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Yes, labelling a person who disagrees with you Nazi seems like a perverse application of Godwin's Law. It means you are intentionally ending the discussion. Why

Yes, labelling a person who disagrees with you Nazi seems like a perverse application of Godwin's Law. It means you are intentionally ending the discussion. Why do it?

jacalata 9y ago
Because there are people marching with swastikas? http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/media/2017/08/inventor-godwin-s-law-says-it-s-fine-call-charlottesville-rioters-nazis http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/media/2017/08/inventor-...
- erikpukinskis 9y ago
  Yes, those people can credibly be labeled Nazis, but I assume roceasta is referring to the wider halo around them, of people also being labeled Nazis. For example, Trump was frequently labeled a Nazi for condeming violence, in his words, "on both sides. On both sides." Which I found disturbing, but I don't see how it makes him a Nazi.
  - alphaalpha101 9y ago
    It suggests that he sympathises with Nazis, which is close enough to being a Nazi for most people.
    - busterarm 9y ago
      Yes, because anyone who disagrees with Antifa's tactics should reasonably be assumed to be a Nazi sympathizer... I can't roll my eyes hard enough at this.
    - flukus 9y ago
      How on earth does it suggest that? If I say "Hitler was evil and Stalin was also evil" am I somehow sympathizing with Hitler?
  - gasof 9y ago
    Why did you think it was disturbing, and what's your opinion on the theories the violence at Charlottesville was planned? The police seems to have effected a policy that all but necessitated a violent confrontation, by forcing the alt-right protestors to move through a large hostile crowd of Antifa protestors on the way to their new location, and the police not protecting the alt-right protesters. There's more strange things that happened that day, but was there any official explanation why the police officers were ordered to use these unusual and harmful tactics?
  - hsod 9y ago
    "If ten guys think it's OK to hang out with one Nazi, they just became eleven Nazis" -Chris Rock This is why people call Trump a Nazi.
    - observation 9y ago
      That literally and metaphorically doesn't add up.
- gasof 9y ago
  Person, AFAICT there was just one guy with a Nazi flag but a lot of picture where made of him. Portraying the whole alt-right (or the whole right) as Nazi's is inaccurate, offensive and divisive. It just helps them, and it leads to everyone reasonable getting stuck between angry fascist communists and angry fascist Nazi's. As an aside, white supremacy != Nazism. Nazism includes white supremacy, but adds some other factors like fascism. White supremacy is not all that different from the popular Jewish supremacy movement in Israel. Most peoples want to preserve their cultures and not let themselves be replaced, but it seems like only European welfare states and the U.S. are ever attacked for it. When did you last hear about the "Islamic supremacy" that is the dominant culture in the Middle East?
guildwriter 9y ago
One way to think about rhetoric like this is that it serves as a method of forcing you to align with their view of reality. Either you agree with them, or they paint you into a corner that then frequently creates a hostile response. In other words, they aren't looking for a discussion. They're looking for a fight. That kind of nuclear option rhetoric wise allows them to feel empowered both by denouncing an enemy and creating a call to arms within themselves and others. Furthermore, even if it antagonizes you, it draws you into their struggle, which legitimizes their world view. It creates a threat for them to fight against. If their rhetoric causes someone to radicalize to the other side, even better. It just strengthens the immediacy of their cause. This is how Antifa and Neo-Nazis can have a weird kind of symbiotic relationship. Even if their methods don't recruit someone to their cause, forcing that person to become a part of the overall struggle legitimizes their world view, strengthening both parties at the same time.

Yes, labelling a person who disagrees with you Nazi seems like a perverse application of Godwin's Law. It means you are intentionally ending the discussion. Why do it?

jacalata 9y ago

Because there are people marching with swastikas? http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/media/2017/08/inventor-godwin-s-law-says-it-s-fine-call-charlottesville-rioters-nazis http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/media/2017/08/inventor-...

erikpukinskis 9y ago
Yes, those people can credibly be labeled Nazis, but I assume roceasta is referring to the wider halo around them, of people also being labeled Nazis. For example, Trump was frequently labeled a Nazi for condeming violence, in his words, "on both sides. On both sides." Which I found disturbing, but I don't see how it makes him a Nazi.
- alphaalpha101 9y ago
  It suggests that he sympathises with Nazis, which is close enough to being a Nazi for most people.
  - busterarm 9y ago
    Yes, because anyone who disagrees with Antifa's tactics should reasonably be assumed to be a Nazi sympathizer... I can't roll my eyes hard enough at this.
  - flukus 9y ago
    How on earth does it suggest that? If I say "Hitler was evil and Stalin was also evil" am I somehow sympathizing with Hitler?
- gasof 9y ago
  Why did you think it was disturbing, and what's your opinion on the theories the violence at Charlottesville was planned? The police seems to have effected a policy that all but necessitated a violent confrontation, by forcing the alt-right protestors to move through a large hostile crowd of Antifa protestors on the way to their new location, and the police not protecting the alt-right protesters. There's more strange things that happened that day, but was there any official explanation why the police officers were ordered to use these unusual and harmful tactics?
- hsod 9y ago
  "If ten guys think it's OK to hang out with one Nazi, they just became eleven Nazis" -Chris Rock This is why people call Trump a Nazi.
  - observation 9y ago
    That literally and metaphorically doesn't add up.
gasof 9y ago
Person, AFAICT there was just one guy with a Nazi flag but a lot of picture where made of him. Portraying the whole alt-right (or the whole right) as Nazi's is inaccurate, offensive and divisive. It just helps them, and it leads to everyone reasonable getting stuck between angry fascist communists and angry fascist Nazi's. As an aside, white supremacy != Nazism. Nazism includes white supremacy, but adds some other factors like fascism. White supremacy is not all that different from the popular Jewish supremacy movement in Israel. Most peoples want to preserve their cultures and not let themselves be replaced, but it seems like only European welfare states and the U.S. are ever attacked for it. When did you last hear about the "Islamic supremacy" that is the dominant culture in the Middle East?

guildwriter 9y ago

One way to think about rhetoric like this is that it serves as a method of forcing you to align with their view of reality. Either you agree with them, or they paint you into a corner that then frequently creates a hostile response. In other words, they aren't looking for a discussion. They're looking for a fight. That kind of nuclear option rhetoric wise allows them to feel empowered both by denouncing an enemy and creating a call to arms within themselves and others. Furthermore, even if it antagonizes you, it draws you into their struggle, which legitimizes their world view. It creates a threat for them to fight against. If their rhetoric causes someone to radicalize to the other side, even better. It just strengthens the immediacy of their cause. This is how Antifa and Neo-Nazis can have a weird kind of symbiotic relationship. Even if their methods don't recruit someone to their cause, forcing that person to become a part of the overall struggle legitimizes their world view, strengthening both parties at the same time.