FoggyOB
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Nov 13, 2021 8:48 PM
FoggyOB
170105
2656
39
mrthewhitee
Along these lines, people often fail to understand that they all, or most, thought they were doing the right thing, protecting themselves.
jackal12345
Hitler killed zero people with his own 2 hands, it was neighbors and one-time friends of the victims who did all the killing.
OldmanSerious
This is not true at all. Hitler killed at least one person.
TCGView
Perfectly normal people can turn into monsters under the right circumstances.
gorramgomer
People don't do monstrous things because they're monsters. They're monsters because they did monstrous things.
StormyWeatherIstheBestKindofWeather
Propaganda didn't help, but... That's not why they did what they did.
WowThatUsernameIsSoOriginal
Hannah Arendt called it the banality of evil
DoomSquirter
I've heard that saying somewhere else and until now I don't think I clicked on it's exact meaning.
wickld
My partner is a student of Aren't et al. and wrote this piece recently: https://quillette.com/2020/07/29/understanding-totalitarianism/
hashomerachianochi
Your partner writes good shit.
maxeskon4
Way too less likes
Shaodyn
The people who stormed the capitol and tried to destroy democracy in January were normal people too. Propaganda is a powerful tool.
Dasnekones
The most accurate way to predict the actions of the US GOP party is to ask "What would a Nazi do?". Not hard to know why.
Floatinghypothesis
I think we all have a greater appreciation of this given current events.
cntrfldr
Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
gorramgomer
People don't do monstrous things because they're monsters. They're monsters because they did monstrous things.
MadMupp
Most people like to think they'd be the resistance... but people are too easily swayed by "the greater good" & they'll believe they're not
JustaLawAbidingCitizen
This is why I hate when people call Hitler and nazis monsters. It distances them from us and makes us forget how easy it is for humans to
gorramgomer
People don't do monstrous things because they're monsters. They're monsters because they did monstrous things.
JustaLawAbidingCitizen
Perform horrible acts.
unluckyandbored
The worst humans in human history were human.
webhead04
Let's not give them a pass they may have been normal at one point but they became evil.
sNadeine
They're not normal. They were twisted and corrupted beyond salvation by lies and propaganda since their childhood.
zleeping20101
Jew on witness stand against a nazi started crying because he realized our susceptibility to evil.
Munchman347
The nazi's didn't pick people off the streets at random to be SS or Guards. They chose the sociopaths who 'stood out' as most depraved...
Munchman347
Even rank and file soldiers suffered psychological problems from murdering women and children. That's why they made the gas chambers...
reallybigpianist
I think referring to them as mentally ill people is more accurate
barbarian818
1) instill fear, convince others that they are under attack 2) Blame a convenient minority 3) convince people that the minority is somehow
barbarian818
less than human and/or their made up "crimes put them beyond the pale 4) The utter worst side of humanity will emerge to carry out horrors.
MrKilix
Many were recruited and hoped they never had to figh. And when they had to, they didnt fight for their country, they fought for their life
ath1337e
They are normal. 47% of voters voted for Trump, you can't make the argument that they're all insane. They are normal people who were fooled.
SwankyPotato
Maybe they were fooled, but they also seem willfully ignorant
kingkongkeom
Welcome to the world
ath1337e
That's a part of being fooled.
orbitn
willfully, enthusiastically ignorant
DangerTrain
And in another eighty years people will be saying the same thing about America's absolutely batshit domestic terrorists.
Allrighty
And its foreign policy...
NationalistCanadianMooseWarrior
Theres a good episode of behind the bastards (podcast) that covers "the class that made 200 child Nazis", illustrates the point pre well.
NationalistCanadianMooseWarrior
Basically if you unite a group of people under one cause and against one thing, the rest is cake.
albalass
Well it’s a good thing nothing like that is happening these days. Nobody is falling prey to propaganda. Not at all.
spamsmells
Gotta keep fighting the Nazis, White supremacist, and Terrorists until the ultimate utopia is achieved!
Perkunas687
The goal of the fascist propagandist is to destroy the idea of truth so that nothing is a lie. Keep fighting for the truth, 1/
Perkunas687
even if you feel you're getting gaslit every day. It is exhausting. It can be debilitating. But they want us to give up. 2/2
Strategicgnomer
America is in an abusive relationship with it's media. Social media especially but news media too. An adult needs to take responsibility and
Strategicgnomer
write some laws to prevent that from continuing.
Th1sisMyUsername
Yeah, nobody is just blindly trusting government propaganda. That's crazy, who would even do that?
CarpoolTunnelSyndrome
Not us, that's for sure. We're kind of immune to it cause we're so smart.
AtomIndigo
Well, some of us are smart. Not too sure about you though.
CarpoolTunnelSyndrome
Don't believe his lies!
iforgotmypw
Religion,aliens,conspiracies,miracle cures, all target the same people. And its easy
Sooner70
If they believe in Sky Daddy and ET, there's no limit to what else they'll believe in...
user3827492
Propaganda is extremely effective. Not on us though, we are the exceptions.
fimbl
LLOOOOLLLL
gmlovera655
Uh..
marthisthing
Aren’t you supposed to use a special font for sarcasm?
