Quote Originally Posted by Cangooner View Post
(sorry - can't resist...)

Yup, one of the most frightening things about the rise of the NSDAP was the ease with which they slithered into power, concentrated supreme power in the hands of one man, and then went on from there. In many ways it was so banal and gradual that many people didn't realize what had happened until it was far too late to do anything about it. This speaks to many issues raised by this thread, particularly the value of preserving the symbols and artifacts of the past - however hateful and hurtful - in order to preserve our collective memories and hopefully prevent such developments in the future. But as Bob noted in many countries the FAR right is on the rise again, and many moderate, and by 'moderate' I simply mean 'not extreme', people are worryingly complacent about them. From friends casually sharing posts on Facebook from the EDL, BNP, and UKIP (apologies but as someone who lived in the UK for six years, my examples are all from there) without thinking about what their over-simplified memes are actually saying and how they contribute to the spread of the casual racism, scape-goating, and xenophobia that marks extreme movements, to governments implementing laws based on division and fear of the 'other', it is possible to note more and more similarities to our present time and those past times when extreme movements came to power.

Anyway... the rise of the NSDAP is an absolutely fascinating subject and is one of my favourites to teach. Lots to sink one's teeth into.
UKIP is by no means a far right political party - it's main aim is independence from the European Union. It does have a stance on the level of immigration - one that would be recognised by many Americans who are concerned with the same issue.