Memes aren't always funny.

Yeah but they weren't one of the main driving forces behind a major political party at the time.

Hey now, they used to be more KKK aligned!

"Nazi" does not always mean "authoritarian", e.g. we see how Russia is another form of a totalitarian state without being strictly speaking "Nazis" (though there are some similarities, in conservative thought).

But more to the point, life exists on a spectrum. Those with Nazi proclivities used to feel that they had to "hide" their thoughts, almost like being ashamed of them. Now, they boldly proclaim them in the open - that is, as you say (correctly), not exactly "new", but in modern times it has not been nearly so accepted by society at large, as much as it is now.

So not "always", but yeah I agree that it was not "never" either. Still, I hope that this is merely a setback on our way to overall progress - e.g. set aside cops for the moment and look at society, especially younger people: racism isn't nearly as prevalent as it was among the older generations? Nor sexism either. Not to the same "degree" anyway?

Classism probably always though - yeah that one's a bitch to try to solve, especially as it ties in with factors making a huge difference such as lack of edumacashun and healthcare and transportation and from now on even access to a literal home to live in (all the more relevant as climate change makes being outside more problematic). e.g. by cutting off access to COVID vaccines, rich people will live longer lives while poorer people won't, and will also suffer more from long COVID symptoms.

We definitely are not moving in a superb direction right now for sure... except in the long-term measurement in which case it's still awesome what progress has been made so far.😀 Now the trick: hold onto that as best we can, even if democracy itself dies out around the globe.:-(