"They are not on the same road"
The Nazi party did not wake up one day and decide they were going to murder millions of people. Over time, they gave negative images of a designated enemy, and began a campaign of racial superiority. Looking at what they did prior to the holocaust, how they used terminology and how that terminology took them where it did, is the important points in seeing if or how these groups are similar. It is the earlier stages of their development that a reasonable comparison can be made.
Both groups formed from other parties with their nation in a financial crisis. They both used patriotic terminology to rally citizens to support their view. The Nazis used “One people, One nation, One leader.” The tea party uses American patriots, true Americans and “One Nation” bus tours. The terms American patriot and true American alone begins the process of separating “us” from “them” by insinuating if someone does not agree they are not patriotic Americans and are not part of us. These alone would not put them on the same road, but it does not end there.
They proclaimed racial superiority of the Aryan race, and this changed the mindset of many Germans that others were inferior to them. They used another race as a scapegoat for the loss of WWI, and labeled them as parasites. Research shows that one derogatory word toward a group of people increases people’s willingness to cause/allow pain to members of that group. Of course these parasites were the ones to be targeted for extermination later. The tea party has been throwing around “American Exceptionalism.” Regardless of what the original use was, most people today will see this as American superiority (or rather tea party superiority), making others inferior to them. They have also labeled those who they believe are responsible for our current debt problems as parasites, communists and traitors.
1 2 The use of derogatory words is intended to dehumanize the targeted group and make them “faceless” in the eyes of the group. Labels have been shown to change the viewpoint of that same group.
The difference between past labels of gooks, ragheads and slant eyes is that parasite and traitor are accusations of participation in the cause of the crises as opposed to a difference in appearance. These labels are potentially more dangerous. The incident of the lady being thrown to the ground then stomped by a tea partier in Lexington is probably an isolated event. However, tea partiers blamed the victims and made excuses for the behavior,
3 these actions were also defended by members on this site. The acceptance of this violent act is a sign of group conditioning on the part of the tea partiers.
Another area of comparison is the Hitler youth. They built a program to teach Hitler’s ideology to kids. The tea party has started a summer school program to teach some of their ideologies,
4 and have their own website just for teens.5 It is one thing to educate kids but when it is intended to persuade them to believe a certain way becomes indoctrination or propaganda. An article explains a summer camp for kids supported by the tea party. Here are two quotes from this article about this summer school curriculum.
“The curriculum for the schools includes lessons such as “
understanding false extensions of separation of church and state,” “faith’s role in the Revolutionary War,” “avoiding the enslavement of debt” and how the federal government cannot force charity as it “enables dependency.”
“If we’re going to take our country back, we’ve got to remember where we came from — not only as adults, but we need to teach our children.”
Referring back to idea of American superiority here is the opening statement from the article.
“Students attending a summer school program in Louisville, Kentucky, were treated to lessons on American liberty that focused on the
superiority of the free market, the gold standard, the American Constitution, and the failures of tyrannical regimes”
This doesn’t state America is superior, but it is virtually impossible to separate America and the term free market.
Seeing a group form under similar conditions (in a debt crises), and then adapt to create superior/inferior groups with the same labels, including indoctrinating kids, is enough to consider them on the same road.
1
www.teapartypatriots.org/BlogPostView.aspx?id=f97559a8-d50c-4cb6-b801-d41820ebfca1 2
www.teapartytribune.com/2011/07/19/parasite/ 3
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTq2zCDJOgo&playnext=1&list=PL8947273AADDEA28A 4
www.thenewamerican.com/culture/family/8532-summer-school-program-teaches-tea-party-values 
