Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Calling People Nazis II

"Hitler" and "Nazi" have become pretty much all-purpose political insults on the internet. Because the Hitler/Nazi phenomenon was so complex, there are numerous ways in which a person and/or his political views can resemble them. If you have a particular axe to grind, you are likely to grab onto that one aspect of the Nazi phenomenon and ignore other aspects. You can single out Christianity, socialism, fascism, nationalism, authority, obedience to authority, militarism, or racism. Did I miss any? Those who single out fascism tend to ignore the fact that communist regimes put Hitler in the shade when it came to slaughtering people. And those who single out religion tend to ignore that the communist regimes were not religious.

Serious thinkers want to understand why these massive political slaughters happened, and what we can do to make sure they never happen again.