learntoquestion ltq discussions

Originally posted by Thequeen3 on November 11, 2025 18:11

Yes, I believe that history itself does rhyme. This does not necessarily mean that it repeats itself, but that it has a lot of similarities throughout our timeline. Many events from the past can be similar to the present, but not always exactly the same. A popular example of this concept is fashion. As we’ve seen through the years lots of fashion trends today are very similar to fashion trends from like 20 years ago. Take jeans for example. They have always been a comfortable pair of pants to wear. They can be labeled as semi formal, casual, and sometimes business casual wear. Jeans 20 years ago were in trend, but just a different style. Back then they had low rise bootcut, flares, and skinny jeans. Even though today we still have those things, they are now just altered differently to fit many peoples standards.

Specifically there are a lot of rhymes between the Weimar Republic and the standpoint between a lot of political leaders in the U.S. The main issue that rhymes is the fact that both leaders today, and in the past, describe themselves as saviors of the people against a disconnected hierarchy. In the article, “Weimar America?” , Eritc Weitz writes, “While some Republicans are back pedaling and trying to block a Trump nomination, we are still being treated to the spectacle of many Republican candidates and office holders asserting that they will support him if he is chosen by the party. These are the people who are making Trump salonfähig”. This indicated to us as readers that many are normalizing Trump's behavior, which is why Weitz is making a comparison to the Weimar Republic and Trump. He uses the term “salonfähig” to tell us how Trump's behavior is not only becoming normalized, but also socially acceptable.

I found the most interesting part of this post the distinction between history repeating and rhyming. They did a great job of bringing out patterns that emerge anew and do not appear precisely as they happened before. I agree with this because the historical conditions seldom align perfectly but certain recognizable conditions such as economic tensions, cultural shifts, political rhetoric etc. reappear across eras. The example of the Weimar Republic in comparison with contemporary U.S. politics also resonates with other posts, particularly the observations on charismatic leaders presenting themselves as defenders of “the people” against supposedly corrupt elites. This trope is not exclusive to Weimar Germany nor the United States, instead showing up everything in the world and throughout history, reinforcing the idea of rhyming. My views are mostly the same, in that I also see parallels between past and present, particularly regarding polarization and the normalization of extreme political behavior. However, I see a few less comparisons between Weimar Germany and the modern day U.S. because of the different historical conditions. I do however agree with the use of Weitz’s arguments which I believe are well founded and useful to the overall argument. In my opinion the second half of the post could be a little bit more fleshed out, focusing on why the normalization of political extremism is relevant historically. The ideas are overall strong but I think a few more sentences could be added for more clarity.

Originally posted by forest-hills-station39 on November 12, 2025 08:29

While history never repeats itself exactly, it does very often rhyme, and this can be seen in the way that the conditions of the Weimar Republic can be compared to the political and social climate of the modern United States. There are many rhymes across history; for example, the US invasion of Vietnam and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan both saw a much larger superpower ultimately defeated by a smaller, guerilla army, and while obviously the conditions, end result, and specific details were different, they still shared many similarities. The same can be said about the conditions of the Weimar Republic and the current state of the United States of America. In one of our classmate’s projects, they brought up how the economic conditions in the Weimar Republic led to “savings being reduced to almost nothing, fixed wages becoming worthless, money becoming physically too much to carry around, and deep, intense fear and uncertainty” (Tangvik and Chung). While the US economy has not nearly fallen so far, the recession of 2008 and the current economic challenges that face the United States have certainly left people feeling fearful and uncertain about their future. In my project, I make note about how the dissatisfaction with the status quo of the Weimar government led people to be pulled away from the central parties and towards the extreme ends of the political spectrum in order to search for change, those parties being the communists and the Nazis. While no parties that extreme have become popular in modern America, people on both sides of the aisle are deeply dissatisfied with the status quo of the United States and the two party system. Donald Trump was elected in 2016 on a platform of, among other things, undermining the “elites” of society, I.E. career politicians. The degree to which he actually went against “elitism” in American society can be debated (as it seems that lately “elites” are the only ones benefitting from his policies), his popularity still shows that people want change. On the other side of the aisle, New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, won the New York Mayoral Election by a wide margin, beating back establishment candidates who had been in politics for decades. I personally would not call the majority of Mamdani’s politics “radical” as many have, but he is certainly not the center, establishment politician that many vision when they think about politics. Like during the Weimar Republic, people are not happy with the current state of their government, and rather than continue to elect politicians who will uphold the status quo, they are instead choosing to elect candidates who promise major shake ups, on both the left and the right. This disillusionment is also the reason many are drawing parallels between the Weimar republic and the United States: they are trying to draw examples between now and the past to make the current state of the US make more sense.

