Having grown up in the 1960s on Manhattan's West Side, when WWII wasn't
so long ago and a German accent was immediately associated to movies and
TV series about Nazis, I admit that I may be unduly predisposed to
regard certain strains of militarism, morality by government fiat, and
'just taking orders' as problematic aspects of the early-20th-Century
German culture. Also I read _Roots of the Nazi Mentality_ when I was an
impressionable kid.
But I don't think that power affairs (military+politics) and economics
are everything against culture (glamour!) and society (status!) as some
sort of zero. You've a case to make there, Edwina, if you wish to
convince people. The problematic character of early-20th-Century German
attitudes - militarism, morality by government fiat, 'just taking
orders' - have not gone unnoticed by anybody around Germany. The
reunification of Germany in the 1990s involved US guarantees of
maintaining military bases in Germany, guarantees sought by the French
and other governments.
Best, Ben
On 7/10/2015 3:16 PM, Edwina Taborsky wrote:
No, Helmut, I don't think that the German people 'had more barbaric
instincts than other people'. We are all similar in our capacity for
emotional irrationality and violence. When a societal system of law
and order breaks down for various reasons, i.e., is not providing
security, is not functioning in a just and fair manner, is corrupt, ,
is subverted by a higher authority - then, the 'cooling off' phase of
rational examination of the situation is rejected - and we get either
a mob, or a 'controlled mob, i.e., a band of thugs'.
Democracy is not, in itself, a barrier against barbarism. As Tolstoy
said, 'Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority shares in
it'. Democracy, to be just, requires a constitution and the rule of
law, set up as created by men, and capable of change by men, but
applicable to all.
Edwina
----- Original Message -----
From: Helmut Raulien
To: Ozzie
Cc: Edwina Taborsky ; <[email protected]> ; Peirce List
Sent: Friday, July 10, 2015 2:51 PM
Subject: Aw: Re: [PEIRCE-L] Recently published: Hitler and Abductive
Logic
I agree, that his "abduction-type message is" only "a big part of
that success". Tenacity, authority and apriori also are. I wrote,
that a false abduction to laypersons of logic can look like a proper
conclusion. But not all Germans were too much laypersons to see the
lies (eg. Heidegger). Nevertheless they followed him. Putting the
emphasis on Hitlers intelligent ways of manipulation should not
assign him a bigger part of the guilt, and lessen the guilt of the
Germans. They had more barbaric instincts than the other peoples, and
were no democrats. Other in than other nations, there has not been a
democratic constitution initiated by the people.
Best,
Helmut
Ozzie <[email protected]>
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