Algebraicrhombus
/s
marthisthing
✌?
Gobjin
ጎነ ፕዘጎነ ነየቿርጎልረ ቿክዐሁኗዘ?
marthisthing
✌?
marthisthing
✌?
mardukkur
I work with a goddamn moron who was blaming Biden because he couldn't find an employee to hire. You've been looking for 3 years you dipshit!
mardukkur
Rightwing propaganda is insanely effective if you're naturally an asshole. They slurp it right up.
TrueLegateDamar
Same people blame Obama for 9/11, everything that ever went wrong happened under a Democrat.
elfdude
I blamed that one on government worker protests, it is concerning how often communication breakdowns happen when there is R in da whitehouse
Jovelana
Some of these people grew up with the indoctrination that the ideology is right and they were doing their duty for their country
1nonlyS
Trump 2024
clamdriver
I’m afraid that, regrettable, is spot on.
Bonsaipanda
Like capitalism and joining the military to invade other countries for their valuable assets.
thricebakedxyz
makes me shudder.
ColonelColon
No, not really. Nazi Germany happened because Hitler promised to bring them out of the awful state they were in after WWI, and gave them 1)
ColonelColon
a convenient scapegoat to blame. Nobody grew up believing "Jews bad", they were just convenient outsiders for Nazi rhetoric to focus on.
Bhargo
something something "patriots"
cabalin
Very few. The Nazis had come to power in 1933 and started WWII 6 yrs later, too little time to grow up in.
cabalin
This happened to adults who should have known better
geeelicious
Jojo Rabbit is a brilliant illustration of this.
sadgermanguy
This is why the maxed out patriotism, fetichizing of military and overuse of the flag in the us is very very alarming to me as a german.
easyoneundone
like the racist white supremacy GOP assholes in the US you mean?
LouisTesso
Not really, nazism rised quite fast, and was Born and dead within a generation. Propaganda did have a Major role and they did start /1
LouisTesso
Indictrination of the youngs, but the party collapsed before seeing a real effect
Jovelana
Others closed their eyes and thought better them than me, some tried to fight back and suffered the consequences and that got the rest
Graphically
only people I respect are the third type of people.
Jovelana
Of the people to fall in line. How many of us think to ourselves "I have my own problems and need to focus on my life" and keep on going
Jovelana
And the shit show keeps rolling on around us. Try to resist when there's war with rationing, bombings and fear for your loved ones on front
Jovelana
Regular people didn't know about the holocaust until after the war, their neighbors just "moved" to east never to be seen again.
BatTeddyDog
That part sadly isn't true. They knew, they could know. They chose not to act. Understandable but still reprehensible
Jovelana
Evil lives in us all and fear and ignorance feeds it.
cheeseguy3412
The fact that organized religion is a thing is evidence people can be taught to believe things. They were taught to believe a certain /1
cheeseguy3412
group was evil, and responsible for the ills of society. This does not absolve them, but it does demonstrate the concept effectively. /2
cheeseguy3412
If people are taught to hate on a societal level, things can spiral out of control in a rapid manner, and as soon as events are out of /3
cheeseguy3412
living memory, it becomes easier for them to recur. Three generations is the norm. 75 years. 4/4
draoi23332
the Nazis were only in power for 12 years and weren't *that* popular beforehand, they probably didn't grow up with Nazi ideology
kingkongkeom
It took 2 airplanes to mobilize a whole generation to sign up with the military & go on a war on terror that was based on lies & bullshit...
Ninjainslippers
Also the concentration camps and especially the death camps didn't happen until pretty late. It was a slow, steady progression.
eilonwy
Leading up to the camps they mass-murdered people in less efficient ways, and with more direct involvement that left some murderers 1/
eilonwy
feeling somewhat guilty. (Not correcting you, just adding.)
eilonwy
Part of the "genius" of the death camps was that they let the murderers feel less personally responsible for the murders.
eilonwy
And I hate ascribing genius to something so evil, but Hitler and his cronies were very good at getting people to commit atrocities.
MrHailstone
Also those camps werent widely known. There is a reason non of those were near big population centers
CommanderBunBun37
Dachau was near Munich… SachsenHausen near Berlin. 100,000k between them. But no death camps, to your point
MrHailstone
True but those two were more like SS bases and prisons. Plenty of death there too.
ArchEnemyDemon
Well the reich was methodically of keeping the public from knowing what was happening.
OldmanSerious
Early on ('39?) the action to kill disabled people ("Euthanasia") was vigorously protested against, leading to the Nazis stopping it for a
OldmanSerious
time. It was a big deal, protests had led to the Nazis reversing a policy. In turn though that led to them deporting Jews (and others) to
OldmanSerious
the death camps outside of Germany. There was a reason for putting death camps in Poland, to keep them out of the public's eye. And by death
OldmanSerious
camps, these were specifically created to kill. Earlier camps worked people to death or starved them. These camps just killed them.
