My knowledge of history is not as strong as I would like it to be. However, my understanding of how genicide happens is that:
-Relentless propaganda that exploits societal prejudices to create an "us versus them" mentality gets someone elected on the basis of visceral hysteria.
-The targeted group is first informally and then officially subjected to persection; socially bullied, forced out of work, forced out of school. Laws are passed restricting the freedoms of the people in that targeted group and restricting the freedom of association between members of that group and the dominant social group or groups. Friendships and professional and even familial relationships are subjected to the strain of governmental, social and business pressures to dissolve. Everyone lives in anger, hatred and/or fear.
-Intellectuals and intellectual activities are censured unless they are in line with prevailing political thought or directly serve the financial and technological purposes of the dictatorial government and its supporters.
Those are pictures that I got from the Internet from a Google search of the term "nazi book burning."
-Violence against the targeted group is first excused, then encouraged, then codified into political doctrine.
-The process of dehumanization accelerates until millions of people are dead at the hands of their former friends, neighbors, employers, employees, and fellow citizens.
-Throughout the process, every attempt by the targeted group to resist is violently suppressed. The targeted group is portrayed as a dirty, dangerous evil that has to be eradicated and subjected to vigilant control by the dominant group, which portrays itself as pure and the object of sinister plotting by the people whom the dominant group is killing.
That's a clip that I got from the Internet this morning. I don't control the way that Web addresses are configured, and I don't choose excerpts or supporting information for code purposes.
The process of dehumanization has had some variation throughout the course of human history; however, violent resistance by the victimized group is always treated by the dominating group as if it is unprovoked aggression against innocent, morally superior people.
The desire to oppress is a societal sickness that ought to be treated like something that can happen anywhere at any time. It is not an anomaly; it is part of human nature.
Copyright, with noted exceptions, L. Kochman, October 9, 2015 @ 9:29 a.m.