The idea in my peers' post that I agree with the most is their point on the current state of the US economy. More than ever we have people all over the country working paycheck to paycheck, struggling to save money and not being able to achieve the so-called American dream. With inflation, taxes, a rising housing market, and the increase of rent, living in large cities gets harder and harder every day. My peer uses this idea to connect it to Weimar which I like because this is a point, like the citizens in Germany, where people want and will fight for change. The New York Mayoral election was brought up which is interesting because my peer used Trump as an example of the failing government and Zhoran Mamdani as an example of the new “radical” politician that is brought in for change. Whether or not Zhoran becomes a catalyst for change in a good way or a bad way, it’s too early to tell, but in a comparison such as this seeing the similarities is easy. The US is definitely not in its strongest political or economic state as of right now and though some people are ride or die with what we have going now, many want and will vote for change connecting our current country to Weimar Germany.

Originally posted by flower123 on November 09, 2025 11:17

Throughout history, major tragedies have a tendency of mirroring each other. I think this is purely logical. For genocides and other instances of mass destruction, the situation needs to meet certain criteria to have an end result of that magnitude. However, I think each aftermath is different which affects both the narrative of the tragedy and how we think about the event in current day. Declaring a war legally requires a certain elevation of a problem. This is because the emotional and physical impact of the majority need to match for it to be justified. Only certain circumstances can evoke such strong emotions. This is why so many wars are declared over land. Land is a prime example of, if messed with, an aggressor. It has always been a symbol of strength and power within government, when neighboring nations attempt to take land, it causes extreme emotion which can only be expressed at the extreme level of violence. In Weimar Germany, we observed this when they suffered immense inflation. In Zimbabwe in 2008, their government was unreliable, similar to Weimar. They suffered inflation of similar proportions because their government was overprinting money. Prices were doubling every 24 hours and their government even printed a $100 trillion bill. The ratio between the two nations at their peak, are the only prime examples that are comparable to that extent. The root of the problem was the same as not having a stable government, but the outcome and result was completely different. These situations prove that although “cause” tends to mirror itself throughout time, “effect” is always going to look different. All in all, I think the roots of major events mirror each other in past history. However, no exact event had the same outcome or expression of effect. This makes sense given social patterns and logical thinking.

This post has the strong idea that the causes of big events in history look the same, but the effects are always different. This person made this clear with the connection of Weimar Republic and Zimbabwe's inflation. This comparison shows both countries with unstable governments and money problems, but with very different outcomes. This was a great way of explaining how history rhymes because effects depend on time and place. Our posts share the same idea about losing trust in the Weimar Republic and their government. You explained how these signs of instability show up all over the world. We both made that point clear of how history follows patterns but just in different ways. One thing you can do to make this post stronger is to go further with the part of declaring war. Overall though this was a very interesting and well written response. It had some similarities to my post but for the most part it really made me think a little different from my response.

Originally posted by microwavedpizza on November 10, 2025 09:19

I believe the idea that history rhymes is accurate because no event repeats exactly, but there are clear behavioral patterns throughout history that have led to similar instances. A constant struggle and desire for power can be observed as groups have competed against each other in every culture and time period, examples ranging from America’s revolt against Britain in the 18th century to modern day debates between Democrats and Republicans. People may attempt to make a direct correlation between society today and the Weimar Republic to emphasize the severity of what's going on and warn against such events ever becoming a possibility again. Aspects such as the severe political polarization between parties in the U.S. and the large percentage of Americans struggling economically might lead people to make a comparison between our society and Germany’s in the early 20th century. Many citizens desire change, so they rely on past events to criticize the current existing governmental system we abide by. While it is clear that nothing can come close to or compare with the horrors of Nazi Germany, the circumstances that allowed for the regime to take place are present in some societies today. Differences between society today, particularly in the United States, and Germany between the years of 1919-1933 include: the blatant normalization of antisemitism, extreme post-war conditions caused by the Treaty of Versailles, economic crisis, and the fact that this was Germany’s first democratic institution so they were unfamiliar with how to run things. While discrimination against Jews is nowhere near erased today, as a society we have progressed and for the most part, made it less acceptable for there to be such outward, undeserved hate. We have not been involved in such a large scale and devastating war for many years, so that is another difference that explains how Weimar Germany was unsimilar and had such pronounced effects. One classmate writes, “Concerningly, antisemitism has been on an uptick recently, perhaps even more concerning is the current administration’s harassment, scapegoating, and mass deportation of immigrants, especially and specifically those from Latin America. And while the country is not recovering from the loss of a war, many people from across the political spectrum feel just as dejected and hopeless about the state of modern society” (Driscoll). Another form of prejudice has been taking place and gaining prominence recently, that being the disgusting behavior towards immigrants. As stated, our situations differ in that we are not freshly out of war, but the economic state is on its way to being similar to that of Weimar Germany’s. As people in Germany felt, many citizens are developing and harboring feelings of hopelessness and being ignored when regarding the way politics are structured. It is important to take these warning signs seriously in order to prevent a similar outcome from occurring again.

