The publisher's blurb says "Throw out everything you think you know about history. Close the approved textbooks, turn off the corporate mass media, and whatever you do, don't believe anything you hear from the government — The Rise of the Fourth Reich reveals the truth about American power."

I suggest instead you suspend all disbelief and throw your brain into a tub of formaldehyde too if you are going to tackle this book, because that is the only way to get past the labyrinth of conspiracy theories built on myths and wild speculations that passes for 'analysis' in 'Rise of the Fourth Reich'.

I'll let the publisher's blurb do the talking (with little observations from yours truly): "In this explosive new book, the legendary Jim Marrs, author of the underground bestseller Rule by Secrecy, reveals the frighteningly real possibility that today the United States is becoming the Fourth Reich, the continuation of an ideology thought to have been vanquished more than a half century ago.

"This concept may seem absurd (H: yup, uhuh) to those who cannot see past the rose-colored spin, hype, and disinformation poured out daily by the media conglomerates—most of which are owned by the very same families and corporations who supported the Nazis before World War II. (H: Yup - as you can see from this long list of media moguls - case proven. NOT!) But as Marrs precisely explains, National Socialism never died, but rather its hideous philosophy is alive and active in modern America. Unfortunately, most people cannot understand the shadowy links between fascism and corporate power, the military, and our elected leaders (H: Um, could be because there aren't any?).

"While the United States helped defeat the Germans in World War II, we failed to defeat the Nazis. At the end of the war, ranking Nazis, along with their young and fanatical protégés, used the loot of Europe to create corporate front companies in many countries, including the United States of America (H: unfortunately, he fails to name one). Utilizing their stolen wealth, men with Nazi backgrounds and mentalities wormed their way into corporate America, slowly buying up and consolidating companies into giant multinational conglomerates (H: again, no examples). Many thousands of other Nazis came to the United States under classified programs such as Project Paperclip. They brought with them miraculous weapon technology that helped win the space race but they also brought their insidious Nazi philosophy within our borders. This ideology based on the authoritarian premise that the end justifies the means—including unprovoked wars of aggression and curtailment of individual liberties—has gained an iron hold in the "land of the free and the home of the brave.

"For the first time Jim Marrs has gathered compelling evidence that an effort has been underway for the past sixty years to bring a form of National Socialism to modern America, creating in essence a modern empire — or 'Fourth Reich!'"

Don't make my mistake and buy this book!

You can browse the tome online here (but I suggest beforehand that you stick a screwdriver through your eye socket and twist it around. You'll enjoy it more if you have a frontal lobotomy first):

http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061245589

My rating: 0/5, and if it was mathematically possible: -5/5

PS, if however you too think Nazis are running the American Government (and you somehow found out where I live) don't come looking for me, I am (secretly) one of you.

I am now mad at you for exposing me to this. I probably forgot something important.

This book may be preposterous and silly, but so is your rant, sold as a review.

Just reading the description of the book makes me want to kill myself.

What possessed you to buy this??

Sorry. You can have your money back.

I also would like some sort of monetary compensation.

Land will be acceptable if you are low on funds Heinkill.

Grassy, couple of trees, nothing to flash

Got a spot in Chernarus for ya.

Grassy - check
Trees - check
Soft underfoot - ooh yeah.

HeinKill, thanks for pointing out this book.

Once you understand that the word Nazi is a contraction of National Socialist German Worker's Party, and understand they were a socialist (collectivist) organization that rivaled Soviet Socialism rather than were the "opposite" then a lot of things makes sense. Collectivism has as its goal the Borg-like benefit of the collective over the individual, which leads those who believe in the collective to prioritize its goals over any human life. That is how National Socialism and Communist Socialism ended up doing horrible things to *individuals*.

The most useful political spectrum has the Left believing in collectivism (with the extreme Left being Communism) and the Right believing in individualism (with the extreme Right being Anarchy). Please note that I provide no value judgement here about the merits of either, since politics is not allowed on these forums, but I'm trying hard to point out facts in as neutral manner as I can, but expanding on the topic of your book review.

The best explanation of the political spectrum that I have seen is here:
http://chowanriver.blogspot.com/2010/10/where-do-people-really-stand.html
particularly the following:



Now, if you are interested in understand how the Fourth Reich was made possible then I highly recommend the book "Disinformation" by Lt Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa. This book is notable since Pacepa was the highest ranking defector from a State security apparatus during the Cold War, and is the best inside view of what what went on.

