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Leaders and typefaces: In 1941 Adolf Hitler personally gave order to make the use of the Antiqua mandatory and forbade the use of Fraktur and Schwabacher typef

Leaders and typefaces: In 1941 Adolf Hitler personally gave order to make the use of the Antiqua mandatory and forbade the use of Fraktur and Schwabacher typefaces. https://ligaturix.de/bormann.htm https://ligaturix.de/bormann.htm

blueflow 11mo ago
[flagged]
deleted 11mo ago
[deleted]
denkmoon 11mo ago
Fascism relies on politicisation of aesthetic
- renewiltord 11mo ago
  [flagged]
  - wtfwhateven 11mo ago
    Nope. That choice wasn't for aesthetic reasons.
  - denkmoon 11mo ago
    While you'll get no argument from me about the Biden government being fascist adjacent, no. The font was chosen by that government for accessibility reasons. The font has now been changed for purely aesthetic reasons, attaching the politics of anti-DEIA to a particular aesthetic (serifed fonts). As for the politics of that government, a history lesson; In 1930s Germany, Liberals did nothing to abort the rise of NSDAP, seeing them as economic allies if not political allies. They sold out their country and turned a blind eye to genuine evil for profit and the reduction of the political influence of their workforce.
    - carlosjobim 11mo ago
      Serif fonts are easier to read, so now I guess you have to invert your mind as to who is a fascist and who is a liberator?
      - denkmoon 11mo ago
        Ooh ya got me. Not. The problem is not even about which font is actually more accessible. It's the self proclaimed reasoning. Rubio, by his own words, states that the change is about aesthetics and anti DEIA politics. However, if you want to argue about actual accessibility, which is not what is happening in the Dept. of State, the US government's own accessibility guidelines contradict the idea that Serif fonts are more accessible; https://www.section508.gov/develop/fonts-typography/ https://www.section508.gov/develop/fonts-typography/ Do you happen to know anyone with a reading disability at all? A dear friend of mine has dyslexia, and I've seen first hand how important this stuff is for his comprehension.
        carlosjobim 11mo ago
        Should text be made less accessible to read for everybody else, in order to accommodate people with dyslexia? Because everybody who reads a lot prefers serif fonts, since they are easier to read. That's why books are printed in serifs. Since it's all digital, this all shouldn't be a problem in 2025.
      - deleted 11mo ago
        [deleted]
- PaulHoule 11mo ago
  See V is for Vendetta, I would argue there is a sort of seduction in the Baudrillard sense involved.
- actionfromafar 11mo ago
  How is that downvoted? You can’t seriously disagree?
- deleted 11mo ago
  [deleted]
vessenes 11mo ago
If you read the article, Calibri usage was instituted during the Biden administration. So, there's probably a diversity of government styles that get involved with typefaces.
- watwut 11mo ago
  Calibri is designed for screen use and Times New Roman for printing. As usually, there is a practical option and conservative option. But stakes are quite low here. Some bureaucrats will have nearly undetectably harder time to read Trump speaches
1970-01-01 11mo ago
Forgive my ignorance but this seems to be one of the most neutral things Hitler did. He just didn't like the font so he ordered it to be changed. Equivalent to your boss ordering tabs be used instead of spaces. After the war was lost the arguments just continued. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiqua%E2%80%93Fraktur_dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiqua%E2%80%93Fraktur_disput...
- pinkmuffinere 11mo ago
  I tend to agree with you, many people are passionate about typefaces, and dictators are no exception. [Passion about typeface] seems to be a low-signal detector for dictators. I'm passionate about lasagna, and I'll bet Mussolini was too -- but that probably doesn't mean I'm a fascist.
  - fainpul 11mo ago
    But if you go around and tell everyone you meet that they're doing it wrong and that lasagna MUST be prepared exactly the way you do it, because it's the one and only right way, then you're a lasagna-nazi :)
- actionfromafar 11mo ago
  Yeah it was so the occupied peoples could read the edicts better. Sp perhaps not so neutral, after all.
  - amwet 11mo ago
    “I want a new font so it’s easier to read” isn’t neutral?
    - actionfromafar 11mo ago
      Not when you are the aggressor in WW2? I guess if Russia invaded Western Europe and Putin decided to switch from Cyrillic to Latin script so the subjugated peoples would more easily read and learn Russian, that would be neutral too?
dang 11mo ago
(We detached this comment from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46224867 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46224867. It's fine and interesting, but the offtopicness of you-know-who is a bit too agitating at the top of the thread.)