Post your response here.The most compelling thing in your post is about how history does not repeat, but it rhymes and I found your comparison between Weimar Germany and the current political world in the U.S especially interesting. You make a good point saying that events in history are not exactly identical but often have similar patterns to those events before them. I especially agree with your point that citizens look back at past history and try to connect bad events with the current government and find similar trends. Your acknowledgement of the key differences between Weimar Germany and modern America adds lots of balance to your analysisIt prevents the comparison from being over exaggerated and shows your thought process. I also thought the inclusion of Driscoll’s observation about the treatment of immigrants helped deepen your argument and I liked how it connected prejudice in history to modern issues. I would suggest that you tighten some sentences for claret and flow. The writing could be a little bit smoother to get your point across. For example, the transition between you talking about antisemitism and the treatment of immigrants could have some better flow to show the recurring patterns of scapegoating.Overall, your writing is engaging and well supported, thoughtfully connecting past and present political situations

Originally posted by bunnyenthusiast123 on November 12, 2025 11:24

History rhymes in the way everything mimics something – nothing is fully original or new. I think ideologies repeat as human nature does not tend to change and in that of course events will be similar to those in the past. Everyone idolizes someone or something. There is an inherent intrigue to violence as part of human nature, we want to understand how and why someone could do something so atrocious. A lot of violent acts I find come from forms of idolization; something called Echopraxia. I also think that when we surround ourselves in one type of environment, especially online, it influences us to assimilate with it. For example if one watches a lot of true crime or murder content they may think more about how if they were to commit a murder here's how they would; to say just because one thinks of murder or watches true crime is not indicative of them repeating the action but an obsession with that often serves as an origin in people who do. As a more modern example there is a famous killing known as the Killing of Satomu Mitarai where an eleven year old girl stabbed her classmate and the origin of her killing comes from an obsession with extremely violent media. There are countless examples especially with underage people being inspired by violent media they consume and I do think there is a very extreme far-right pipeline online that is pushed to young kids.

There are similarities between the Weimar Republic and our present day in many ways I think. The first thing I thought of is how we treated and continue to treat soldiers returning from war, there is not nearly enough mental health support for veterans and I know a lot who returned from Vietnam were unable to assimilate to society and now live in weird areas of the woods especially in the northeast. The other is how we commend the rich for “fighting” even though they often did nothing, like Trump loves to pretend he fought for this country even though he dodged the draft around 7 times as well as the economic crisis and how we don’t give support. The people receive the punishment for the actions of their leaders.

The most compelling idea in this post is the idea that humans have a tendency to replicate the behavior of those they are exposed to, whether intentionally or not. I agree with this and believe it could be related to conformity, as if we see a majority of people doing something we are more likely than not going to join in. This idea is interesting because it shapes the behavior of individuals in society today. I found your example of the eleven year student stabbing her classmate as a result of obsessing with violent media extremely alarming but important, as it goes to show the deep effect that idolization, especially when related to danger, can have. To your point, being interested in violence as a result of curiosity is undoubtedly an innate trait we have, but it makes me wonder if there is a line we can draw between learning about cruelty through an educative lens and supporting the possibility of an obsession with it. Another good point I agree with is the role of social media in this idea. I think the normalization of seeing violence online has caused a great desensitization, and nowadays it can become all people consume because of how algorithms completely engulf them in a particular topic. While my peer and I took different approaches to this LTQ, I can see some overlapping in our ideas, particularly in the connection between modern day and the Weimar Republic. I think the ideas in this post flow clearly and I don’t see any mechanical errors.

Originally posted by PeanutButterBoy on November 10, 2025 22:21

There are trends and similarities that you can find at every period of history, that have been repeated, recreated, or else used to fuel the fires of a new, growing movement. I don’t believe that there are coincidences with the way history plays out, since the echoes have solidified certain ideas and created trends in history. This is why it is so much more common to call out current day actions and link them to major events from the past. The access that people have to historical events through the media can allow them to make these connections in history, but there are also many downsides to this information. When one person on social media claims that an action taken will lead to severe consequences, it is easier to jump onto that point, and through misinformation and fearmongering, these connections through history can prove dangerous. Nevertheless, the positives of the access to news outweighs the bad. History is a rhyme, not a circle, and there are differences in the past and present as our society becomes more aware of the successes and failures of the past. People see how a person, group, or idea wasn’t able to succeed, and they strive to avoid this failure. An example that we’ve learned in class would be the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust. While they were very similar in their style and goal, the Holocaust was a more organized and structured form of genocide. If we want to relate it to the modern day, we can consider current day immigration. This involves the removal from homes and neighborhoods, then the transportation of those removed to a new, more secret place. This theme can be found in all three examples, while they differ vastly in many other ways. Through the last 100 years, there were at least three examples of history following a similar route, rhyming in this sense.

