2 ms·

Mein Kampf is worth at least a skim, because it demonstrates that Hitler was a human being. History positions him as an inhuman monster, and rightly so metapho

by jl6 3y ago

Mein Kampf is worth at least a skim, because it demonstrates that Hitler was a human being. History positions him as an inhuman monster, and rightly so metaphorically. We are conditioned to think that he was uniquely evil in an otherworldly sense, totally unlike us, and someone like him could never arise again because we don’t have monsters these days. But he wasn’t a unique demon. He was a human, with human emotions and motivations and failings. It’s important to recognize him (and all the rest of the Nazis) as human, because the humans of today absolutely do have the capacity to become him again.

marttt 3y ago
"Mein Kampf is worth at least a skim, because it demonstrates that Hitler was a human being." Excellent phrasing. I think you would love "The Kindly Ones" by Jonathan Littell [1]. What an incredible book -- oh, and, being released in 2009, it also fits my interpretation of "Lindy". 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kindly_Ones_(Littell_novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kindly_Ones_(Littell_novel...
watwut 3y ago
No and this is also a thing only people do not know what is in it say. Or people who want to be edgy say. And I am saying that as someone who attempted to read it, so have passing idea about content. If you want to know who Hitler was as a human, read either "Hitler, by Kershaw Ian" or "Third Reich Trilogy by Richard Evans". If you want someone to realize Hitler was not unique, make them read about other genocides, about Italy at the same time, about Stalin, about Japan, about slavery, about genocide of native americans and so on. Also, I would highly NOT recommend it for someone who does not know actual German history, because that book contains ... well quite a few untrue claims. If you are in general interested in that period and read a lot, nothing wrong with reading it. But if you are not and this is the one historical book you decided to pick and recommend over all the others, then I have hard time to believe you are neutral in your pick.

by jl6 3y ago

marttt 3y ago

"Mein Kampf is worth at least a skim, because it demonstrates that Hitler was a human being." Excellent phrasing. I think you would love "The Kindly Ones" by Jonathan Littell [1]. What an incredible book -- oh, and, being released in 2009, it also fits my interpretation of "Lindy". 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kindly_Ones_(Littell_novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kindly_Ones_(Littell_novel...

watwut 3y ago

No and this is also a thing only people do not know what is in it say. Or people who want to be edgy say. And I am saying that as someone who attempted to read it, so have passing idea about content. If you want to know who Hitler was as a human, read either "Hitler, by Kershaw Ian" or "Third Reich Trilogy by Richard Evans". If you want someone to realize Hitler was not unique, make them read about other genocides, about Italy at the same time, about Stalin, about Japan, about slavery, about genocide of native americans and so on. Also, I would highly NOT recommend it for someone who does not know actual German history, because that book contains ... well quite a few untrue claims. If you are in general interested in that period and read a lot, nothing wrong with reading it. But if you are not and this is the one historical book you decided to pick and recommend over all the others, then I have hard time to believe you are neutral in your pick.