u/SimplyTesting

I'd like to share this infographic given the times in which we live. It details the stages that build into a genocide, specifically for the Holocaust. It's not the most readable, yet the content is quality, and I'll include the text below:

• Classification – The differences between people are not respected. There’s a division of ‘us’ and ‘them’ which can be carried out using stereotypes, or excluding people who are perceived to be different.
• Symbolisation – This is a visual manifestation of hatred. Jews in Nazi Europe were forced to wear yellow stars to show that they were ‘different’.
• Discrimination – The dominant group denies civil rights or even citizenship to identified groups. The 1935 Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of their German citizenship, made it illegal for them to do many jobs or to marry German non-Jews.
• Dehumanisation – Those perceived as ‘different’ are treated with no form of human rights or personal dignity. During the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, Tutsis were referred to as ‘cockroaches’; the Nazis referred to Jews as ‘vermin’.
• Organisation – Genocides are always planned. Regimes of hatred often train those who go on to carry out the destruction of a people.
• Polarisation – Propaganda begins to be spread by hate groups. The Nazis used the newspaper Der Stürmer to spread and incite messages of hate about Jewish people.
• Preparation – Perpetrators plan the genocide. They often use euphemisms such as the Nazis’ phrase ‘The Final Solution’ to cloak their intentions. They create fear of the victim group, building up armies and weapons.
• Persecution – Victims are identified because of their ethnicity or religion and death lists are drawn up. People are sometimes segregated into ghettos, deported or starved and property is often expropriated. Genocidal massacres begin.
• Extermination – The hate group murders their identified victims in a deliberate and systematic campaign of violence. Millions of lives have been destroyed or changed beyond recognition through genocide.
• Denial – The perpetrators or later generations deny the existence of any crime.

With growing awareness in recent times, it has become apparent that peace is not possible under the flag of a bordered nation. Every action we perform is integrated within their war. We can resist, yet revolt is squashed, and revolution believed unthinkable. This leads many to feel a sense of dread or despair, as if there is no escape from this dystopia. However, every nation falls, every dynasty collapses under its own weight. There is always hope, no matter how distant or small it may seem at the time.

I'm of the belief that for many, they become weary as I am, and they tire of the constant fighting. It is exhausting and intentionally so: easier to tire your opponent than to engage them directly. Every person, every exchange, every day - it's grating. Many people see this in one form or another. And after long enough, they decide this isn't worthwhile: and some quiet quit, some become bitter, some turnto escapism, and yet still some choose to be done with it. For these people, their suicide is their form of protest: the conditions in which they live are so deplorable they decide to squander the miracle of life; an act believed so egregious it demands recognition; an act that is, truly, one of mercy -- and open defiance.

This is, regrettably, a normal part of the collapse of a civilization. The stages are as follows: adversity, spirituality, courage, liberation, abundance, complacency, apathy, and despair. (The acronym ASCLACAD is effective for remembering this cycle.) Adversity pushes us to our breaking point, demanding ever more of us. Spirituality offers a haven from this harsh reality and hope for a better future. Courage is necessary to obtain and protect our agency/independence. Liberation is freedom in the truest sense of the word, to not only have courage but to successfully conquer our adversity... In this era we know of abundance, and all will eat their fill. The hard labor that got us here will become an afterthought - eventually leading to our complacency. And as what we worked for becomes more distant, we lose that spark, and we begin to feel apathetic towardsit all. We feel dejected and inconsequential as we watch the world around us crumble in despair. And finally... the cycle repeats, a new adversity to overcome.

Those who don't know their history, are doomed to repeat it. This has all happened before, although not quite in this way - nevertheless many of the same themes reemerge. Humans have a strong propensity for action: something needs to be done, but what's the right way to approach it? Very few people can competently answer this at any given time, and rarely are they the people in positions of power. Consequently we oft follow inept leadership, whom lacks the character to withstand such a situation. We are all sovereign people, their war isn't our own, and yet we are caught in the middle: eventually we will be forced to reconcile the societal cost of our folly. All is not lost, this is not utopia, shit is fucked up, and even though dark times are ahead, know this too shall pass, we can resist despair with all our might.