“We each have a Nazi within,” the Auschwitz survivor Edith Eger has written – pointing, in my observation, to a near-universal reality. Many of us harbor the seeds for hatred, rage, fear, narcissistic self-regard and contempt for others that, in their most venomous and extreme forms, are the dominant emotional currents whose confluence can feed the all-destructive torrent we call fascism, given enough provocation or encouragement.
Nazis weren’t the only fascists and fascists weren’t the only muderous authoritarians of the last century. Commies murdered just as many, if not more. So:
Looking at the hideous demigod of fascism, Adolf Hitler, or at his present-day caricature Donald Trump, who is often compared to him – including some years ago by his current vice-presidential running mate, JD Vance – we find many remarkable characteristic similarities: relentless self-hypnotising mendacity, mistrust bordering on paranoia, devious opportunism, a deep streak of cruelty, limitless grandiosity, unhinged impulsivity, crushing disdain for the weak.
Ah, OK, so this isn’t even an attempt at science or understanding. It’s just an excuse for a bit of two minute hate. Ho Hum.
“Monsters John, monsters from the ID” ………..
The Donald Trump that these people see only exists inside their heads. They seem to have built a caricature of him that is nothing like him in reality. Whenever he says something it is always reported as what he would have said if he was the monster that they claim him to be rather than what he actually said. For myself, I think that he’s a bit of a knob, but he seems to be the only US politician that has America’s and it’s citizens’ best interests at heart. The current Democrats seem to resemble some kind of crime family who are only out for themselves and don’t care if the screw up their country as long as they keep getting richer.
SG: … but he seems to be the only US politician that has America’s and it’s citizens’ best interests at heart.
That’s precisely why they hate, and fear, him so much.
I think that [Trump]’s a bit of a knob, but he seems to be the only US politician that has America’s and it’s citizens’ best interests at heart
Indeed. Trump is no political saviour, and (like all politicians) he’s flawed and egocentric, but he’s America’s best bet given the alternative. As Bismarck said, “Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best.”
Stony, it’s called “projection”.
I had a mate who did it; if someone said something to him, in all innocence, he would percieve it as a dig because that is what he would do.
The left in particular do it all the time.
Same tune,, different slightly different chorus:
He didn’t turn in to Hitler as we predicted last time out, but this time it will be different ……
Nobody is born with rabid hatred, untrammelled rage, existential fear or cold contempt permanently embedded in their minds or hearts. These fulminant emotions, when chronic, are responses to unbearable suffering endured at a time of utmost vulnerability, helplessness and unrelieved threat: that is, in early childhood
Probably true – but 16 years of Left wing propaganda have a pretty corrosive effect on almost everyone. Climate Change, DIE, Big Trans. All of these tropes are profoundly emotionally damaging, particularly as each one is a monstrous lie,
The American psychologist, Michael Milburn, has studied the childhood antecedents of rightwing ideological rigidity. His research confirms that the harsher the parenting atmosphere people were exposed to as young children, the more prone they are to support authoritarian or aggressive policies, such as foreign wars, punitive laws and the death penalty
What is the explanation in this fool’s mind for the aggressiveness of Militant Islam therefore? Bad parenting?
An article which is bereft of any intellectual heft whatsoever. In some ways worse than Owen Jones because It says absolutely nothing. At least with Jones it’s a study in how evil works. There’s not that level of interest here.
The Starmbanfuhrer is making sure his troops study what the Democrats can get away with so that he can be in power for ever. If Harris wins the next election I see trouble ahead.
I hope…
Thy must have missed Arendt’s ‘banality of evil’ trope, It doesn’t take a rabid nazi or commie. The capacity is in most of us, if put in a situation where evil behavour is expected amd not only tolerated but meets with approbation. The prison guards at Andersonville were not nazis. Even the Einsatzgruppen largely consisted of ordinary Germans in extraordinary situations. All those evil-acting units on every side and in every nation show that most of us would have done it too. No ideology, just going along with the crowd, and the unfortunate outcome likely if you refused. Just a lack of moral courage is all that is required.
Fascism does get a bad press, doesn’t it? Actually the majority of fascist style administrations have been relatively benign. Now try & say the same for communism.
