Years before Chamberlain caved in to the Nazis, we knew where Hitler was going, aware of what was at stake, felt what was coming, yet we kept putting up with his ever escalating swipes, indignities and arrogances. We just didn’t have the guts to take him on — until it was too late.

Now the very same thing is happening with Xi Jinping’s China. We’re appeasing him, tolerating his mounting pugnaciousness, compromising our values for economic favors — blindly following the same script that got us into World War II.

Be warned, nothing short of an all-out meme war can avert World War III.

If we can’t heal our divisions ...

Rally around our democratic values ...

If we can’t come up with a better story to believe in than never-ending growth and consumerist distractions ...

If we can’t look Xi Jinping in the eye and ask why he is keeping vital information hidden from his people, why he is committing genocide in Xinjiang, why he is building artificial islands in the South China Sea, and why he is slapping punitive sanctions on every nation that dares challenge his predominance ...

If we can’t meet might with ideological might ... then halfway through the 21st century (or much sooner), we’ll wake up one fine morning, shake our heads and wonder why we’re now vassals in a China-dominated slave state more horrifying than anything Orwell ever dreamed of.