The author states that "most Americans simply did not know or care about the threat of Nazism in Europe." The world faces similar threats today. How aware do you think most Americans are, and how much do we care?

The author states that "most Americans simply did not know or care about the threat of Nazism in Europe." The world faces similar threats today. How aware do you think most Americans are of the situation in other countries today, and how much do you think they care?

I don't think people care about the threat of China and Russia today. People are so wrapped up in themselves and their own political views, they don't look at the big picture worldwide. Before World War II, we were isolationists that didn't want to get involved. Perhaps now we're too involved in every country worldwide. We need to concentrate on the dangers other countries might pose to us in the future.

America has a terrible propensity to take refuge in isolationism. We still have a large ‘America First’ political party. The world has shrunken to such a small world that we must realize our actions affect governments and people around the world. We have become the world’s police force for better or for worse. I think people who study history of the world understand that if a bully succeeds they don’t stop. We currently must address this regarding both Taiwan and Ukraine. Americans sometimes care, but often have short attention spans.

I agree with the statements above and believe that the underlying problem is a lack of education about history. In Germany school children learn about the Nazi rise to power and the events that led to Germany's defeat in WWII. In American History classes we tend to only talk about America's success and not its mistakes. This is why we seemed doomed to repeat them. When you truly love a person or a country, you don't love them by pretending they are perfect. You see them clearly and love them anyway. This is what inspires people and countries (who are collections of persons) to strive to grow and improve.

This is tough to discuss because yes, unfortunately, most people are too overcome with the struggles of their daily lives and not as attuned to world events. During that time as today, the world events are seen as far away and unimportant to the average person in the U. S.

Then remember how many politicians want to stifle education in this field. Those who have taken Advanced Placement courses in US History know how much better this information is covered, as well as in US History courses in College (which most no longer take)

I agree with a lot of the above. However, I also think we maintain peace through our own strength. We can't have strength when we give up our own oil resources in order to depend on bad actors. We can argue about the need to fight climate change, but we can't put ourselves at risk and require none of the same sacrifices from countries like China.

We can't repeat the fiascos such as our departure from Afghanistan and expect anyone to take us seriously.

We need some adults in the room which sadly isn't happening right now.

I think there are several reasons that most people did not know or care about the threat Nazism which included FDR’s refusal to get involved in the war and the lack of reporting on the issues that lead to the war such as the banning and burning of books. Most people did not understand Hitler’s rise to power and they also did not understand how Japan and Italy became involved in the war. Despite the availability of news 24/7/365 now, the huge volume of news makes it difficult to filter through the vista amount of information to understand current political and military threats. Adding to that challenge is that many people who struggle to cope with day to day challenges find they have no time or energy to pay attention to news that is less than positive.

My feeling is that some Americans are aware of what faces us but the majority are too consumed with every day life to give it a thought. Unless we get informed and demand more of our leaders we are going to be in big trouble. Roosevelt and Churchill could be trusted to work for the free world. Stalin, not so much, though all were aligned to defeat Hitler. It is interesting how we were able to work with Russia then but definitely not now.

I agree with much that has been written. I thiink we are overrun by media of all kinds. Too much "news" ,social media,lack of local newspapers, and too much screen time. There is only so much you can read in a day and actually care about. So we tend to pick the most sensational, the loudest voices, and do not try to get all the facts before me make decisions.We believe what we want to believe.That is ignorance at its core. We always seem to think we are an isolated nation because of the oceans around us. That's not going to cut it in the future. We need to know what's happening around us.Ever notice how the newspapers have only one page of international news?? That speaks for itself!

I agree with so many of the points raised in this thread. America was truly burned by WWI, being lied to by President Wilson about our involvement, and then the brutal Spanish Flu epidemic wiping out millions of people toward the end of that conflict. America has always been strongly isolationist, but only since WWII have we had to stride to the front of the world and act as a selective protector of democracy worldwide. I say selectively, because we pick and choose who we want to defend (usually based on a subject political calculus).

To answer the question about how aware today's Americans are of the rise of fascism abroad re: Russia's invasion of Ukraine, I say: very little. And it is because our society is in the last phases of a general cultural decline that cares little for the values that originally created and then sustained it. Read about the Roman Empire. Americans today (generally speaking, of course) are more concerned about their sports teams, happy hour, and posting selfies. I'm jaded, what can I say. We are too busy contemplating our own navels to grasp that democracy and freedom is not a state of nature occurring organically; it must be striven for and defended at every turn. Ask a Ukrainian how quickly their freedom and rights can disappear. America needs to wake up. Today, Ukraine. Tomorrow...who else?