A period under a fascist government is probably what the UK needs. I can’t see anything else getting you out of the hole that you’ve dug for yourselves. Start hoping for a military coup. Although for that you’d need a military was actually military, wouldn’t you?
“Oy veh it’s anudder Shoah!” – elderly Jew.
“Commies murdered just as many, if not more”
I think you’ll find Stalin beat Hitler by 3 to 1 on corpse difference.
Oc course he started earlier. And that’s not counting his disciples in China, NK, NV and Cambodia.
It’s unfortunate, but “Auschwitz survivor Edith Eger’s” embracing of the coercive totalitarian Left with its race-baiting politics and its demonizing of the opposition does rather make her the Nazi in this scenario. Perhaps she left the camp with undiagnosed Stockholm Syndrome?
“… the all-destructive torrent we call fascism.. “
What “we” call fascism these days, isn’t Fascism which has nothing to do with “… hatred, rage, fear, narcissistic self-regard and contempt for others.. “ but was a technocratic system of Government using Socialism to promote the National interest rather than merely a ‘class struggle’, in which the State was the embodiment of the Nation and its people.
Hitler was not a Fascist, he was a Socialist who developed National Socialism and adopted some aspects of Fascism, but saw things through the lens of a struggle for racial purity (influenced by the Progressives) , and the Party as embodiment of the Volk and Reich.
BiS
I can’t see anything else getting you out of the hole that you’ve dug for yourselves.
The whole of (at least western) Europe is in the same hole, though some deeper than others – unsustainable welfare entitlements, crumbling economies requiring massive realignment, growing budget and trade deficits, colossal over-regulation, mass immigration of Muslims and unemployables, low indigenous birth rates, ageing populations, racial frictions and fanatical anti-racism – all and more leading to a loss of civilisational confidence aka decadence….At the moment, it’s in slow motion, but soon…?
I believe Tim has pointed out that Fascism had two components, one military & one economic. The economic bit was the gov directing pretty much all business – that fits the Dems & the Left today quite well. President Trump de-regulated & turned businesses loose.
On the military side, he’s been openly & clearly non-interventionist before, during & after his first term.
And, for one more example, during the China Virus panic he could have used the opportunity to be an authoritarian but deferred to the states.
One wonders how they can get shit 180 degrees wrong.
The American psychologist, Michael Milburn, has studied the childhood antecedents of rightwing ideological rigidity.
What does he have to say about the childhood antecedents of leftwing ideological rigidity?
As a wee seedling, I owned a 12″ single by Heaven 17, called (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang. The lyrics of which included:
Democrats are out of power
Across that great wide ocean
Reagan’s president elect
Fascist God in motion.
You can, I think, forgive unworldly schoolboys for not noticing how absurd these sentiments are. Supposedly adult Guardian contributors, and their nodding readers, not so much.
Guilty as charged.
Funny thing is, though, our parents pretty much ignored us between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. We’d come home when we got hungry and Mum would make us a sandwich.
“we find many remarkable characteristic similarities: relentless self-hypnotising mendacity, mistrust bordering on paranoia, devious opportunism, a deep streak of cruelty, limitless grandiosity, unhinged impulsivity, crushing disdain for the weak.”
Sounds rather like our own Tony Blair…….
The lesson of the holocaust is that everyone has the potential within them to define an out group and go along with, or actively contribute to, their annihilation.
For a modern version, 2021/2 in Germany was approximately 1935 for “the unvaccinated”. We needed to show papers, were banned from trading in most places, unwelcome in those we were allowed in, unable to leave the country, the subject of relentless state propaganda, blamed for spreading disease and being selfish, and many of us banned from working.
It takes a lot of preparation, mental and physical, to set up a holocaust. But we are all to some extent susceptible to the attempt.
Adolf Hitler, or at his present-day caricature Donald Trump,
Written by an absolute cnut for the approval of other cnuts.
That’s really all it is.
One of the lesser-known aspects of Antonio “long march through the institutions” Gramsci’s work is that it’s basically a blatant rip-off of the Italian fascists’ methods. He watched how they came to power and thought to himself, “Ah, that’s how it’s done then”.
