The “migrant” situation in Europe is both dismaying and interesting to watch. Germany in particular because of its largely industrialized base, its carefully ordered society (the Germans love precision), its societal non-aggression pact with other cultures due to the shame of the Holocaust and its almost pathological need to avoid external conflicts as a result of its total defeat and destruction in WWII.

Before I launch into my ramblings, let me make an important distinction – no matter what the progressive left in America believe, there is a big difference in taking pride in your country (i.e. believing in American exceptionalism) and radical nationalism. Webster defines nationalism as 1) a feeling that people have of being loyal to and proud of their country often with the belief that it is better and more important than other countries and 2) a desire by a large group of people (such as people who share the same culture, history, language, etc.) to form a separate and independent nation of their own. When nationalism goes past the first definition and into the second is when we see mass hysteria, mass delusion and subsequently disaster. Americans have always been #1, never #2.

This is just an observation of mine and like all observations are, it can certainly be wrong – but it seems to me that most of the radical nationalism and ideological extremism in the Western world tends to follow some sort of national embarrassment or affront to its citizens. When a feckless, fearful and ineffective government cannot protect its citizens from such events or reacts so poorly to them that it seems to punish the citizens for the sins of the offending party, it breeds fear and a determination to see the threat end, no matter the cost.

Hitler was able to rise to power due to a very weak German government and the fact he was able to convince a large segment of the population that Germany was being victimized by the Allied countries and their agents (the Jews) via terms of the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty included Article 231, more commonly known as the “War Guilt Clause”. This clause was a statement that Germany was solely responsible for beginning World War I. It reads as follows:

“The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.”

The Allies also demanded $33 billion in war reparations – that’s about $2.5 trillion in today’s dollars. This was a tremendous burden on the German economy and in addition, German colonies were forfiet and there were also restrictions on the military. As a result, the German people felt defenseless, the economy eventually collapsed after the Wiemar Republic’s penchant for printing money destroyed it. When the government fell, the public combined the fear, the feeling of being defenseless and the embarrassment of Versailles into support for a demonic dictator who saw an opportunity for power by blaming external forces for Germany’s problems and creating the myth that the Jews were the agents of those external forces bent on the destruction of the German homeland for their masters.

The “migrant” violence in Europe, particularly in Germany, is rattling the cages of mostly white, secular, insular, socialist societies. For decades, the have looked down their noses at America and smugly nodded to each other as we struggled through monumental battles over civil rights and race relations. The socialist politicians in America all want us to be more like Europe. This silent invasion by invitation is bursting the bubble of the white gloved European intelligentsia and now they have a problem they are simply not equipped to deal with.

All of Europe is now being tested. The smugness is largely gone. It will be interesting to see how Europe, and particularly Germany, deals with the opposing propositions of coerced multiculturalism. When faced with an imported culture that has none of the values of the German population, does not intend to adopt them and simply doesn’t care about their hosts. How will the precise, orderly Germans deal with the lawlessness and chaos that is being vested upon them? Will the government fail to act to protect German citizens and prove its weakness? Will German government officials turn into Hessian Inspector Clouseau clones as they avoid blaming the perpetrators and tell the fetching young blonde German women to don burkas to prevent assaults because if they wear a miniskirt, the are asking for it?

Will it cause the rise of the Fourth Reich? I don’t know – but nationalist parties are growing all over Europe. How far it will go, I don’t know but history does inform us of what happens when people are embarrassed and their government allows them to be victimized.

As Europe percolates, America should take note. We have already had to save them from themselves a couple of times.