blueflow 11mo ago

[flagged]

deleted 11mo ago

[deleted]

denkmoon 11mo ago

Fascism relies on politicisation of aesthetic

renewiltord 11mo ago
[flagged]
- wtfwhateven 11mo ago
  Nope. That choice wasn't for aesthetic reasons.
- denkmoon 11mo ago
  While you'll get no argument from me about the Biden government being fascist adjacent, no. The font was chosen by that government for accessibility reasons. The font has now been changed for purely aesthetic reasons, attaching the politics of anti-DEIA to a particular aesthetic (serifed fonts). As for the politics of that government, a history lesson; In 1930s Germany, Liberals did nothing to abort the rise of NSDAP, seeing them as economic allies if not political allies. They sold out their country and turned a blind eye to genuine evil for profit and the reduction of the political influence of their workforce.
  - carlosjobim 11mo ago
    Serif fonts are easier to read, so now I guess you have to invert your mind as to who is a fascist and who is a liberator?
    - denkmoon 11mo ago
      Ooh ya got me. Not. The problem is not even about which font is actually more accessible. It's the self proclaimed reasoning. Rubio, by his own words, states that the change is about aesthetics and anti DEIA politics. However, if you want to argue about actual accessibility, which is not what is happening in the Dept. of State, the US government's own accessibility guidelines contradict the idea that Serif fonts are more accessible; https://www.section508.gov/develop/fonts-typography/ https://www.section508.gov/develop/fonts-typography/ Do you happen to know anyone with a reading disability at all? A dear friend of mine has dyslexia, and I've seen first hand how important this stuff is for his comprehension.
      - carlosjobim 11mo ago
        Should text be made less accessible to read for everybody else, in order to accommodate people with dyslexia? Because everybody who reads a lot prefers serif fonts, since they are easier to read. That's why books are printed in serifs. Since it's all digital, this all shouldn't be a problem in 2025.
    - deleted 11mo ago
      [deleted]
PaulHoule 11mo ago
See V is for Vendetta, I would argue there is a sort of seduction in the Baudrillard sense involved.
actionfromafar 11mo ago
How is that downvoted? You can’t seriously disagree?
deleted 11mo ago
[deleted]

vessenes 11mo ago

If you read the article, Calibri usage was instituted during the Biden administration. So, there's probably a diversity of government styles that get involved with typefaces.

watwut 11mo ago
Calibri is designed for screen use and Times New Roman for printing. As usually, there is a practical option and conservative option. But stakes are quite low here. Some bureaucrats will have nearly undetectably harder time to read Trump speaches

1970-01-01 11mo ago

Forgive my ignorance but this seems to be one of the most neutral things Hitler did. He just didn't like the font so he ordered it to be changed. Equivalent to your boss ordering tabs be used instead of spaces. After the war was lost the arguments just continued. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiqua%E2%80%93Fraktur_dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiqua%E2%80%93Fraktur_disput...

pinkmuffinere 11mo ago
I tend to agree with you, many people are passionate about typefaces, and dictators are no exception. [Passion about typeface] seems to be a low-signal detector for dictators. I'm passionate about lasagna, and I'll bet Mussolini was too -- but that probably doesn't mean I'm a fascist.
- fainpul 11mo ago
  But if you go around and tell everyone you meet that they're doing it wrong and that lasagna MUST be prepared exactly the way you do it, because it's the one and only right way, then you're a lasagna-nazi :)
actionfromafar 11mo ago
Yeah it was so the occupied peoples could read the edicts better. Sp perhaps not so neutral, after all.
- amwet 11mo ago
  “I want a new font so it’s easier to read” isn’t neutral?
  - actionfromafar 11mo ago
    Not when you are the aggressor in WW2? I guess if Russia invaded Western Europe and Putin decided to switch from Cyrillic to Latin script so the subjugated peoples would more easily read and learn Russian, that would be neutral too?

dang 11mo ago

(We detached this comment from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46224867 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46224867. It's fine and interesting, but the offtopicness of you-know-who is a bit too agitating at the top of the thread.)