...

...over whatever one is struggling with, so good for you for doing this.

20 or so years ago, my husband's oldest son (he has a son and daughter from an early marriage and we have 2 sons) was stationed in Germany with the US Air Force. We went to visit him. He lived in an apartment off base. As we walked around the little town, I was brought up short when we rounded a corner and came face-to-face with a life size statue of a German soldier in uniform, with the well-known Nazi helmet atop the head. It was honoring the German dead, something I had never seen before.

We also went to the American cemetery in Luxembourg, where Patton is buried. Pristine, with lush grass groomed to perfection, and row upon row of sparkling white stone grave markers. As we were walking out, we saw sign for a German cemetery just a short walk away. We went there, too, and the contrast was striking. Altho neatly maintained, the grass was sparse and weedy, and the grave markers looked to be made of some sort of concrete composite material - gray and grim looking. Particularly eerie was clouds suddenly obscuring the sun as we walked the path to this graveyard - almost like Nature was acknowledging the dark deeds done by those buried there. The place is called Sandweiler.

Sandweiler German war cemetery. The Sandweiler German war cemetery is a World War II cemetery in Sandweiler, in southern Luxembourg. It contains the graves of 10,913 German servicemen from the Battle of the Bulge in winter 1944 and spring 1945.

More than twice the number buried in the American cemetery. Many of the bodies are buried 3 deep, and are simply labeled Ein Deutcher Soldat - a German soldier.

For anyone interested - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandweiler_German_war_cemetery

What struck me about both the statue honoring German soldiers, and this cemetery, with so many bodies unidentified, was that each of those dead men had been someone's son/brother/husband who had no doubt be deeply mourned by their surviving family members, just as had those who fought on the side of light.

How do we know for sure how we might react if subjected to relentless and persuasive brainwashing, coupled with threats to our lives if we did not fall in line?

I despair of human kind ever figuring out that killing each other is a lousy way to try to solve problems.

[Betty Boom]

30. What a beautiful reflection

Thank you for sharing it. ❤️❤️❤️

[Jmb 4 Harris-Walz]

31. KnR

[love_katz]

32. Recommended and bookmarked.

All of my ancestors in my father's side were German.

On Dad's mother's side, they left from the Rhineland region of Germany, the first group arrived in America in 1751, if I remember correctly.

They left Germany because of the continual turmoil of religious wars, and the invasion of Napoleon's troops, with all the attendant horrors of war.

My paternal great grandfather left Germany prior to World War One.
I will always remain grateful to my dad, who was determined that our family would not become religious fanatics and would not impose our beliefs on others.

Your post is thoughtful and well written, and I commend your courage in not shying away from the difficult questions.

Thank you for this post, thank you even more for all your efforts in GOTV, and here's to the deepest hope that we will get to celebrate the victory of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, and of as many democratic candidates around the country as possible.

[Betty Boom]

42. And thank YOU in return

Thank you for sharing your thoughts

[BlueKota]

33. K an R

[pat_k]

34. NPR segment today: kindness in KC

4 min listen
https://www.kgou.org/2024-11-04/caught-in-the-political-divide-a-kansas-city-church-runs-a-campaign-for-kindness

[louslobbs]

35. Kicking this⬆️👍🏻

🙏

[Betty Boom]

41. Thank you

🇺🇸

[louslobbs]

79. 👍🏻

You bet!

[wordstroken]

36. Wow! As an author, I find your writing to be enlightening, heartwarming, inspirational, professional -- and powerful.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us, Betty.
Very effective.

When we fight — we win!!

[Betty Boom]

39. Thank you for your very kind words

Journaling my thoughts has always helped when I am feeling stressed or anxious. I’m glad they may also be some comfort to some people tonight

[wordstroken]

44. Your words definitely are a comfort to me.

[Linda ladeewolf]

37. My grandfather

Came from Bavaria in the very late 1800s. It could have even been the early 1900s, I don’t have much information. A lot of people left Germany around that time. I don’t know much about them.

