In 1933, the German people had largely voted for the socialists. President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Hitler as chancellor despite the nazi party receiving only 18% of the vote in the parliamentary elections. Hitler came to power legally, but certainly not democratically. The German people of that time did not choose Hitler; they were forced to endure him.
Comment Hitler a pris le pouvoir par la violence – France Culture: https://youtu.be/E9jztrQ6dmk?si=54g9A_IYFry3lNsw
Chamberlain decided to appease Hitler in 1936 , allowing him to invade neighboring countries, Austria and Czechoslovakia. This decision was not made by the British people at the time. They had no say in the matter.
The majority of the French army and people did not want to capitulate to Hitler. They fought heroically, particularly at Dunkirk. It was Pétain, Laval, and a handful of fascists who who ordered the surrender. The government had appointed Pétain to lead, and granted him full powers to resist because he was the hero of Verdun. He betrayed most of the French people of that time who did not want the Nazis.
The Spanish people had voted overwhelmingly for the Frente Popular (People’s Front) in the parliamentary elections of the Second Republic on February 16, 1936. Franco seized power with the force of the army and the money of the ultra-rich.
1936 Spanish general election – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_Spanish_general_election
People did not choose colonization. Some profited from it, but working conditions deteriorated for everyone.
People did not choose the Cold War and the Berlin Wall.
There are INA archives and publications proving that people have been condemning pollution from the start of the Industrial Revolution, through the hippies, and up to the present day. Even in antiquity, people knew that polluting was wrong. It is not the people who are destroying nature; but the powerful. We must stop saying that this is what people want and stop believing that we need to educate the public for action to be taken. We must educate those in power, or else ensure that the people get to decide.
With the COVID pandemic, it’s clear that deforestation — which benefits a handful of powerful people — is causing diseases that should have remained in the forests. These diseases spread and put us all at risk.
We must not assume that people in every era agree with the decisions made. They had no more say in the matter than we do.
Saying that it is the fault of people from the past only pits one generation against another. It is like blaming migrants or the “slakers.” This is a way to divert attention from the real culprits, who are a handful of very powerful people, notably elected officials and the ultra-rich.
“Divided we beg, united we bargain.”
These types of democracies are a farce. Those in power make the decisions. Elected officials regularly betray their voters. It’s not the people’s will. The people are merely spectators.
We need direct democracy with referendums initiated by the people, and we must always respect the results of elections — and replace elections with a selection at random and pay comfortably those representatives.
Of course, there must also be the means to enforce the laws passed by the citizens (independent prosecutors, police, military, labor inspectors, etc.).
Translated with DeepL and Ollama TranslateGemma
