In their own way, they contributed to the breakdown of Germany between the wars. Obviously they didn't single-handedly lead to Hitler and WWII, but they helped.
And this fool in the review who's trying to tie Weimar Germany to the U.S.A. today is doing his best to contribute to the breakdown of the U.S.A.
Fortunately, this country is not as fragile as Weimar Germany -- but if enough people try hard enough, they can still bring our country down to that level.
Idiots.
If they succeed in that, or if other circumstance make it happen, then they will be grafified in seeing a real parallel instead of an imagined one, I think.
Somehow, "liberals" always overlook the fact that so many of the world's wealthiest people are among their own numbers. I was kind of startled when I figured that out. Anyhow, the closest current American parallel to the decadence that was depicted in the Verist art must be our entertainment industry.
I saw that quite a few art dealers were depicted unflatteringly by the guys who were in the exhibit. I'm pretty sure that there is a fair amount of chicanery in the way art dealers operate, but I don't know whether or not that profession exceeds the rest of society in such things. Some professions, like car salesmen and lawyers acquire reputations, though.
I can definitely see the correlation between these so-called intellectuals & Hitler's rise to power.
I don't condone the German people for voting him in office(I'm Jewish, BTW). Nevertheless, I can see how they got so sickened by liberalism that anyone who promoted patriotism & conservative values, albeit perverted, would look good in comparison.
People fear a reenactment of Nazism here. Ironically, I'm more concerned about its coming from the left-, not the right-wingers. They're the ones in back of the Islamists & other kooks.