There are some similarities between the Weimar Republic and America today, beyond the style of government. The freedom of speech and expression is similar, specifically the right to criticise the government of each place. While direct criticism wasn’t welcomed wholly in the Weimar Republic, Avant Garde Art was used to critique where the republic stood after WWI, similar to the critiques given through art or media in our country today. More generally, the selective freedoms mock many countries, typically countries that are governed with a set religion. There are many reflections of the Weimar Republic in our modern world, since trends reflect in modern history and history rhymes, revealing the patterns that have been played out in history.

I agree that, rather than perfect imitations, history tends to rhyme. Your comparison of the Armenian genocide to the Holocaust was quite apt; both are similar events, but not exact. I also agree that the first led to the second; the reaction to the Armenian genocide, or more accurately, the lack there of, gave Hitler and the Nazis the legitimacy to enact a genocide of their own, as they believed the world would forget and move on. In this way, history did not repeat itself, but instead built onto itself, with similar events following one after another. I think that saying that the only way critique and unrest against the government was expressed was via avant-garde art is a little bit of an oversimplification. The Nazi party first gained prominence after an attempted revolution in the Munich Beer Hall Putsch, and while that failed and the organizers were arrested, it was while in jail that Hitler was able to amass more and more followers and grow the Nazi party to the heights it would achieve. Hitler only received nine months in jail for an attempted coup, meaning that in reality, direct criticism and an undermining of the Weimar government was arguably not punished enough, and it wasn’t just resigned to avant-garde artwork.

Originally posted by BrokenTile on November 12, 2025 21:42

1. I think that history does rhyme, events from the past have similarities to the present, even if they are not exactly the same. For example, the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust. Some might say that they’re two completely different events, but they aren’t so different. As a result of a country’s failures, the Armenians were labeled traitors and were deported and forced on death marches. The Entente powers were focused on WWI and mainly ignored the Armenians, but this was the result of fear being projected onto the Armenians. This is similar to the Jews who were blamed for Germany’s failures, dehumanized by being called parasites, and similar to the Armenians with death marches, were forced in concentration camps and trains, and the Allies probably wouldn’t have intervened in Germany’s killing of the Jews if he didn’t go invade Poland. This shows Reik’s theory play out with the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust being very similar, but with slight differences, and it “merely rhymes” with the scapegoating and cruelty towards minority groups.

2. There are some similarities between the Weimar Republic and our present day in the United States, I think that society is becoming increasingly more polarized each year. People from 20 years ago who you’d consider extreme, might seem moderate nowadays. Another thing would be the economic instability of the United States, as we have tariffs increasing prices for most working class Americans and making their life difficult. Or you could compare the Great Recession to the Great Depression which wiped out many German citizens’ savings and led many of them to be spiteful. I think that as time goes on more people will become cynical and we’ll see how it plays out in the future. But we also blame “outsiders” similar to the Germans with immigration and the roundup of immigrants. But I do see the increasing political divide both within everyday people and our current government, and I feel like it’d be interesting to see how things might play out in the future. You could try to go out of a limb and make direct comparisons like January 6th to the Beer Hall Putsch or ICE rounding up immigrants to the Gestapo rounding up Jews, but I don’t think it’s gotten to that level yet, even though there are some similarities, but I do see them.

I agree with this person that there are similarities between the Weimar era and today that are not exactly the same, but could be getting to the same level. I agree that society is becoming increasingly polarized and that ideas once considered extreme are becoming normalized. People are becoming cynical and looking to alternatives to solve their problems. I also agree with the connections they make with the dehumanization of groups as scapegoats. While the causes of persecution of Jewish people and immigrants today definitely are not the same, the role they play as a group to blame the issues in peoples’ lives remains the same. I don’t think that January 6th and the Beer Hall Putsch are exactly the same. The Beer Hall Putsch was an attempt by a new group to overthrow the established government, while January 6th was the incumbent party trying to cling onto power and disrupt the traditionally peaceful transition of power. I see the comparison that is being made between the events, as they are both attempts to disrupt the government, and that the main perpetrators of the event virtually received no punishment. There are similar ideas in ghnmnk’s post where they draw a comparison to the Weimar era and today with the radical push towards facism. It is similar to the idea that in this person’s post extremist ideas are gaining more popular support.

