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> Societies like pre ww2 Germany and Japan were full of well educated folks Yes, and these educated folks opposed the Nazis. The parts of [Weimar culture](http
by verbify 9y ago
> Societies like pre ww2 Germany and Japan were full of well educated folks
Yes, and these educated folks opposed the Nazis. The parts of [Weimar culture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_culture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_culture) that were the centre of art, music, literature, poetry, mathematics, and science was the parts that did not become Nazi.
Out of their Nobel Prize Winners, many of them were Jewish. Out of the places that participated most in that culture was Berlin (famous for the [Berlin Circle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Circle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Circle), also the area that voted least for the Nazis).
The people who were cultured were less likely to be Nazis. The gay clubs in Berlin were later shut down by Nazis. Nazi conservatism was to some extent a backlash against the permissive and flourishing culture - and they associated Jews, gays and Marxists with that culture.
I'm not saying cultured people can't also be barbaric - they can. But it's also not true that somehow the most cultured place in the world was hiding a dark secret - the parts that were cultured were not the parts that instigated the backlash.
- ekianjo 9y agoYou seem to conveniently ignore the mass of german intellectuals who supported the national socialist regime, as well as industrialists and artists. Even outside Germany the Third Reich had its share of supporters among elites. Lets not falsify History by pretending only stupid people were nazi supporters.
- verbify 9y agoThere were intellectuals who supported the Nazis, there are intellectuals who currently support the alt-right and believe in establishing ethno-states. But it's negatively correlated.
- ekianjo 9y ago> But it's negatively correlated. Negatively correlated? We'd need hard and reliable data to compare and make proper judgment here, and it is going to be difficult since almost everyone involved is not neutral. The problem is that as humans, we tend to believe that the ones who support different parties/ideologies have low IQ compared to our own parties/ideologies. It is far from being obvious because intelligence and education is usually widespread among various groups and currents of thoughts. As individuals it is actually very dangerous to think in this way, because it leads us to underestimate our adversaries wherever they are.
- ataturk 9y agoHitler was featured on the cover of Time magazine. Eugenics was glorified as the future for humanity. Lots of wealthy Americans and US corporations supported the Nazi regime and a large number of Americans were against entering the war until Pearl Harbor took place. The whole Pearl Harbor incident was just so incredibly convenient for getting an apprehensive populace to agree to send their sons into the meat grinder.