When I was growing up, I heard lots of talk about Hitler. "How could anyone have listened to that madman rant and have believed what he said?" people would ask, shaking their heads sadly.
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Matthias Krämerreplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy A few years ago, "serious" people would have scolded you for comparing Trump to Hitler. I doubt that is still the case. Maybe here in Germany, where Hitler is seen as unique by some that want do deny anything similar could happen again.
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Pom_is_tiredreplied to Matthias Krämer last edited by
@Kraemer_HB @wdlindsy
Our regional newspaper recently (this summer) ran an editorial telling people to stop writing letters to the editor using the words “Hitler” and “Nazis”, because they don’t approve and won’t print them. The paper is a shadow of its former self, but I was surprised by this. Apparently the editor is fine with letters calling Harris communistic or a socialist though. -
Matthias Krämerreplied to Pom_is_tired last edited by
@pomegranate_stew @wdlindsy There is "Godwin's law", but then again, it does not prohibit something comparable to Hitler or the Nazis to be rightly compared. That's what your newspaper does, maybe with the German-style uniqueness in mind.
But that the newspaper published an editorial about that question sounds to me as if the Nazi comparisons in their letters were abundant by now. I wonder whom the readers favored as Hitler-lookalike. -
crazyeddiereplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy Huh. My parents encouraged me to learn just how horrible he was and why...but growing up, if he was mentioned at all outside an educational setting, I more often heard how he was actually good for Germany. 99.9999% wouldn't even mention him...but those who did...
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Jargogglesreplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy
When people are taught about fascism in the US, it's almost end-stage fascism and never what fascism looks like before it has consolidated power. It has very clearly left us vulnerable to the exact kind of bullshit that fascists do and say to take over. -
@wdlindsy @CatDragon Another similarity is how Hitler - like Trump - was seen as a "useful idiot" by other far-right extremists and religious fundamentalists. They lobbied for Hitler to convince Hindenburg to appoint him as Chancellor and became members of his cabinet. They thought they could control him to bring forward their own (still despicable, but yet "less" deadly) agenda.
It resembles much of what we hear these days from evangelical voters when they defend Trump as being "God's tool".
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Huntn00replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy
This mornings response to Vlad’s Mini-Me, wannabe Der Fuhrer: https://mastodon.world/@Huntn00/113108387854641124 -
Matthew Loxtonreplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy
Same here - family in WW2, and that sense of how could the Germans be so insane to vote for such a toxic clown of a man, and how could anyone obey such obviously evil commands.Reading Milgram showed me how many "normal" people would obey, but it was always a puzzle about how Hitler gained power in the first place - until Bush the Younger. Then when Trump came, I thought, no, nobody can be so foolish to give this man power, and millions of Americans said "hold my beer"
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to Jargoggles last edited by
@jargoggles This is excellent. I'm boosting it.
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@DP0 @CatDragon Yes, an important parallel. Hitler had the backing of Germany's media elites, its business elites, its military and church leaders, academic leaders: they all thought he'd be controllable once elected.
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Eric Lawtonreplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
I live in Canada.
I learned about Anschluss in history classes; when Hitler annexed Austria with the connivance of Austrian politicians.
We already have some connivers in provincial office, with a federal candidate leading in the polls.
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to Matthias Krämer last edited by
@Kraemer_HB Yes, for a time, talk about parallels with the Nazi period was squelched with "Godwin's law" ridicule. Now, given what Trump is saying openly about mass jailings of his "enemies" and mass deportation of immigrants with blood flowing: how can we possibly refuse to think of Hitler and the Nazi period?
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to Huntn00 last edited by
@Huntn00 Thank you. A very good statement.
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to Matthew Loxton last edited by
@mloxton You're right, Milgram taught us a valuable lesson about the psychodynamics that permit a cruel authoritarian to rise to power relatively unchecked. And his experiment has been duplicated since then at other times and in other social settings, and the results have been dismally the same.
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to Eric Lawton last edited by
@EricLawton Ominous parallels, it seems to me. I cannot forget photos I've seen of the Nazis marching into Austria, with people waving wildly, women throwing flowers at their feet, churchmen standing by the roadside giving Nazi salutes.
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to David Mitchell :CApride: last edited by
@DavidM_yeg Yes, there were Germans who saw Hitler for who he was — no one denies this. As you say, they were often silent, lacking courage, and in that way, helped pave the way for the Nazi era.
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David Mitchell :CApride:replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
Yes, let’s learn from that: the world really needs a lot of loud and courageous people right now.
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KChernecky For Harris 2024replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy same here