Because they were all Commies together before WWI. “Fascio” was in common usage among Italian communists in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries to describe a revolutionary grouping; what in English might be called a “united front”, or some such. Gramsci did it himself, in his early works, using it to describe the unity of the proletariat and intellectual class which he believed inevitable. Musso’s mob originated in the Fascio Rivoluzionario d’Azione Internazionalista, a gang of syndicalists opposed to Italy’s participation in the war.
What does he have to say about the childhood antecedents of leftwing ideological rigidity?
I’m sure his opinions are the same as the rest of the academic Sanhedrin, i.e. not wanting foreigners to come and shit on your beaches or eat your pets is evidence of your mental illness, but getting your nuts chopped off and raging about “fascism” is proof that you’re a good person.
First of all, it is a self-evident truth that any Republican running for president, or any sitting Republican president, is Adolph Hitler. Reagan was, George Bush was, Mitt Romney was, Donald Trump is, etc., etc., etc.
It’s not meant to be taken seriously, because the people saying it aren’t in any way serious. It’s said to show allegiance to The Tribe.
And one look at Gabor Mate’s Wikipedia page shows just how seriously any normal person should take is opinion on anything. That the Guardian printed it says more about them than it does about Donald Trump.
’embracing of the coercive totalitarian Left with its race-baiting politics and its demonizing of the opposition does rather make her the Nazi’
I’d agree with you, wat!!
Jim
Sounds rather like our own Tony Blair…….
Indeed, and probably accurate. But then such character summaries are rather vague and remind me of the vacuous astrological sun sign character summaries that some women (42%, apparently) take seriously. Leftists will ascribe the same characteristics to rightists.
@Theo
I can’t see any European electorate voting for a party with stated policies would get Europe out of its hole. Like the UK, they want jam today not bread tomorrow. Maybe someone from the “far-right”, if they were elected primarily on nationalism & anti-multiculturalism & had more room for manoeuvre on economic matters. So yes, pretty well a “fascist” government. You are not going to remove the left’s chokehold on social policies without considerable force. And it would require the midnight knocks on the door & the helicopter rides. Don’t ever underestimate what tactics the left will use in its defence. All of that & more. I’d say this has long gone past a democratic solution. It’s really up to you lot to make your choice. Either do something fairly shortly or resign yourselves to more & more of what you’re now getting. In which case you’ll end up in much the same place when society collapses. But I don’t think you’ll like the people who will take over then.
Whatever, Theo. There’s absolutely nothing for the Tory Party in any of this. Except as one way passengers on the helicopter rides. They’re part of the problem, not a solution.
Is there any difference between fascists and commies? Its a different word for the same thing – forced collectivization and the population yoked to the desires of a politically powerful minority.
The Nazis were socialists and fascism exists because Mussolini didn’t think the socialists had the courage to take it all the way.
Fascists tend to start with better intentions.
*checks Mr Mate’s early life section*
…..IMAGINE MY SURPRISE
Fascists tend to start with better intentions
Yes, fascism was literally just about having a good time with the boys, until the Germans had to come along and ruin it forever with their autism and weird moustaches.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with the Charismatic Strong Man as head of government, certainly not compared to the outcomes of modern “democratically elected” Western legislatures. Plenty of Middle Eastern countries were miles better off under the jackboot of the local generalissimo.
PS – if you ask me, this Hitler fella sounds like bad news.
How shit were the other candidates, that they lost to Literally Hitler?
Steve,
Very shit. The communists were disorganised, the Centre Party had let the country have hilarious inflation.
I also have to add, the Nazis were not that extreme in 1933. It’s not like the rest of Europe was super nice to the Jews. Lebensraum was a popular idea for decades in Germany.
I also have to add, the Nazis were not that extreme in 1933. It’s not like the rest of Europe was super nice to the Jews.
Yeah. I think that’s a part of history that’s largely been rewritten. It’s been convenient to dump all anti-Semitism in Germany’s lap. Wot us! No never! Never happened! Especially as far as the UK’s concerned.
WB – Somewhat disagree, Hitler was known to be a nutter from his Beer Hall Putsch days. Who else was on the ballot? Dracula? Peter Sutcliffe?
Hitler – never liked im.
And you can quote me on that, too. I am very brave.
