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Comment by Lapel2742 | Hacker News Reader

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So let’s focus on the specifics things he does and says. Instead of compressing everything into a single word (which unfortunately lost much of its meaning and has been massively devalued).

Nazism is a specific, relatively, defined and extremely dark ideology. If we apply it to every unhinged off brand pseudo-fascist it can really distort the views people might start having about the original ideology.

I don't see what else you would need, he did the nazi salute, supported nazi parties and ideologies financially and publicly, what else would be needed?

Let's be real, he's only getting a pass because it's Musk.

That's why I wrote "neo-nazi" and not Nazi. I'm German and I listened to all the stories my grandparents told me about the Nazi reign. In my my opinion he is f'ing Neo-nazi and if he isn't he behaves like one which in the end is the same.

You know what I learned about the Nazis from my Grandparents? Not every German was a Nazi. In fact just short above 50% voted for them. And the Nazis didn't start with war and Auschwitz. That was peak Nazi. They started with “Awake, Germany!” and river cruises.

The Holocaust was also possible because far too many people who were essentially decent turned a blind eye and found excuses for the Nazis until it was too late.

The thing is that he isn’t behaving like actual nazis from the 30s. He and people like him are doing and trying to accomplish something quite different (although also horrible). What’s happening today and its causes is only superficially similar to the situation in the 20s and 30s. Dismissing, ignoring and oversimplifying it (as appealing that is to some people) is counterproductive.

> And the Nazis didn't start with war and Auschwitz

No, but they were reasonable transparent about who they were well before that.

Problem is that the majority (or pretty close) of these “essentially decent” people never supported democracy or what it stood for. Weimar Republic never stood a chance in a society where most people supported rabid jingoism and authoritarianism in general.

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