Disinformation shows how the enemies of the US were successfully able to manipulate information to change its direction 180 degrees; from a nation where the Government was small and the individual had a great number of Freedoms (which mean the individual had primacy over the Government) to a collectivist State where the Government is enormous, civil liberties are massively curtailed and the Government can dictate what the citizen is allowed to believe and say if they want to avoid State punishment.

@Moderators: I have tried to remain as apolitical as I can while providing facts relevant to this topic. Please contact me if you feel I have overstepped the mark anywhere and I'll amend my comments if you feel it is necessary - since this is an emotive subject for many.

Thanks, and I respect the right of people to hold differing opinions, as I fully respect yours.

But when an author makes as inflammatory a claim as the rise of a Fourth Reich in the USA, then offers no shred of evidence to support that claim, I get off the train.

H

Huh. That's odd. There seems to be lacking any dimensionality in that diagram. I'm fairly sure you can be both left leaning and anarchist, and right leaning and in favour of strong governmental (or religious) control.

But I guess if you want to polarise the opinion to oust "the enemy" in favour of a pretend "individual liberty" the truth is an acceptable victim?

Actually now you mention it I would have always put Fascist in the right wing category, even though Hitler called his brand national socialism. And where I come from (Australia), the Liberal Party is right wing. Mind you, where I live now (Denmark), there is a right wing conservative party called Radical Left and a firmly middle of the road party called the Socialistic People's Party. And another center right party called The Left, while the old ex Communist party is now called the Unity List, and votes for lower taxes.



I don't think any of them read that diagram.

.

Not to fully derail the thread, but don't get too hung up on that diagram - it is a very simplisitic way to put different political systems/ideas in a one-dimensional view that would easily fit with a two-party system.
In another such diagram you can find the tradiional "Fascism = Right" view (pictures link to bigger versions).

(I think "Monarchism" doesn't really fit into such a view, as it doesn't really stand for the ideas by which it would lead)
I took it from this blog. It also gives a common two-dimensional view:

(in this case I "disagree" with the "Christian" - religion should have no part in such a view).

This is close to the Nolan Chart,

or a variation of it (upside down...)

Hmmm.. amusing. :chuckle:

...it's understandably SCARY stuff, but Jim Marrs makes A LOT of sense!

the Bush family are big money germans (federal reserve) who support and hoped to profit from "nazi" (Illuminati) world domination

the military industrial complex was started by german nazi scientists, spys, and assassins...

9/11 was a false flag, used to put us under martial law... and make us fear "the others"... just like the burning of the Reichstag...

the "secret gov't" has a fleet of advanced reverse-engineered space vehicles and off-planet bases...

JFK and Marilyn were killed by LBJ/Bush/CIA because they were going to tell us the truth about everything... =(

WAKE UP!!

You missed one...

And I'm sorry but if you look at who owns US foreign debt (ie the keys to the house and car) it's these guys



As of May 2011 the largest single holder of U.S. government debt was China, with 26 percent of all foreign-held U.S. Treasury securities (8% of total U.S. public debt). China's holdings of government debt, as a percentage of all foreign-held government debt, have decreased a bit between 2010 and 2011, but are up significantly since 2000 (when China held just 6 percent of all foreign-held U.S. Treasury securities).

As of January 2011, foreigners owned $4.45 trillion of U.S. debt, or approximately 47% of the debt held by the public of $9.49 trillion and 32% of the total debt of $14.1 trillion. The largest holders were the central banks of China, Japan, Brazil, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Russia. No nazis there, unless you think Hitler's clones are running Brazil.

Wondering why the US is soft on China aggression in the South China sea, or Russian aggression in Ukraine? It's all about the money, honey.

China and Russia not only own the USA national debt, but most of the EU and Australia. Russia and China are the biggest arms suppliers and financiers of global conflict zones like Central Africa, the Middle East, North Korea and Ukraine. They own the energy supplied to Europe, consume most of the energy used in Asia and own more than half of all agriculutural and mining production in Sth Africa, Australia and Asia.

Three out of five members of the UN Security Council are still communist. (I count France in there. Champagne socialists who always vote with Russia).

Nazis running the US? Nope sorry, it's actually the Commies - who on top of now owning the USA by the way, won both WW2 (Russia) and the cold war (China) in case you weren't paying attention and are still the biggest poltical force in the new millenium.

Nazism, gone. Democracy, too weak. Communism rules the world people.

H

And I'm only half joking.