Very much OT but belongs here as much as anywhere else.
Anyone care to explain this to me: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/05/uk-prisoners-jail-estonia-overcrowding/
Is this actually legal? As far as I’m aware, transportation for a criminal offence was abolished in the UK in 1867. And I can’t see any way that you can argue that what they’re intending is not transportation.
People are worried about fascists? This seems remarkably fascist to me. This is what the Nazis were doing, wasn’t it?
@Bloke in Germany – “The lesson of the holocaust is that everyone has the potential within them to define an out group and go along with, or actively contribute to, their annihilation.”
True. For a modern version see the relentless proaganda against illegal and legal immigrants.
Reporting crime is now propaganda. That’s a new one.
David Thompson @ 11.52, my favourite was Don Henleys’ ‘End of the innocence’:
“We’re beating ploughshares into swords for this tired old man we elected king”.
I haven’ heard any of his recent work so don’t know what he, as a democrat, feels about sharp as a tack Joe.
Charles @ 11.00, I guess Ghandi and Mandela were literally Hitlers for wanting certain people out of their respective countries. Or for a more recent example, see Pakistan forcibly repatriating 1.8 million Afghan ‘asylum seekers’.
And it doesn’t require ‘relentless propaganda’ to form opinions about migrants, it simply requires you to open your eyes.
Ladies & Gentlemen, I give you the apogee of moron-ness:
Charles: «For a modern version see the relentless proaganda against illegal and legal immigrants.»
Steve,
“Somewhat disagree, Hitler was known to be a nutter from his Beer Hall Putsch days. Who else was on the ballot? Dracula? Peter Sutcliffe?”
You see him as a nutter by 2024 standards. There were many failed coups between the wars in Germany.: the Sparta uprising, the Kapp Putsch, the Prussian Coup. It was an unstable place for decades.
He was a nutter about the Jews. Beyond that, he was shit at economics, but no worse than most of our recent prime ministers.
@Esteban:
“One wonders how they can get shit 180 degrees wrong.”
They use the term “fascism” to mean “opposed to us and not communist”. Which is why there’s “antifa”, short for “anti-fascist”, which means in their book, “good guy”.
Nothing to do with actual definitions. Just “who-whom” (who is to do what to whom?).
@WB
That is the problem. If you don’t look of this period through the eyes of people of the time there’s not the slightest chance of understanding it.
He was a nutter about the Jews.
If he had been a nutter by the standards of the time he may well not have gathered the following he did. But he was voicing opinions on the matter were widely shared at the time. You can see similar opinions being written in the UK in that period. Worth remembering his famous book had an English edition & was widely bought. I can’t help having noticed that his Spanish translation is regularly displayed on the book stall in our Plaza de la Constitucion, when they set it up. I don’t suppose the stall holder stocks it in the knowledge it will never be sold.
Here’s an idea of what English people were like in this period. It’s a story my grandfather used to tell to general amusement.
He was a seaman on the Atlantic convoys (Distinguished himself by by being on two ships were torpedoed in the same crossing & disembarking in port from a third.) It’s the tale of the Lascar cook they had on one crossing, couldn’t cook anything edible. So one night, when the Lascar went out to tip the gash pail over the rail, he & his pal tipped him over with it. In the Mid-Atlantic winter. To the general celebration of the crew because he took over as cook & the crew ate well for the remainder of the voyage.
These are the people your ancestors were.
@ Del Sol
He wasn’t called Albert by any chance?
Curiously, I think he might have been. Born circa 1895 so a lot of boys got that name. I really can’t remember what it said on his death certificate. Like many of that generation, he had various names for various people. My grandmother always called him Jack (Tar? – Cockneys innay.) But then their surviving son Roy was generally known as Roger. I seem to remember some of his friends calling him Bill. But nobody calling him Albert or Bert.
My other grandfather was Thomas Alfred variously known as George, Rex & a couple of others. Again, never Thomas or Alfred. Several other relatives, similar. For another unexplained reason my father was, to his parents’ generation, Tim.
I’ve never known why that was so prevalent or how far back the custom goes. Anyone any ideas? Didn’t a lot of the Royals & aristocracy do the same thing?
But like I said, these are the people your ancestors were. Nother country, nother world.