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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 c

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.

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.