About Don’t Be A Nazi

What This Is

A documentation of policies, laws, and actions that follow authoritarian patterns. A museum of terrible ideas that should never be implemented because they turn societies toward fascism. A turn towards authoritarianism, dehumanization, mass surveillance, and destruction of our environment.

This project exists because:

  • Atrocities don’t come out of nowhere - they follow patterns
  • Every surveillance state starts with “reasonable” justifications
  • “Protect the children” is always the authoritarian’s favorite excuse
  • Understanding history means recognizing it when it repeats
  • The best time to stop fascism is before it fully arrives

What This Isn’t

  • Not partisan: Authoritarianism crosses political lines. We document it wherever it appears.
  • Not theoretical: Every entry is a real policy, law, or action - proposed, active, or ongoing.
  • Not opinion: We document facts with sources. The patterns speak for themselves.
  • Not complete: This is ongoing work. There are always more entries to add.

The Structure

Each entry follows the same format:

  1. The Pitch: How it was sold to the public
  2. The Reality: What it actually does/did
  3. The Pattern: Which historical atrocities it mirrors

This structure reveals how the same playbooks get used repeatedly:

  1. Identify real problem (terrorism, child abuse, crime)
  2. Propose “narrow, targeted” solution
  3. Build general-purpose authoritarian infrastructure
  4. Expand scope through mission creep
  5. Normalize the surveillance state / oppression

Why “Don’t Be A Nazi”?

Because it’s direct. Because subtlety hasn’t been working.

When governments:

  • Build mass surveillance infrastructure
  • Target marginalized populations
  • Use collective punishment
  • Dehumanize groups of people
  • Claim emergency powers that never expire
  • Justify violence as “security”

Those are fascist patterns. Nazi patterns. And we should call them what they are.

The name is confrontational by design. If it makes you uncomfortable, good. That discomfort is recognition. That’s the point.

Note: We understand this title may be jarring or unsettling for some readers, especially those with personal or historical ties to these terms. That discomfort is part of the project’s purpose: to make you pause and question why these patterns feel familiar.

Status Categories

Proposed: Not yet law, but being pushed through legislative processes Active: Currently in effect, harming people right now; laws and the like Ongoing: Atrocities happening in real-time; an example is Gaza Repealed: Stopped, but documented as historical warning

The “Ongoing” and “Active” categories are the most critical. These aren’t historical warnings - they’re current emergencies.

Sources Matter

Every entry requires:

  • Multiple reliable sources
  • Direct links with archive.org (or equivalent) backups
  • Dates and context
  • Primary sources when possible

We’re building a documentary record. Everything must be verifiable.

Who We Are

Contributors who recognize the patterns and refuse to be silent.

This project is:

  • Open source
  • Community maintained
  • Transparent (everything in git)
  • Non-profit
  • Not owned by any organization or government

We accept contributions via pull request. See Contribute for guidelines.

What You Can Do

Use this resource

  • Share entries with people who don’t see the patterns yet
  • Reference when arguing against authoritarian policies
  • Use as educational material
  • Cite in activism and organizing

Contribute!

  • Submit new entries
  • Update existing ones with new information
  • Fix errors
  • Translate content
  • Improve documentation

Resist

  • Contact representatives
  • Support organizations fighting these policies
  • Participate in protests and demonstrations
  • Build mutual aid networks
  • Document abuses
  • Support journalists and whistleblowers

Remember

  • These patterns repeat because people forget
  • Or because people think “it can’t happen here”
  • Or because people don’t recognize it until it’s too late

This ‘museum’ exists so you can recognize it early. While there’s still time to stop it.

Contact

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” - George Santayana

But we’d add: Those who recognize the patterns can interrupt them.