Comment by Nokinside | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Nokinside | Hacker News Reader

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Zeit has eye opening article Adolf Hitler : "Wait Calmly"

http://www.zeit.de/wissen/geschichte/2017-02/adolf-hitler-ch...

They describe how journalists, even big liberal newspapers, big-business representatives, and conservatives had all the same illusion that Hitler would be something that could be managed and lived trough. Business leaders and conservatives aligned with him because there seemed to be some common interests they could work trough together.

""In the Frankfurter Zeitung, politics editor Benno Reifenberg expressed doubt Hitler had the "social competence" for the office of chancellor, but didn’t think it was out of the question that the responsibility of his office might transform him in ways that could earn him respect. Like Theodor Wolff, Reifenberg described it as "a hopeless misjudgment of our country to believe a dictatorial regime could be forced upon it." "The diversity of the German people demands democracy," he wrote.""

Hitler needed only five months in power to change everything.

Let's speak plainly.

Are you suggesting that Trump intends to abolish democracy or commit genocide?

Obviously no one has a crystal ball, but do you think it would be completely out of character?

Personally, I don't think history repeats itself like that, I rather believe he is the second coming of Berlusconi - someone who is rich from the beginning and wants to corrupt the country, intimidate or buy out the media and have coke parties with underage hookers, while filling his coffers.

But I wouldn't be surprised if he started a war with eg. China just to rally the country behind him. And something like that can get out of hand quick.

>intends to abolish democracy

He don't even know what that is. He has already demonstrated that he was surprised that he can't rule the government as a CEO-king. Bannon believes in big war that cleansing the system, so maybe he does. Attorney General Sessions has shown clear contempt against civil rights.

>or commit genocide?

Of course not. Fascism is not equal to genocide. He want's to kill families of those who he opposes. So he is probably with some mass murders, but I don't think it's on the top of his mind.

Compare two fascist states in Europe, Germany under Hitler and Italy under Mussolini. They took two different paths. In Germany fascism developed without restraints into self destructive expansion. In Italy fascism turned into normal authoritarian rule and dictatorship under Mussolini.

If the assumption is that comparisons to fascists and Hitler all suggest some kind of holocaust, they are meaningless.

> If the assumption is that comparisons to fascists and Hitler all suggest some kind of holocaust, they are meaningless.

They are meaningless.

The Holocaust is the reason everyone still talks about Hitler 70 years later, the reason people still compare politicians they don't like to Hitler.

If you merely wish to discuss "normal authoritarian rule" there are hundreds of other leaders to whom you could make less emotionally charged comparisons.

But I'm curious, now that you've said Trump doesn't know what democracy is and offered a comparison with "normal authoritarian rule and dictatorship under Mussolini" ...

Do you think we'll still hold elections 4 years and 8 years from now and Trump will resign peacefully when his term ends?

>The Holocaust is the reason everyone still talks about Hitler 70 years later,

That's vulgar comparison for uneducated people. If the only difference between Hitler and some other dictator is genocide, we haven't learned anything from history.

All fascist movements, Hitler, Mussolini, Franco etc. used similar methods that made fascism different from other dictatorships and authoritarian moments.

Suggested reading: The Anatomy of Fascism, Robert O. Paxton. In that book Paxton rescues the fascism as a concept from a insult into meaningful concept.

It easy to make such comparisons to fascism without invoking thoughts of the Holocaust: compare to Mussolini or Franco instead of Hitler.

Trump kept a book of Hitler's speeches by his bed, not books of Mussolini speeches.

And here again you seek to imply something without actually saying it.

What do you mean to imply by that?

Bannon does intend to abolish democracy and trump would have no problem with it, as evidenced by his attacks on the judiciary and free press and demands for respect for him and his family. As to genocide, mass deportation has certainly been contemplated, no one in the admin has suggested genocide yet.

Let's not pretend this "Free Press" is made up of a collection of idealistic self-starters with permanently furrowed brows.

Good for him on calling out purveyors of Fake News such as CNN.

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