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Originally Posted by Terry
Well it's not exactly the night of the long knives, but frightening all the same.
I would have to say the quisessential police state imo is Nazi Germany, we're nowhere near that, hell China and Iran aren't even close, but that is not to say it couldnt happen
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No actually, I think the quintessential ones are Soviet Union, Khemer Rouge (Pol Pot), Mao's China, and modern North Korea. Believe it or not, Nazi Germany was kind of tame in comparison, at least until the war years.
I read in a book that there was only one Gestapo informant for every 5,000 people living in Nazi Germany. By contrast, under Soviet communism, there was one Stasi informant for about 120 civilians. The East Germans under Communism had to reckon with the possibility of an informant being present at any fairly large dinner party. The Germans under Nazism, by contrast, could largely eat in peace, and indeed so could the 'undesirable' minorities, at least until the war years hit.