Tell me what you think.
Nefarious. Atrocious. Repugnant. How often do you here these words uttered from the mouth of the common man? These words, which have such powerful notations, are rarely used in our society. When aroused, their meaning is certainly clear. It is to describe something that is beyond unspeakably evil. Slavery could be described as such. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was described as such. An evil empire President Regan called it.
Another, nefarious and atrocious people, we say, were the Nazis of Germany’s Third Reich. Murderers. Psychopaths. Monsters. This is how we view them.
You hate these people, don’t you? You probably see them is ignorant bigots, who caused one of the worst atrocities in world history. You probably are glad that they empire has fallen, and would like to see every Nazi in existence executed, no? After all, they are a problem. A threat. They brought many troubles for you and your kind. So they should be eradicated. They’re just inhuman beasts.
Sound familiar?
Some of you may catch yourself wondering, how is it that a party like the Nazis could even take control?
Well, you may be surprised to find that the Nazi party isn’t that different from you or I.
Nationalism. How many of you have heard this term? Nationalism involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms. In short, the French belong in and should rule France. Same with Germans. British. Chinese. Russians. And so on and so forth. It is the political philosophy that both brought the rise and fall of the great French leader, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. It was this ideology that spurred the growth of the Nazi party in Germany.
And…it was the driving force behind the American revolution. You see, Americans were tired of being bullied and ruled by the British. They viewed them as terrible oppressors. They were Americans. How dare those British, who lived half way across the world, and understood nothing of their struggles boss them around. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. They were taking ADVANTAGE of them. So…they fought back. And we fall onto the scene of the American Revolution. And when the smoked cleared, Americans ruled America, and British ruled Britain.
You will argue what the colonists did was good, I am certain. But you also overlook that, under British rule, what they did was technically illegal. So here, it is justifiable to do wrong, if in the end it would bring about something great.
How ironic.
Let me take you to Germany just before the Nazi party gains power. It is a broken nation. It’s land divided. It’s army dismantled. The streets reek of poverty and death. This is due to the cruelty of the other European nations, which have just defeated Germany in the first world war. It’s economics are regulated by these foreign nations. In a sense, the country of Germany is ruled by a combination of Britain, France, and Russia. The German people are helpless to help themselves, as they are not in power over their own nation.
Does this not seem cruel? Unjust?
Does it not bear a striking similarity to our own British colonies, to a more extreme extent?
Does that not make them even MORE justified then, in wanting what is rightfully theirs?
Does it not, therefore, make them EVEN MORE justified in wanting to punish those who wronged them?
The Nazi party came to power because the people wanted it. The people of Germany WANTED something absolute. The begged and groveled for the certainty that their will would pull through. That their people would live on. Instead of the constantly changing visions of nations distant from the German people, they wanted someone STRONG who UNDERSTOOD the people, and would rule BY THE PEOPLES will, FOR THE PEOPLE.
Sound familiar?
As Hitler said in his famous speech The Triumph of the Will, “The German people are happy in the knowledge that a constantly changing vision has been replaced by a fixed pole! Whoever feels that he is the carrier of the best blood and knowingly uses it to attain the leadership, will never relinquish it!”
Fascism. Many of you have heard of this. You will most likely automatically relate it to the terms “totalitarian” or “dictatorship”. And rightly so. But you most likely also acquaint it with many negative connotations.
Fascism is, by definition, a belief that that a nation is an organic community that requires strong leadership, singular collective identity, and the will and ability to commit violence and wage war in order to keep the nation strong. In a sense, it is an extreme proponent of Social Darwinism. In other words, the strong will prevail and flourish, and the meager will perish.
Fascists believe that war is a good thing. Not only that, but it is completely natural. Weak nations will die out, feeding the strong. Like in nature, where various tribal groups battle over territory and food. Such is nature. It is the way of life. Fascists embrace this idea. Those nations that cannot stand strong deserve to be wiped out, in order to supply those stronger, more powerful nations. They believe this on a social scale as well. Those people who cannot fend for themselves should be left to die.
Vile? Perhaps. Evil? Possibly.
Exclusive to Nazism?
Not at all.
You see, this idea of Social Darwinism was and remains to be embraced by a majority of, get ready for it, AMERICAN citizens. In fact, America arguably was founded upon this very principle. In giving everyone a “fair chance” not everyone will have a “good outcome”. It is the most fair and just system on earth, in terms potential.
Not too long ago, Germany was in a terrible economic situation, worse than our own Great Depression.
And here we stand today, on the verge of a Second Great Depression.
Fascism also desires that the people of that country, the every day worker, be the ones who run the nation. It is, in a very real sense, a capitalist parallel to Marxism.
Why does this sound so familiar?
The “little guy” should be the one in charge?
The minority (politically speaking) is the class that should rule?
This idea…this system of Social Darwinism, combined with very conservative notion of government, is not all that unlike our own Tea Party movements of today. What’s more, we are slowly advancing deeper in an economic crisis. Like Germany.
Tea Partiers desire that government power shrink. That the power of the minority, or the states, be increased. That we stop our presidents “socialist agenda” in favor of, surprise, one of social Darwinism. It’s not fair that the man who doesn’t have a job gets a house, or that he can live off of government welfare. If he doesn’t work, or rather TRY to work, he shouldn’t be allowed to live. Let him survive on the streets.
I would guess, that many of you, as hardworking, wage earning taxpayers would agree.
And so would the Nazis.
Nazism is essentially fascism.
Fascism is essentially Nationalism.
And Nationalism is essentially the driving force behind our countries origins, and our cultural perspective on the way government should be run.
Which means, we are more closely related to Nazism than you might first imagine.
So…what does this mean?
Well, it can mean one of two things.
One, that we are all nefarious, atrocious, repugnant monsters.
Or two.
Two.
Perhaps the Nazis, despite their own political blunders, were not all as bad as we thought.
The Nazis caused the death of 7 million people.
7 million people that they believed caused their government to go into ruin, and almost caused the eradication of the German people.
Yes, that was terrible.
But do they deserve to be called evil for it?
After all…what about America’s episode with slavery?
How many people were killed then?
How many people continued to be influenced, as the Jews also today, by those events long ago?
Do we deserve to be called evil?
Or…were we just misguided?
Were the Nazis really the malicious, bloodthirsty creatures folklore has made them to be?
Or were they just…confused?
Angry, that their people, the ones they loved, were in a state of almost near destruction?
Blind, as to why this had happened, and what the future held?
And desperate for a solution.
Is Nazism really all that bad?
I leave you with these thoughts.
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ololol. 8 dislikes. Amusing.