AnotherReplyToIgnore
Indoctrination is only possible because people are inherently egocentric and paranoid. Lots of people don't succumb to it.
spittleteets
People aren't inherently egocentric or paranoid. We are mimics. Our mirror neural network is one of the first things to turn on.
dunimal
Right, but the masses tend to.
SlimSam
I can only hope that some day the capitalistic greed is looked at with the same disgrace we look at the nazies right now.
MadMupp
If your alternative is communism I've got some harsh truths to lay on you.
Allrighty
Communism turned a semi-feudal state into an industrial power to rival America. What could it do for America in the 21st century?
MadMupp
At what cost though? The Soviet Union was awful for its citizens
Allrighty
America is awful for its citizens. But that can change.
MadMupp
In the grand scheme of thing America is very decent. That's why you have so many folks trying to get in
SlimSam
Wow, you people are actually this stupid ???♂️
MadMupp
Why? I'm just asking if that was the alternative? If it's not then we have a discussion... if it is then we've already had that discussion
SlimSam
I'm going to let the downvotes lay some truths on your opinion.
MadMupp
You know you commented twice right? You could just make them one big comment, there's no need to ration them. This isnt the USSR
UrKungFuNoGood
oh it's pretty easy apparently. all you do is convince your side that the other side are all loathsome. could never happen today right?
Dalael
I dont need propaganda or media to find MAGAs loathsome. Their behavior speaks for them.
sadurdaynight
3 step process. Demean, run them down. Dehumanize, they are less than you. Demonize, they are the root of evil.
Phlynch
You just described Imgur's behavior towards republicans, anti-vaxxers, and religion.
ButteredNoodleDriver
Well here's the thing, would that "process" have been incorrect and wrong to be applied to say, Pol Pot's regime? (yes its an extreme examp)
NewtGinGrinch
It happening here on a daily basis.
UrKungFuNoGood
No kidding?
SergeyPrkl
Well, you don't have random deathsquads patrolling streets and punishing... yet. They are on their way though if you don't do anything.
youss
Yeah no
ButteredNoodleDriver
Oh you mean the police and people like the ones who killed Arbery? Wonder what their political preferences are...
barnwolf
Of course not, Imgur is careful to be clear that they love Republicans, and only dislike some of their beliefs. /s
Allrighty
I thoroughly loathe Republicans but that still doesn't mean I want them on the train to Auschwitz.
ButteredNoodleDriver
I'd like them all on a train to anywhere else though. But like, voluntarily with cash incentives or something. Also, no gassing. Just vax
TheDayTheBrainStoodStill
It's not about 'loathsome'. You must convince your people that violence against The Others is not only necessary, but morally justified.
ButteredNoodleDriver
What happens if the Others initiate that violence? Is violence in response justified then?
TheDayTheBrainStoodStill
I think defending from violence is justified - but you can tell who the wrong side is because they say stuff like 'they were going to do...
TheDayTheBrainStoodStill
...it to us, so we did it to them first' and advocate for Violence Now as a response to violence that will come later from the other side.
UrKungFuNoGood
yes. that is the next step. The Others are a threat to Our Way Of Life and must be dealt with.
ButteredNoodleDriver
The problem occurs when the "other side" is truly, objectively, loathsome. Regardless, though, it must be remembered they're also people.
Gherkincensed
Sooo now?
ButteredNoodleDriver
Unfortunately, so it seems...
ButteredNoodleDriver
With all the fundamental human rights that come with it
herhawkrocks
It's no secret that this is bubbling up in the United States. Maybe it's more noticeable to those of us on the outside, it's very obvious.
starsinspace15
Very obvious
leodavinci1
Yes... it's the old "can't see the forest for the trees". However, those in other nations might want to remember that... 1
leodavinci1
and take a good look around their own backyards. 2
Azkle
Good ole what aboutism.
Couchwarrior1337
I didn't believe it until the actual flag-waving nazis started joining hands with them in public like at the jan 6 riots.
Shiminay
It was bubbling up 40 years ago, it's a raging torrent now.
dunimal
Oh no, it's very noticeable to us on the inside. Obvious and also we are largely helpless to stop it.
alisa2089
It’s crazy how helpless I feel watching my family fall for this stuff. I’ve tried everything to get them on a better path.
dunimal
It's really depressing.
capnadorable
I used to wonder how the Nazis could have risen to such power and how were they allowed to just commit such horrors. I don’t wonder anymore.
dunimal
Yep. Exactly how I'm feeling.
herhawkrocks
It's so disheartening to grow up and realize just how unspecial the Nazis were... and how frustrating that society refuses to learn
elfdude
If you want another buzzkill, go watch a few interview of death row inmates and serial killers.
elfdude
Nazisim was a progression of 'the lesser of two evils' until people were so invested that they did not dare back out.
SupportGeek
Sounds like whats been happening in the US...
elfdude
Pretty much, add a little in-group vs out-group, sprinkle in media bias and some galvanizing drama and you have yourself a totalitarian