[littlemissmartypants]

38. Thank you for putting my thoughts into words.

We do still have so much work to do.

But I'm not going to give up on hope.



❤️

[Betty Boom]

40. No matter what

No matter what happens, I will continue to fight. Because as Kamala has reminded us over and over on her stump speech… When we fight, we win

[littlemissmartypants]

49. ❤️

[Silver Gaia]

43. YES. I will gladly stand shoulder to shoulder with my fellow patriots

and FIGHT! I raise my fist in opposition to the powers of darkness crawling out of the slime and muck. We WILL beat them back. We will WIN.

Thank you for your inspirational post.

[Betty Boom]

47. And thank you for your kind words

Democratic underground is exactly where I needed to be tonight. I am only hoping that it will stay up. I still remember how the pain of election night 2016 was compounded by democratic underground going down.

[CaptainTruth]

45. I read your words & THANK YOU for sharing them!

I'm glad you did.

I know what you mean by "this will likely sink." I've posted several things here that I believe are important to our cause but they usually get very little reaction or support. It doesn't encourage one to post more.

[Betty Boom]

48. That's exactly right. I've had the same experience.

It’s very discouraging and I try not to take it personally but it’s difficult when you see posts that I feel our repetitive and don’t really have much to say that get hundreds upon hundreds of recommendations. But I decided to take a chance and I’m glad that I did because it has warmed my heart to get positive feedback.

[paulkienitz]

46. We wouldn't have been the same people if brought up in that place and time.

I have been so lucky in where and when I was born (silicon valley before the big boom) and how I was raised (with liberal values and no religion or racism), that I can't conceptualize myself as being the same person had I been brought up in Germany between the wars. I might have been traumatized into a super-rigid or cruel mindset in any number of ways. I consider myself a very independent thinker now, but I'm aware of how much luck and privilege underlies the opportunity I had to develop in that way. Maybe I would have found my way to humane and empathetic values (as some people close to me did despite being raised by abusive racists), but I'm sure not going to take that for granted. I just don't have the flexibility at my age to blow that much smoke up my own ass. I can't mentally place myself in that environment, because the person I am now couldn't possibly have come into being there.

[Betty Boom]

50. I want to hope that's true

But then again, I have people in my family who were raised the same way that I was raised. And yet they have gone to the Darkside. It’s a thought that’s been repeated over and over as we have seen this horrible man divide families and friends. It makes one reflect upon how easily people can be manipulated, and weakness exploited. He brings out the worst of human nature. The selfish and the hateful and resentful that perhaps resides deep within us all. And the fear. I think he exploits fear most of all. Fear of losing place and fear of influence and fear of the other.

[WheelWalker]

51. Strength and Honor.

[MaryMagdaline]

52. Beautifully written

Our American history of slavery is what motivates me to write the wrongs of history, coupled with my Irish ancestry, where we were the bottom of the heap. I understand that my ancestors were once victims of colonization and now beneficiaries of White Supremacy in America. I never want to forget how easy it was for the people at the top of the Empire to let my ancestors starve. I do not want to be part of a group causing suffering to others.

Your motivation is inspiring.

[Betty Boom]

53. ❤️ thank you

As is yours.

[Nictuku]

54. This is profound

May I copy and post on my facebook? Very thought-provoking, which is what I am aiming for. You are a wonderful writer. It is as if my thoughts were put down clearly and consciously. Very inspirational.

[Betty Boom]

59. I am incredibly flattered

Wow. You’re absolutely welcome to repost

Thank you for the compliment

[Cirsium]

55. Kicking

More should see this.

[calimary]

56. Kicking because I don't want this to sink!

"Do we choose cruelty, America? Or do we choose kindness?" REALLY nice post, and rather delicious food for thought!

I'm writing this on Election Eve and keeping my fingers crossed and my optimism in the front-row-center position.

I DO NOT want Gentleman Joe replaced by The Hound from Hell. I don't need it OR want it. America doesn't need it and shouldn't want it. The WORLD doesn't need it AT ALL.

And I do choose kindness over meanness, aggression, cruelty, and the darkness that is the donald.

