First they came

“

In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;

And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;

And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;

And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up.

”

"First they came…" is attributed to German Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German citizens and intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group. It couldn't be more appropriate these days and in recent years.