Originally posted by 2233 on November 12, 2025 09:56

I agree with the statement that history rhymes. I don’t think that history exactly repeats itself. Events from the past do have similarities to the present. For example, revolutions throughout history have had similarities, like the French Revolution and the Russian Revolution, where the lower class overthrew authoritarian figures, but the details weren’t the same. I think history rhymes because some events get inspiration from things that happened before. For example, some could argue that the Second World War was a result of the First World War. Another example of events that have rhymed are the 1918 pandemic and the 2020 pandemic, which both had similar world effects, but also had lots of differences. I think a lot of people, especially now, try to draw comparisons between the past and present that aren’t related, or they exaggerate the similarities. I agree with this quote from Weimar America: “That is where we are today with Donald Trump. Trump is not a fascist or a neo-Nazi, as some have claimed, though he has certainly made countless racist and misogynist comments.” People shouldn’t compare Donald Trump to Hitler because there aren’t lots of similarities, and before we make any comparisons, we need to wait and see what the future holds. I think there are some rhymes between the Weimar Republic and the United States today, but I don’t think you should say they are the same. Some similarities would be an uptick in anti-semitism, higher inflation than in prior years, and radical political groups. I do believe that there are more differences than similarities. The Weimar Republic was trying to start a democracy, and the US has had one in place for 250 years. The Weimar Republic had a way worse economic situation than the US. We still have one of the best economies, even with higher inflation. Another difference is that there was one major party that had most of the power in Weimar Germany. In conclusion, I think history rhymes, but doesn’t repeat. I also think there are some similarities between Weimar Germany and the current United States, but not that many.

This is a great response. The most compelling idea for me was your comment about how people "exaggerate the similarities" between the past and present. I agree with this. It’s very easy to make straight forward comparisons, but as you noted with the 1918 and 2020 pandemics, there are very different details even when events "rhyme." The way that you analyzed this skepticism within the topic of the Weimar/US comparison was also very effective. My views are similar, as I also found the direct similarities to be weak. I like how you highlighted the most important differences: the stability of the US (a 250-year-old democracy vs. a new republic) and the economic events (our inflation isn't comparable to Weimar's hyperinflation). These differences are far more significant than just the "rhymes" that were mentioned. One small suggestion I have is that your point about "there was one major party that had most of the power in Weimar Germany" was a bit unclear. From my research, I understood that the Weimar Republic was extremely politically fragmented (many small, competing parties), which made forming a stable party impossible and was a key weakness that the Nazis exploited. Maybe I'm misinterpreting it, but you could make that point a bit clearer to strengthen your argument. Overall, this was a very good post.

Theodor Reik’s statement that history does not repeat itself “it merely rhymes” reflects on how studying the past is paradoxical. Events are never identical, yet patterns arise across time. I believe history does rhyme, because while circumstances change, human responses to crises tend to follow patterns of fear, anger, hope, and the search for stability. In our website, we emphasize the fragility of democracy when economic despair and polarization clash. Other classmates' projects reinforced this idea and illustrated how instability can create a space for extremism which resonated in Germany in the 1920s in the 1930s. The Weimar Republic’s failure was shaped by hyperinflation, unemployment, and a sense of betrayal over the treaty of Versailles. These conditions created ground for extremist parties that promised solutions to very complex problems. While the United States is not Weimar Germany, there are rhymes worth noting. For example, our website highlighted the dangers of blaming minorities during times of crisis. In Weimar Germany, Jews and other groups were blamed for Germany struggles. In our present day, immigrants and marginalized communities are often targeted in politics. Another student's website showed antisemitic propaganda, which I thought tied into racist or targeted memes. This draws attention to how misinformation can destabilize societies. There are also parallels in the loss of trust in democratic institutions. German citizens lost faith in their government, seeing it as ineffective and corrupt. Today, many Americans expressed similar frustration with Congress. While the contexts are different, they rhyme in the fact that disillusionment weakens democracy from within. At the same time, it is important to know that there are differences. The United States has stronger constitutional checks and a stronger economy than Weimar Germany. Usually when connections are made between the two, it is done as a warning, not because the situations are identical, but because if it is left unchecked division, economic stress, and the blaming of minorities can destroy even the most established democracies.

Originally posted by DiaryoftheSillyKid on November 10, 2025 16:55

In the international timeline, history tends to have similarities or even repeat itself time and time again. This comes from the fact that humans usually form an action because of a primitive need. People want to better themselves and the people they care about. For example, when humans were hunter-gatherers and were starting to develop small villages, they moved in big groups to places near water or better resources so they could live longer. This is similar to people in the 20th century who had mass migrations to places in the north so they had working opportunities and could build lives for their families. This relates to similarities seen in the present day. The first federal shutdown took place on November 23, 1981. As a nation, we realized this could not be a good thing and fixed it quickly, knowing we would never want this to happen again. Over time, the government’s job is to make sure this doesn’t happen again, yet it has happened countless times, the latest one being the longest shutdown in history. This idea comes from Mark Twain’s famous quote, “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes, “ and that when we make these historical similarities history we don’t do it to get the same results, but to get new solutions to present-day problems, letting us get information about human nature and the foreseeable future. Good examples of this are the Armenian Genocide and the Jewish Genocide. These unfortunate events took place in different time periods of the world and were done to people of different ethnic or religious groups, but have similarities to one another. The Armenocide was before the Jewish genocide, and took place after a group took over and took advantage of the Armenians. This is similar to the Jewish genocide because after the democracy had fallen in Germany, extremist groups like the Nazis could take over, and eventually took advantage of the Jewish people. Despite the outcomes of these not being exactly similar, from these examples, history tends to repeat itself not only in primitive human tendencies but also in political situations as well. Although “The history of Weimar does not produce a user-friendly guide to avoidable mistakes for the present, “ it helps us to understand how and why contemporaries acted as they did, and which perceptions shaped their decisions.”(Benjamin Ziemann) This is helpful for people today, especially the United States of America, because if we use the example of the Weimar Republic, we can see and understand the cracks they had in their democracy, and learn from those mistakes, making us have a stronger and more stable democracy and nation.

