5 ms·

I don't care if one can search and buy Mein Kampf even for profit. I do have problem if publishers / media / shops are actively promoting it.

ch4s3 5y ago
you can let them know by ceasing to do business with them and spending your money elsewhere.
thweori23443 5y ago
I'm sure you also boycott people who promote war-criminals and genocidaires like Churchill and the many other criminals of the Anglo-American Empire right ? Thought not.
- delecti 5y ago
  It's absurd to act like there's a list of people comparable to Hitler who we nonetheless still recognize as authors despite their deeds. Nobody is as recognized for their crimes against humanity, no books by other genocidal/empirical figures are nearly as noteworthy, and the intersection between those two lists leaves only Hitler.
  - juanani 5y ago
  - kbelder 5y ago
    Mao and the little red book? He arguably killed more people, and was more widely-read.
    - delecti 5y ago
      That's an excellent example. I still feel comfortable asserting that there is an extremely small intersection between genociders and people significantly known for having written a book, but you're right to point out that it's not solely Hitler.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
WaxedChewbacca 5y ago
GauntletWizard 5y ago
I think everyone should read Mein Kampf. I think it should be promoted in every school, assigned as coursework in at least one course in every curriculum. You can encourage people to read and understand even the most detestable ideas. You should be training everyone how to analyze them, how to argue against them, and even how to understand the mindset they worked on and what right points they had. Mein Kampf is important reading.
- boomboomsubban 5y ago
  There are other works that can teach that sort of critical thinking where a teacher failing to properly get the point across won't lead to people becoming more antisemitic.
  - GauntletWizard 5y ago
    The point of using Mein Kampf is not that it's a great work. It's a terrible one, poorly written and full of platitudes and barely competent thinking. It's also an important one, being the "Magnum Opus" of Hitler. If you're going to teach the holocaust properly, you should let his own words speak against him. Anyone can write a crappy book. Anyone can get the wrong message from a crappy book. The import of Mein Kampf is that you are directly refuting Hitler and are unafraid of taking him on. If you're too afraid to talk directly to his "points", you are giving him power even in death, giving the power of mystique to his followers.
    - boomboomsubban 5y ago
      I don't imagine my high school literature or history teachers easily challenging him. My class lecture's would have sounded like "and here Hitler said x, it's not true because of y and he was saying it to blame Jewish people for z problem." And the multiple choice quiz at the end of the week sounds like a complete mess. If it were trivial to counter it as a poorly written book, it never would have gained the influence it has. A well intentioned mediocre teacher could lead to people agreeing with the book, and I'd guess making Mein Kampf a mandatory study would also draw in a lot of teachers that aren't well intentioned.
oh_sigh 5y ago
As an almost 40 year old American, where it is perfectly legal for publishers/media/shops to actively promote Mein Kampf, I have literally never seen it done.
- pyuser583 5y ago
  Really!? Maybe this is a regional thing. Back when my mid sized city had multiple big book stores, they all carried it. Come to think of it, I live in a university town. Lots of students probably have it as required reading. But there is/was never any shame in selling or promoting it - “promoting” in the marketing sense of putting it where it can be easily seen by someone passing by.
  - xboxnolifes 5y ago
    How is carrying a book actively promoting it? Isn't the point of a book store to carry books? If it's not on a shelf in the first few steps of the store (or at the register), I wouldn't consider it promoted.
belval 5y ago
> I do have problem if publishers / media / shops are actively promoting it. And what does active promotion mean in your example? Is having it on display in the "historic" section promotion? Should it not be in libraries at all. I think most of us would agree that a bookshop proudly displaying Mein Kampf with a neon sign saying "Bestseller in Politics" might be overstepping, but the complexity comes from drawing that line.
slibhb 5y ago
What if it's a new edition of Mein Kampf annotated by Deborah Lipstadt?
pyuser583 5y ago
Last I checked, big box booksellers always carry Mein Kempf. Most mainstream publishers have a translation. Even during WWII, UK bookstores sold Mein Kepf (with an intro by George Orwell) with proceeds going to the Red Cross. I strongly recommend reading it. You can’t deny the holocaust after reading it. Or be suprised at the any other part of Hitlers rule. He spells it all out. I think the big concern with Mein Kempf is neo-Nazis will venerate it. But it won’t convince anyone of anything they don’t already think. It’s literally Hitler talking to himself.

