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Comment by HeyWolfey | Hacker News Reader

They are bad because you were told for decades they are bad.

The fact I even have to explain that is confirmation at how complete the indoctrination is.

Are you seriously attempting to take a morally absolutist position, as if showing an image of a Nazi to aliens would automatically make them recoil in horror as if that particular combination of attire and behavior managed to stumble upon some absolute fixed point of sensory perception? You can't be serious. How long have you been seven years old?

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Are you seriously attempting to show that nazis aren't bad?

Serious question. What have I been falsely indoctrinated about? What should I have been exposed to as an alternate view on nazis? Do history books count as "indoctrination"?

To your other point, I would imagine showing aliens concentration camps would make them recoil in horror, yes.

I'm not trying to defend/support the GP/sibling commenter, but rather to provide a more sober perspective for you to contemplate.

The issue is not whether Nazis were/are bad. You can feel safe in the assumption that all but an extreme fringe minority are in consensus that Nazi philosophies and practices were horrific beyond comprehension.

What we should contemplate and discuss, however, is what were the economic and cultural conditions that led to the rise of Nazism in Europe in the 30s, and how it came to be accepted, supported and enabled/served by such a large proportion of the population.

Only by fully understanding these issues can we take effective measures to ensure such a movement never takes hold ever again, and ensure that we as individuals are equipped with the strength and judgement to avoid succumbing to populist bigotry any time we see it.

There is fairly good moral consensus that nazis are bad so it's probably not wrong to say "Nazis are bad" in most contexts.

But, IMO, morality and ethics are subjective, so for a minority of people who don't share this consensus, yes, nazis aren't bad.

An alien race that has constructed a feudal slave society might not object to concentration camps at all. They might love the idea.

Nazis, from a purely objective standpoint, are not bad. But not good either. What they did is facts.

Only when the human observer comes in, ie, you and me, we introduce morality and you and me both think that those things are bad and should not be done.

Or how Death expressed it in Discworld; "take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder and sieve it through the finest sieve and then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy"

Your response seems to just take the word “bad” out of the English language altogether. Your point seems to be “badness is subjective and therefore invalid.”

Would an amended statement make more sense?

“The nazis were bad to the degree that badness is a thing.”

Although it seems a bit silly to phrase things that way.

To the degree that silliness is a thing of course.

Badness is subjective, yes. Doesn't mean it's invalid, you can still hold onto subjective notions just fine.

Personally I believe that my notion of bad, good, evil and angels is purely subjective. Doesn't mean they have less value. I merely acknowledge the value is subjective. Like how a childhood toy holds sentimental value.

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