Fantastic post —I really like the attention to detail and the reasoning you give for everything. I agree that there are similar patterns that have occurred throughout history, bound to happen because of human nature. Humans tend to act instinctively to survive. Excellent references to the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust. These are things that happened due to one group taking advantage of another, simply as an effort to unify. As humans, we are naturally flawed, but I think most of us fall short when we cannot learn from others' flaws. Learning about these events in school does not guarantee that history will not repeat itself, but its shows the steps in which need to be taken to recogonise the wrong doings of humans as early as possible.

Originally posted by shower on November 12, 2025 11:45

When psychoanalyst Thveodor Reik said "history doesn’t repeat itself, it merely rhymes,” he is saying that events throughout history don’t happen exactly the same, but that the same type of problems are occurring. The Weimar Republic shows how easy it is for democracy to fall apart after the people lose trust in the government. I believe history does in fact rhyme as political division still exists in today’s world. During the Weimar period, there were different parties fighting for power and a changing government. In the U.S today and other countries, there is always division between political sides with no trust in the government and many questioning the future of the country. Whoever wins the elections in America will result in one side happy, and one side extremely unhappy to the point they spread hate, say they want to move out, etc. These people will always be uncertain with the current state of their country and what it will look like for the next four years. People are unable to come to an understanding of each other and it results in growing political division. Post WWI, Germany was forced to pay all these big reparations which mainly caused a huge increase in prices. Germans then blamed their leaders and gave up on democracy which connects to today and how people can lose faith in the system when they start struggling or feel like those in power aren’t helping. Groups in Germany spread propaganda about the Jews being responsible for Germany’s problems. These people just wanted someone else to blame so they all went with it. Today we have hate speech and other propaganda online causing people to blame whoever for any of their problems. What happened to the Weimar Republic shows that democracy fails when people stop believing in it. Democracy is all about a powerful government, but with regular people giving it the power by believing in it. The Weimar Republic fell because everyone gave up on working together. America is as divided as it has ever been right now all because of the people not having faith in each other. That is what makes Thveodor Reik’s quote true to this day.

I like how you start your response with the quote. The most compelling idea in my peers' response is that there are many similarities between the Weimar Republic and the United States today. I agree with your claim that history rhymes and that there are some similarities between the Werimar government and the US. I like how you compared the political groups of both countries and how there is groups trying to get power in both countries and there will always be some unhappy groups. I like how you pointed out that it is easy for people to demand a change in government. I really like how you connected the ideas of hate then and hate today, and how lots of hate and misinformation are spread on social media. Your closing few sentences are really strong, and you emphasized the idea that democracy works when the people believe in it, which I agree with. I think when you talked about high prices in the Weimar Republic, you could’ve connected it to rising prices in the US today, and how people got angry at the government as a result. I also like how you said people in America need to unite so our democracy can be strong, and you point out that any government can be weakened.

Originally posted by Seven_Gill on November 10, 2025 08:45

Throughout time on earth, history has repeated itself on several occasions even with humans out of the equation. Typically, disasters may have a catalyst event that signals to people something bad may occur, and in the context of German history, many people consider this catalyst to be the Weimar Republic. The Weimar Republic of Germany is more often than not considered to be a weak point in German political history, with it being characterized by weakness of authority, susceptability to radical ideologies, and growing antisemetic and racist beliefs. The unfortunate part of the Weimar Republic is that it’s certainly not the first time in history where a country’s weakness had made it susceptible to the dangers of radical ideologies. A very similar situation occurred during the infamous Armenian Genocide, in which a radical group known as the young Turks took advantage of the Ottoman Empire’s desperate state in order to purge the Armenians. The state between the Young Turk’s rise to power and the string of embarrassing military defeats of the Ottoman Empire very eerily reflected the disorderly nature of the Weimar Republic. To many, there may be surface level similarities to the modern United States, with an incompetent form of authority and the growing permissability of outright racism. The Weimar Republic and Young Turk Ottoman Empire both attempted to push the blame and hatred onto another oppressed group of people, which is what lead to the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust. Similarly enough, The United States president has been attempting to shove the blame onto a marginalized group of people(s), using them as scapegoats for many of the issues that the United States faces today. However, according to Times Magazine: “During the 1920s, the crushing weight of reparations along with polarization led to economic and political instability” is what differentiates our situation from Germany. Germany was put under a heavy burden that required them to pay huge reparations per “The Treaty of Versailles”. In the case of the United States, we are under no such obligation, there is no excuse. Another similarity (which is likely one of the most glaring) is the prevalence of misinformation in the modern United States. The United States’ figure of authority is misinforming the American public, making an environment in which different (and possibly radical) ideologies can flourish. It can be argued that there is a good reason people are making the comparison between the Weimar Republic and the modern United States, and that is due to the fact that many are seeing the telltale signs of a possible genocide (which is definitely dramatic, but there are still valid connections and correlations to be made).

