Nazi-America Is Here!

A privately-run informant program operating nationwide encourages Americans to anonymously turn each other in to the authorities for cash rewards eerily similar to the Nazi "denunciations"of 1930 Germany, where neighbors would give their neighbors up to the local Gestapo over petty issues.
The WeTip organization takes anonymous tips online or via toll-free phone lines and carries the creepy slogan "For A Safer America" on its website(www.wetip.com) beneath an American flag.
The group forwards tips given by the public to law enforcement authorities across the country, with no jurisdictional borders.
An Orwellian poster being plastered up across American towns and cities as part of a campaign run by the organization reads,"ILLEGAL ACTIVITY IS NOT TOLERATED" and advises citizens to "turn them in" and receive a reward of up to $1000. Things to "turn them in" for include drug dealing and theft, but more vague examples "threats and intimidation" as well as "weapons" and "gang activity" are listed, as is "child abuse".
Is the presence of a "weapon" in and of itself evidence of a crime in a country where citizens have a legal right to own firearms? Will your neighbor be turning you in if he sees you loading your vehicle with a rifle on your way to participate in legal and licensed hunting activities? What about "child abuse"? Will your friendly local spy be informing the authorities when he sees you disciplining your child?
What else constitutes suspicious activity? According to law enforcement and Homeland Security guidelines suspicious behavior includes owning guns, being politically active, and having bumper stickers on your car, seriously, bumper stickers.
The WeTip organization also offers a training institute for schools, businesses and government employees, presumably providing skills courses on how to become an expert domestic spy, just like in Communist East Germany.
WeTip also claims in its promotion material that it has been endorsed by both Bush presidents, as well as Bill Clinton, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
What's really ironic is that Schwarzenegger starred in the movie The Running Man, a futuristic portrayal of a wacky dictatorship where citizens are reminded by huge TV screens placed on street corners that they can "earn a double bonus for reporting on a family member"
As America sinks into a military police state, it begins to parallel more and more aspects of Nazi Germany, especially in the context of citizens being turned against each other, which in turn creates a climate of fear and the sense that we are always being watched.
One common misconception about Nazi Germany was that the police state was solely a creation of the authorities and that the citizens were merely victims. On the contrary, Gestapo files show that 80% of all Gestapo investigations were started in response to information provided by denunciations by "ordinary" Germans.
People who informed on their neighbors were motivated primarily by greed, jealousy, and petty differences. NOT by a genuine concern about crime or insecurity.
Partners in business turned in associates to gain full ownership. Jealous boyfriends informed on rival suitors. Neighbors betrayed entire families who left shared bathrooms unclean or who occupied desirable apartments. And then there were those who informed because for the first time someone in authority would listen to them and value what they had to say.
Germans who sicked the authorities on their neighbors knew very well what the consequences would be for the victims-families torn apart, torture, and internment in concentration camps, and ultimately in many cases death. But they still did it with few qualms because the financial rewards and convenience were more important to them.
Last year a New York Times feature article celebrated the fact that an increasing number of Americans are becoming informants and turning in their neighbors and family members to the authorities in return for cash rewards. In a piece about a new program run by Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers, citing gas prices, foreclosure rates, and runaway food inflation, The Times lauds the fact that citizens are reporting on each other ensuring "a substantial increase in Crime Stopper-related arrests and recovered property, as callers turn in neighbors, grandchildren, or former boyfriends, in exchange for a little cash.
The WeTip program and its offer of $1000 for turning people in, in an environment of recession and unemployment, the temptation to inform on people for minor indiscretions would be too tempting for many to resist, creating a backlog of petty offences reported by people with no criminal detective skills whatsoever, leading to harassment of innocent people and ensuring that more real crimes go unsolved.
I encourage you to do what I have done. Use the WeTip "Submit a Tip" form to remind the crypto-Nazis behind this program that this is America, not Germany in the 1930's. Building strong communities is about establishing strong bonds and friendships with your neighbors, not giving them up to the authorities for a quick buck!