ch4s3 5y ago

you can let them know by ceasing to do business with them and spending your money elsewhere.

thweori23443 5y ago

I'm sure you also boycott people who promote war-criminals and genocidaires like Churchill and the many other criminals of the Anglo-American Empire right ? Thought not.

delecti 5y ago
It's absurd to act like there's a list of people comparable to Hitler who we nonetheless still recognize as authors despite their deeds. Nobody is as recognized for their crimes against humanity, no books by other genocidal/empirical figures are nearly as noteworthy, and the intersection between those two lists leaves only Hitler.
- juanani 5y ago
- kbelder 5y ago
  Mao and the little red book? He arguably killed more people, and was more widely-read.
  - delecti 5y ago
    That's an excellent example. I still feel comfortable asserting that there is an extremely small intersection between genociders and people significantly known for having written a book, but you're right to point out that it's not solely Hitler.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

WaxedChewbacca 5y ago

GauntletWizard 5y ago

I think everyone should read Mein Kampf. I think it should be promoted in every school, assigned as coursework in at least one course in every curriculum. You can encourage people to read and understand even the most detestable ideas. You should be training everyone how to analyze them, how to argue against them, and even how to understand the mindset they worked on and what right points they had. Mein Kampf is important reading.

boomboomsubban 5y ago
There are other works that can teach that sort of critical thinking where a teacher failing to properly get the point across won't lead to people becoming more antisemitic.
- GauntletWizard 5y ago
  The point of using Mein Kampf is not that it's a great work. It's a terrible one, poorly written and full of platitudes and barely competent thinking. It's also an important one, being the "Magnum Opus" of Hitler. If you're going to teach the holocaust properly, you should let his own words speak against him. Anyone can write a crappy book. Anyone can get the wrong message from a crappy book. The import of Mein Kampf is that you are directly refuting Hitler and are unafraid of taking him on. If you're too afraid to talk directly to his "points", you are giving him power even in death, giving the power of mystique to his followers.
  - boomboomsubban 5y ago
    I don't imagine my high school literature or history teachers easily challenging him. My class lecture's would have sounded like "and here Hitler said x, it's not true because of y and he was saying it to blame Jewish people for z problem." And the multiple choice quiz at the end of the week sounds like a complete mess. If it were trivial to counter it as a poorly written book, it never would have gained the influence it has. A well intentioned mediocre teacher could lead to people agreeing with the book, and I'd guess making Mein Kampf a mandatory study would also draw in a lot of teachers that aren't well intentioned.

oh_sigh 5y ago

As an almost 40 year old American, where it is perfectly legal for publishers/media/shops to actively promote Mein Kampf, I have literally never seen it done.

pyuser583 5y ago
Really!? Maybe this is a regional thing. Back when my mid sized city had multiple big book stores, they all carried it. Come to think of it, I live in a university town. Lots of students probably have it as required reading. But there is/was never any shame in selling or promoting it - “promoting” in the marketing sense of putting it where it can be easily seen by someone passing by.
- xboxnolifes 5y ago
  How is carrying a book actively promoting it? Isn't the point of a book store to carry books? If it's not on a shelf in the first few steps of the store (or at the register), I wouldn't consider it promoted.

belval 5y ago

> I do have problem if publishers / media / shops are actively promoting it. And what does active promotion mean in your example? Is having it on display in the "historic" section promotion? Should it not be in libraries at all. I think most of us would agree that a bookshop proudly displaying Mein Kampf with a neon sign saying "Bestseller in Politics" might be overstepping, but the complexity comes from drawing that line.

slibhb 5y ago

What if it's a new edition of Mein Kampf annotated by Deborah Lipstadt?

pyuser583 5y ago

Last I checked, big box booksellers always carry Mein Kempf. Most mainstream publishers have a translation. Even during WWII, UK bookstores sold Mein Kepf (with an intro by George Orwell) with proceeds going to the Red Cross. I strongly recommend reading it. You can’t deny the holocaust after reading it. Or be suprised at the any other part of Hitlers rule. He spells it all out. I think the big concern with Mein Kempf is neo-Nazis will venerate it. But it won’t convince anyone of anything they don’t already think. It’s literally Hitler talking to himself.