I think my peer made a good point of highlighting parallels between different politically unstable time periods as it shows cause and effect. I agree studying these periods are extremely valuable as it can show dangers. However the person isn’t really saying history repeats itself with their evidence more implying that there are repeated types of cause and effect through events as catalysts which does not back up their points. Pointing out that during times of instability there tend to be issues with misinformation, weak authority, or targeting minority groups does not discuss whether history is designed to repeat itself; you are just pointing out stuff that happens in general in society. There is not enough analysis using those catalyst events to prove specific instances. I think that this post has a good base of ideas but it is not fully developed or effective. The wording and tone are strange and make the response difficult or annoying to read. The good points that are mentioned lack depth of understanding. I do not disagree with my peer from what I read but it needs to go more than surface level. My main issue is really the phrasing and writing. It comes off as someone looking up synonyms or sentence starters for everything and it really affects the flow of the essay.

Originally posted by D5 Athlete on November 13, 2025 22:37

Theodor Reik’s statement that history does not repeat itself “it merely rhymes” reflects on how studying the past is paradoxical. Events are never identical, yet patterns arise across time. I believe history does rhyme, because while circumstances change, human responses to crises tend to follow patterns of fear, anger, hope, and the search for stability. In our website, we emphasize the fragility of democracy when economic despair and polarization clash. Other classmates' projects reinforced this idea and illustrated how instability can create a space for extremism which resonated in Germany in the 1920s in the 1930s. The Weimar Republic’s failure was shaped by hyperinflation, unemployment, and a sense of betrayal over the treaty of Versailles. These conditions created ground for extremist parties that promised solutions to very complex problems. While the United States is not Weimar Germany, there are rhymes worth noting. For example, our website highlighted the dangers of blaming minorities during times of crisis. In Weimar Germany, Jews and other groups were blamed for Germany struggles. In our present day, immigrants and marginalized communities are often targeted in politics. Another student's website showed antisemitic propaganda, which I thought tied into racist or targeted memes. This draws attention to how misinformation can destabilize societies. There are also parallels in the loss of trust in democratic institutions. German citizens lost faith in their government, seeing it as ineffective and corrupt. Today, many Americans expressed similar frustration with Congress. While the contexts are different, they rhyme in the fact that disillusionment weakens democracy from within. At the same time, it is important to know that there are differences. The United States has stronger constitutional checks and a stronger economy than Weimar Germany. Usually when connections are made between the two, it is done as a warning, not because the situations are identical, but because if it is left unchecked division, economic stress, and the blaming of minorities can destroy even the most established democracies.

The most compelling idea in this post was the idea that history does in fact rhyme, and that events are never identical, but rather similar patterns arise throughout time. I agree with this idea and it is very similar to what I talked about and argued in my post. We both said that human behaviors and events tend to be caused by fear, hope, anger, and the search for stability. In my post, I said that recurring ideologies and motivations are prevalent and seen throughout certain movements and events. This post also talks about how instability created a perfect environment for extremism to arise in Germany, which is similar to my point that scapegoating minorities in times of economic and political instability was an underlying theme of the formation of hateful movements and groups. The most interesting point of this post was the idea that blaming minorities in times of crisis can become very dangerous. The post mentions antisemitic propaganda and how it highlighted how misinformation destabilized societies, leading to the loss of trust in democratic institutions. This distrust was very apparent among the Germans who began to view their government as corrupt and ineffective. I also found the connections and comparisons between the Weimar Republic and the United States very interesting. I think this was a thoughtful and well developed post overall.

Originally posted by Jeff on November 12, 2025 23:30

Theodor Reik’s statement that history "merely rhymes" and doesn't repeat helps us understand our relationship with the past. To say history repeats itself means there is an inevitable and recurring cycle. Things like new technology and globalization make it so that no two eras can be the same. However, Reik’s "rhyme" theory is exactly correct. History gives us patterns; we are all still part of the human race and have aspects that are the same, like class struggles, fear of death, and weak democracy. Events rhyme because they are often very similar, but just have different people in a different place.

