That Hitler was a demon is an easy explanation. The easiness does not worry me, what worries me is that it underplays the danger. It leads to the belief that WW-II fascism was an one off with very little chance of repeating, after all demons are rare. I think the more realistic and infinitely more worrisome message is that nationalism, popularity and supremacist feelings (some call it pride) can make people do horrible things. The line is a very thin one and it is imperative that one is cognizant of it and transgressions of it, however innocuous it might appear to be. The road to the WWII holocaust were paved by such apparently innocuous acts drawn from the wells of nationalism and supremacy -- what could possibly go wrong !
That and, everyone is a sucker for blaming their situation on an internal enemy.
Not disagreeing, just reminding everyone that national socialism isn't the only -ism that has killed millions: communists have killed even more people AFAIK
That Hitler was a demon is an easy explanation. The easiness does not worry me, what worries me is that it underplays the danger. It leads to the belief that WW-II fascism was an one off with very little chance of repeating, after all demons are rare. I think the more realistic and infinitely more worrisome message is that nationalism, popularity and supremacist feelings (some call it pride) can make people do horrible things. The line is a very thin one and it is imperative that one is cognizant of it and transgressions of it, however innocuous it might appear to be. The road to the WWII holocaust were paved by such apparently innocuous acts drawn from the wells of nationalism and supremacy -- what could possibly go wrong !
That and, everyone is a sucker for blaming their situation on an internal enemy.