Enduring myth: Hitler was a leftist
In the wake of the Tiller shooting, and the Holocaust memorial killing, I'm seeing a recurring meme coming from the right. It seems to be getting mainstream legs. I also think it just may be an aspect -- perhaps subconsciously -- of the resurgence of the right in recent decades.
Jonah Goldberg, Glenn Beck, the Red State site, etc.
Their claim that Nazism, Fascism and Hitler all come from the left.
In a sense, this gets them off the hook. In their minds, anyway.
When (and where) I was growing up, it was a rare person indeed who openly called themselves a righty. The sting and taint of Hitler, Nazism, Fascism and WWII were still too apparent. I think people were embarrassed to openly say they were on the same side of the political spectrum.
So, what to do? Completely alter the meaning of well-established terms. Turn things on their heads. Up is down. Left is right. Night is day, etc.
Some knew better, but pushed the meme anyway, and their ignorant supporters were more than willing to follow. What a burden lifted from their shoulders!! No more Hitler, Nazism or Fascism to deal with!! They could be proud and loud once again, and push their reactionary agenda without bringing up ugly ghosts!
Go to just about any blog with a thread that hooks into this, and you'll find large numbers of righties pushing this lie. They can't support it, but they push it. About the only thing they have to go on, of course, is the name.
But what's in a name? There have been hundreds of political parties, if not thousands, in modern times that include terms they have no business including. Totalitarian parties that have "democratic" in their party name, or "people's" or "freedom", etc. Remember Orwell and Newspeak?
Our Congress passes bills all the time with titles that are just about in direct opposition to the content of those bills. Variations on the theme of "Clear Skies Initiative".
But since "socialist" is in the name the Nazis decided to use, that's enough "evidence" for the right.
Problem is, Hitler and the Nazis, in speech after speech, law after law, deed after deed, went after socialists, liberals and communists with a vengeance. They attacked them, imprisoned them, exiled or killed them. They were adamantly against the left and everything it stood for, and said so repeatedly. They despised the left. Anyone who thinks that name is proof needs to dig deeper. They need to google for quotes by Hitler and those who worked for him. They need to read history about the Third Reich and how it actually operated.
They should also think about other historical facts. Like how leftists from around the world flocked to Spain to fight the Fascists there. Franco and Mussolini were allies of Hitler. Hitler often stated his admiration for Mussolini and his Fascist movement.
Also: Workers never controlled the means of production in Germany. Hitler went after union workers, syndicalists with a vengeance. Capitalism thrived in Germany under Hitler. He imported -- by force, coercion and lies -- millions of foreign workers to help German industry prosper and grow. Treated them like hell. But the big industrialist took major profits and kept them,
Germany under Hitler was the opposite of a "worker's paradise".
America seems to be in the midst of more crazy talk than in the past, and it's been mainstreamed. Progressives need to be aware of this and counter it with facts, evidence, and confidence.
Jonah Goldberg, Glenn Beck, the Red State site, etc.
Their claim that Nazism, Fascism and Hitler all come from the left.
In a sense, this gets them off the hook. In their minds, anyway.
When (and where) I was growing up, it was a rare person indeed who openly called themselves a righty. The sting and taint of Hitler, Nazism, Fascism and WWII were still too apparent. I think people were embarrassed to openly say they were on the same side of the political spectrum.
So, what to do? Completely alter the meaning of well-established terms. Turn things on their heads. Up is down. Left is right. Night is day, etc.
Some knew better, but pushed the meme anyway, and their ignorant supporters were more than willing to follow. What a burden lifted from their shoulders!! No more Hitler, Nazism or Fascism to deal with!! They could be proud and loud once again, and push their reactionary agenda without bringing up ugly ghosts!
Go to just about any blog with a thread that hooks into this, and you'll find large numbers of righties pushing this lie. They can't support it, but they push it. About the only thing they have to go on, of course, is the name.
But what's in a name? There have been hundreds of political parties, if not thousands, in modern times that include terms they have no business including. Totalitarian parties that have "democratic" in their party name, or "people's" or "freedom", etc. Remember Orwell and Newspeak?
Our Congress passes bills all the time with titles that are just about in direct opposition to the content of those bills. Variations on the theme of "Clear Skies Initiative".
But since "socialist" is in the name the Nazis decided to use, that's enough "evidence" for the right.
Problem is, Hitler and the Nazis, in speech after speech, law after law, deed after deed, went after socialists, liberals and communists with a vengeance. They attacked them, imprisoned them, exiled or killed them. They were adamantly against the left and everything it stood for, and said so repeatedly. They despised the left. Anyone who thinks that name is proof needs to dig deeper. They need to google for quotes by Hitler and those who worked for him. They need to read history about the Third Reich and how it actually operated.
They should also think about other historical facts. Like how leftists from around the world flocked to Spain to fight the Fascists there. Franco and Mussolini were allies of Hitler. Hitler often stated his admiration for Mussolini and his Fascist movement.
Also: Workers never controlled the means of production in Germany. Hitler went after union workers, syndicalists with a vengeance. Capitalism thrived in Germany under Hitler. He imported -- by force, coercion and lies -- millions of foreign workers to help German industry prosper and grow. Treated them like hell. But the big industrialist took major profits and kept them,
Germany under Hitler was the opposite of a "worker's paradise".
America seems to be in the midst of more crazy talk than in the past, and it's been mainstreamed. Progressives need to be aware of this and counter it with facts, evidence, and confidence.