Are most Americans aware of the rise of racism, here and abroad, my answer is "no." Too many of Americans today are more concerned about travails of everyday living and not about the democracy and freedom within our own country let alone Ukraine and Russia's invasion.

Daily as I watch my favorite news programs, I am deeply aware of how quickly freedom and my rights are disappearing. I agree with other readers we need to wake up and look around us. We are on the road to losing our democracy, it is as simple as that! I am particularly distressed with my rights as a woman. We need to come together as women and take charge of our rights.

I agree with so much of what has already been said by other members of the discussion group. Historically America has been isolationist simply by virtue of its location on the globe. Politicians have also historically been isolationist in order to get elected because they know that no parent wants to have their child fight in a war in a foreign land. I also think it is a very common human tendency to bury one's head in the sand rather than face the truth.

Besides being overinundated with news and commentary today, so much of what is put out as news is falsehood. Dark websites have proliferated and even mainstream television networks have promulgated and shaded the news to sell to "ultra" political beliefs, all under the guise that that their hate spewing is protected by the First Amendment. Our country is in a precarious situation that brings to mind Germany as Hitler was working to come to power. And most of our citizens, although moderate, remain silent.

If any one is paying attention, they know about the mistreatment of Uyghurs in China, people sent to labor camps in Russia, human suffering in many smaller countries. However, we are currently so divided in this country, it feels it is all we can do to hold it together. Also, we are in a phase where many seem to want the US to become totally independent and isolated from other nations, something that is just not feasible today. However, we should use diplomatic means as much as possible to try to help people resolve differences. There again, we aren't doing such as great job in our own nation.

It seems people no longer follow news in depth. When trying to have discussions with people I soon realize they don't know what actually occurred. I also believe not knowing is a way of coping. The news can wring us out!

Unfortunately most Americans are listening to rhetoric that is reminiscent of the early rise of facism. They have already forgotten the chain line depletion during the pandemic. We are a global society and until we all are on the same page, we will continue to have the problems we are facing now.

Dianet makes several good points about similar threats today. Adding to this issue is the general public’s willingness to go along with things like banning certain books so that children and teens can’t read and think about how history repeats itself when we remain silent.

During WW2 we said the Pledge of allegiance every morning in school, we sang patriotic songs, and were taught World and American history and Civics. Today all of these practices are considered to be passe.Today the emphasis in both schools, colleges, universities, corporations, government, and the media is with sexuality, race and gender rather than on vision, purpose, ability and service. Even US military is preoccupied with woke identity politics. Recruitment in all branches of the military is down. Last year the Army fell short 15,000 recruits of its goal...that's an entire division. The Navy's ship maintenance backlog tops $1.8 billion; its aircraft are aging; American shipyards are in poor condition. At the same time China now has the largest Navy in the world and it's getting larger. It is obvious that at present the US is unable and unwilling to meet a serious world crisis as we did in WW2. American security requires a strong military. What we're doing at the present is not working to our peril. As Churchill continually reminded the British people and the Allied forces, "Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valor, and be in readiness for the conflict..." There is global conflict taking place today... Russia in the Ukraine; China surrounds Taiwan; all out war in Sudan; militants in Syria; conflict between Syria and Turkey; constant enmity between India and Pakistan; etc. Wars and rumors of war abound and have for thousands of years of history. Are we people of valour and vision today? Are we in readiness for the conflict? "Where there is no vision, the people perish".

At least worthy of consideration is the fact that America was still deep in the Depression of 1929 by the time Nazis were gaining power. We have a tendency to assume the Depression was over quickly, but it wasn’t. Frazier’s new book The Trackers makes clear the fact that in 1937 poverty, unemployment, mass migration for work held America in its grasp. Unfortunately this encouraged and supported the isolationism America so quickly resorts to.

I haven’t read Frazier’s latest book and therefore can’t comment specifically about his novel’s portrayal of how poverty and unemployment supported isolationism. While paulagb noted several factors in Frazier’s novel were important, equally important were the number of Americans who still remembered the tragic losses of WWI. Those losses combined with the belief that another European war would not impact America, made many Americans fear entry into another war involving Europe or Asia. I honestly don’t have a good feel for whether that same level of isolationism is present today and also whether the cost of war (financial vs lives lost) factors into whether to support other countries.