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| If the uniform fits, wear it. |
Grad students used to ponder, “If I were alive in Nazi Germany, would I resist? Or would I have been a ‘good German’?” I imagine they still may, if any of them any longer think about Nazi Germany.
Of course,
they all think they would have resisted.
Probably
without considering the likelihood of torture and death had they done so at the
time.
But here’s
a handy guide to help you answer the question:
- 1. Do you support abortion? Do you at
least remain silent? This, after all, is a holocaust larger than that pursued
by Hitler. Unlike Hitler’s, it is explicit and open. Unlike Hitler’s, the
victims are self-evidently innocent. Extra points if you also support “Medical
Assistance in Dying.” This is not so far removed from the Nazi concept of “life
not deserving life,” and hustling in that direction.
- 2. Do you believe that morality is
culturally relative? That is what the Nazis believed. They too rejected “conventional
morality.” It served their purpose. It can justify violating any moral
principle not to your or your group’s advantage. And it can justify exterminating
other culture groups, on the grounds that their morality conflicts with yours.
- 3. Do you believe that culture is based
on race? So that, for example, criticizing Islam or aboriginal culture is a
form of “racism”? If so, this ultimately justifies killing those of other races
on the grounds that their culture is incompatible.
- 4. Do you see people as “communities,” and
not as individuals? This is near the core of Nazi ideology—group think and race
identity.
- 5. Do you blame certain identifiable such
“communities” for much of society’s ills? Communities based on personal characteristics,
rather than ideas or opinions? For Hitler, it was the Jews, the gypsies. Perhaps
for you it is the “patriarchy”—that is, men—or “the rich,” “the billionaires,” “whites,”
or some other group—often enough, it is still the Jews. Do you believe, for
example, that Gaza is a “holocaust,” Jews being involved, but not the war in
the Ukraine, say, or in Yemen or in Sudan? This is scapegoating, and leads to
the sort of mass murder Hitler engaged in.
- 6. Do you believe it is legitimate to
break the rules if this may produce the desired result? This too was at the
core of the Nazi concept.
- 7. Do you believe it is important to get
along with those around you? Do you think virtue is found in seeking consensus
and avoiding strife? If so, you would have gone along with the Nazi ideology if
in Germany in the 1930s. You would not have been a Schindler.
- 8. Do you believe in deplatforming,
shouting down, or silencing those whose opinions you consider wrong? These are
the Nazi tactics, stormtrooper tactics. They are perfectly tailored to further
Nazi aims.
- 9. Are you opposed to getting involved
in foreign wars? So was Hitler—he was all about avoiding war. He led a widely
promoted pacifist movement just as he invaded Poland. He wanted to achieve his
aims without war. If you will not come to the aid of a distant country if they
are invaded, then by the same logic, you will not come to the aid of the Jews
when they are rounded up and sent off to camps. After all, it is not your
business, is it? Nobody attacked you.
- 10. Do you believe in state control and/or
heavy regulation of the private sector? This is the essence of the Nazi
economic program. It usefully concentrated power in the political leadership,
in the state.
Give yourself
ten points for each positive answer. If you score over 50, congratulations, you’re
a Nazi.