The Weimar Republic gives us a strong example of this rhyming, especially when compared to the present United States. On my own website, we primarily focused on the leading aspects during the Weimar Republic that led to the formation of the Nazi Party, like the problems with the economy and Antisemitism. These things rhyme with our current digital world, where social media algorithms foster outrage and propaganda for extremism. This takes away our sense of reality, making governance and political education very difficult.

This political fragmentation is seen through other rhymes that my classmates' websites pointed out. Many students’ websites talked about the economic anxiety of the Weimar era, from hyperinflation to mass unemployment, which caused people to lose the government's trust and become desperate for a savior. While in today's society, we are not in a complete economic collapse, we can see factors like wealth inequality and stress over inflation that are caused by the system and politics.

Those who try to draw a direct line between the US today and the Weimar Republic are oversimplifying complicated issues and missing key differences between our society now and then. But it makes sense that people try to make the comparison because they can see the mirroring aspects of these two times. They see that the mixture of political polarization, economic anxiety, and the resurgence of cultural disagreements is the same mix that led to the downfall of German democracy. As I found in my own project research, these "rhymes" are not a script of what is going to happen, but a warning of what can happen.

I think that the most compelling idea in my peer’s post is the comparison between the Weimar Republic and the United States. I also saw the similarities between the Weimar Republic and the United States. I also liked where my peer explained further about the current state here in the United States, and how some people became desperate for a savior similar to Weimar Germany. But also how economic instability can lead to political instability. I also like the part where they included propaganda and compared it to social media nowadays, I didn’t think about that connection. I also like the part touching on polarization because that is also an issue that is prevalent in both the United States and the Weimar Republic, and is what led the people in Nazi Germany to go to the political extremes. I also agree with your statement of not drawing a direct comparison between the Weimar Republic, but also recognizing how the Weimar Republic and the United States “rhyme” and their similarities. I think that my peer’s post could expand more on “social media”, they could talk about false narratives or news, and strengthen their point. They could’ve also added a specific example from Weimar Germany or recent U.S politics to make their comparisons more solid.

Originally posted by snoopythedog on November 10, 2025 08:31

We are repeatedly told that if we do not study history, we are doomed to repeat it. Indeed, we find reflections from times past and stories foretold that reflect into our modern world. Our secondary schools are rich with history classes of all sorts -- African American history, world history, United States history, with all their advance in levels. They serve not only to educate us about pervasive cultures that give us a rich understanding of the society we observe and live in, and duly ward away the vices of ignorance, but also as a warning of what did and did not work. If it were not for the steps that those before us took, we would not have had the cadence to run. Take Weimar Germany for example. I observed in multiple sites that my classmates hand-made that there were multiple facets of German life between the two world wars that predetermined the fall of the democratic republic. Nearly all the sites had a hefty central thesis: that cornerpieces of the culture at the time, including politics, economy, and art, provided hints that the Weimar Republic was loose at its core. One theme that rang particularly heavy with me was that the collective societal sense of rushing past world war I into a new society led to the Weimar Germans being drunk on their own self-advancement, not being able to heed the mistakes they took in their past. This, combined with another theme of German dissatisfaction with the outcomes of the war, allowed factions to rise that now we recognize as authoritarian regimes leading to the second world war. I think that we can articulate now, that with our knowledge of the Weimar Republic, there are certainly parallels we can draw between those times and our sociopolitical landscape today, particularly in America. Amidst advances in our technological age that allow for innovations with massive implications for people around the world, we see our society moving at breakneck speed to coordinate with these massive technological movements. It has long been confirmed that technology in our society advances at an exponential rate, and I feel like our society trying to conform with this exponential growth provides us with a lack of understanding of our past. That, combined with our political distrust in the modern world with huge bipartisan divide and hate speech and crimes dividing us even further, reflects the dissatisfaction and political divide that occurred in Weimar Germany. If anything, this should motivate us to learn more about world history and world politics and potentially have social movements that can educate Americans about this social disruption.

I do agree with the fact that there are reflections from the past in the future. This is true and there are always going to be times where one may feel that history is "repeating" itself. Even though this is true it, I also strongly disagree with the saying that "history will repeat itself". This phrase can lead to a lot of confirmation bias, one thinking they can predict the outcome of an event based on previous results, which can make people overreact to situations not knowing where they might lead to. Putting the narrative that history is "easily repeatable" makes people jump to silly conclusions because they feel like they have already gone through the event before. This can be harmful and cause issues where there might not even be one, like when people thought we were going to war a few years ago just because it was mentioned, only because in the past, when war was mentioned, it was brought to pass. It is easy to see patterns in history, which is true, but repeating itself is not so likely.