Fade into DARKNESS, donald.

[Betty Boom]

60. Wow

I’ve never had anyone quote me to myself. Thank you. We will need to lean on one another in the next few days to get through this

[arthritisR_US]

57. Your thoughts will definitely not sink and as they helped you

in just getting them out they helped many too, myself included in reading and appreciating them so much, thank you👏🏼👍🏼

[Betty Boom]

61. Thank you so much

I’m actually sitting here in tears right now at the response that this post has gotten.

[arthritisR_US]

63. That's understandable given you didn't know how your responses

to the other would resonate and you just wanted honestly to express yourself and you did and trust me luv, we so appreciate and are insinc with you😘👍🏼

[stage left]

64. Thank you! Nt

[markie]

65. .....

[Boomerproud]

66. Early on Election Day I can only hope your wishes come to pass.

It's crunch time, America.

[Jack Valentino]

67. The Dawn is about to break--- then it'll be "morning in America" !!!!

I am confident that things will have gone right, when all the screaming is over.

[Mystery To Me]

69. Thank you

for sharing your thoughts.

[akbacchus_BC]

70. Well said. K&R. nt

[mamacita75]

71. Thank you

Betty Boom for your heartfelt post. So deep and personal and very courageous questions. Best of life and love to you. I believe collectively we will choose kindness and empathy. May goodness follow you wherever you go.

[poozwah]

72. thanks

excellent!!!

[Erda]

73. This is beautifully written

And captures the importance of this moment.

Thank you!

[Betty Boom]

74. That is so kind of you to say

Thank you. 😊

[BobTheSubgenius]

75. If, at this moment, 74 replies and 326 likes is "sinking," then it sunk?

I hardly think so. People all over the world should thank you for your efforts. I know I do!

[Betty Boom]

83. Well, it has made my day thus far

I’m humbled by the response.

[10 Turtle Day]

76. I'm so glad your post didn't sink!

I am just now reading it on Election Day afternoon so would have missed it if it had. Beautiful writing, laying out the stark choice facing us today. I choose kindness and light!

When I went to women’s march with my sisters and girl friends in 2016, actually a sister march in Columbus OH instead of the big one in DC, a man was there with a sign that said “Now I understand Germany 1933.” He came by himself just to protest the new hell unleashed upon us and to support women. It was one of the most powerful signs that day, among so many.

I believe we have turned the corner toward the light, rejecting fascism, misogyny, and cruelty. Although there are many that choose the worst in mankind, I believe women and the men like the one at the women’s march will carry democracy today. I am hopeful. But we must always be vigilant and continually fight for it.

Your post and all the comments have me in tears. Thank you!

[Betty Boom]

84. What a sweet response

Thank you for your kind words. ❤️

[Tommymac]

77. Thank You for sharing.

When we fight, we win.





Harris/Walz 2024
Blue Wave is coming. 🌊 🌈

[Betty Boom]

85. ❤️

[Tweedy]

78. Excellently put !

Only one quibble here

Unless our abusive ex president flees the country for a place without extradition, it is important that he face justice for his actions. Capitol police officers are dead and some are permanently injured. Mr. Trump’s supporters had to face justice. He certainly must too.

If Mr. Trump should flee (perhaps in a petticoat*) that is fine by me.

* how Jefferson Davis managed to allude capture some do actually say.

[Betty Boom]

86. 👍🏻

[50 Shades Of Blue]

80. K & R! It really resonated with me!

[Betty Boom]

87. TY

❤️

[sdfernando]

81. I fully believe the country, as a whole, will choose to the correct path forward...not go back....

However, we have this pesky little thing called the Electoral College that can really fuck us over! I hope that isn't the case this time around!

Thanks so much for posting this. I'm not the least bit German but I was born in Munich and we lived in Dachau...in what my Dad said was old SS Officer's quarters. I don't want to see this country go down that path!

[Dave Bowman]

82. Well it didn't sink. We are all anxious about this election.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

[Betty Boom]

88. And thank you also

..for taking the time to post.