Why did Hitler do it?
- Thread starter sargentlard
- Start date
i'm going to miss this when i start classes again.Self delusion is the key to understanding this world. In all subjects in which science can not be tested through trial and error mythology dominates. Today many of our prominent talking heads lie repeatedly. You can't tell whether they believe their own lies or are just cynically supporting a faction. In order to have a good delivery when lying a person should either believe their own lies or have no sense of right and wrong and be a good actor. A good actor is somebody who can put their own pesonality and beliefs asside and adopt the personality and beliefs of a character.
European Colonialists convinced themself that they were doing a sevice to the inferior colonised people by ruling over them. The majority of Americans during slavery could not see that slavery was wrong. Average Hutus could not see that the genocide of Tutsis was wrong. You can no more prove what is right and what is wrong than you can prove which came first God or Existence.
Everybody rationalizes away their evilness. Ken Lay still believes he is a good. The common criminal finds a way to blame others or excuse himself for his crimes. Listen to a husband and wife argue, one or both of them have distorted reality.
Survival of the fittest / evolution does not push us towards knowing the truth. Survival of the fittest pushes us towards a way of thinking that best helps us survive and multiply our DNA. In some situations it is best for multiplying our DNA that we know the truth but in other situations it is best for multiplying our DNA that we believe lies. Culture is a mix of truth and lies. We must live within the culture. We are just pieces of genetic/mind stuff blown about in the cultural storm. As they say in computer programming "garbage in garbage out"
Hitler believed that he was doing a service to Germany and Humanity by exterminating the jews.
European Colonialists convinced themself that they were doing a sevice to the inferior colonised people by ruling over them. The majority of Americans during slavery could not see that slavery was wrong. Average Hutus could not see that the genocide of Tutsis was wrong. You can no more prove what is right and what is wrong than you can prove which came first God or Existence.
Everybody rationalizes away their evilness. Ken Lay still believes he is a good. The common criminal finds a way to blame others or excuse himself for his crimes. Listen to a husband and wife argue, one or both of them have distorted reality.
Survival of the fittest / evolution does not push us towards knowing the truth. Survival of the fittest pushes us towards a way of thinking that best helps us survive and multiply our DNA. In some situations it is best for multiplying our DNA that we know the truth but in other situations it is best for multiplying our DNA that we believe lies. Culture is a mix of truth and lies. We must live within the culture. We are just pieces of genetic/mind stuff blown about in the cultural storm. As they say in computer programming "garbage in garbage out"
Hitler believed that he was doing a service to Germany and Humanity by exterminating the jews.
Hardstuff said:
He didn't grow up in Vienna, though. He was born in a shithole border town, and only moved to Vienna after the death of both his parents, when he was 18, I think.
In Mein Kampf, he talks a bit about the Vienesse legislature, or something like that. I can't remember the exact body, but it was a legislative body, dominated by non-Austrians ... Slavs, especially. I think that's where he developed some of his racial hatred.
balthazaar
Registered Member
Gold & Fear
I've thought about this a lot, and in reading Mein Kampf and looking at the reality of what was done, I believe the reasons were at least twofold. I am certain the main reason Hitler focused on Jews during the Holocaust was because he feared them. He was terrified that a secret conspiracy of Jews was attempting to take over Germany (and perhaps the world), was intent on enslaving Aryans and all non-Jews, and that the Jewish people were an amoral, psychopathic, souless race. Why he believed this is beyond what I know right now. Mein Kampf seems largely a ranting blog of Hitlers fear (and subsequent hatred) of Jews. His thoughts seem peculiarly disorganized around the edges when he speaks of Jews--in the same paragraph he may talk of Jews as having what seem to be super-human intelligence and yet have no creativity or culture. He sounds rather a lot like a high-functioning fairly organized, paranoid schizophrenic.
There is another reason for putting the Jews in work camps though. I find the notion that large numbers of Jews were "gassed" or otherwise exterminated highly suspect--this would be self-defeating when the prisoners could be used as forced labor instead--which indeed they were. The disenfranchisement of Jews (and gypsies and Freemasons, etc.), provided two sources of money for the 3rd Reich. First, each Jews land, business and possessions were confiscated by the State, creating instant funds for the new government. Second, the prisoners could be set to work without pay and minimal cost. Thus, the 3rd Reich was able to fund many new projects, buildings, and the war effort by confiscating the property of Jews and others the State considered "criminals." Similar tactics were used during the witch hunts. Sadly, the USA is starting a similar tactical operation with drug merchants.
So I see two powerful reasons for Hitlers obsession with the Jews--he believed they were evil and feared them (IMHO, because he was delusional and paranoid). Second, they were convenient milk cows for filling his coffers as well as ready-made national scapegoats. However, because he sacrificed large numbers of people and took their money, he was able to make his particular brand of national socialism work--by using Jews and others as the the "start-up" money to revive the previously depressed German economy.
I've thought about this a lot, and in reading Mein Kampf and looking at the reality of what was done, I believe the reasons were at least twofold. I am certain the main reason Hitler focused on Jews during the Holocaust was because he feared them. He was terrified that a secret conspiracy of Jews was attempting to take over Germany (and perhaps the world), was intent on enslaving Aryans and all non-Jews, and that the Jewish people were an amoral, psychopathic, souless race. Why he believed this is beyond what I know right now. Mein Kampf seems largely a ranting blog of Hitlers fear (and subsequent hatred) of Jews. His thoughts seem peculiarly disorganized around the edges when he speaks of Jews--in the same paragraph he may talk of Jews as having what seem to be super-human intelligence and yet have no creativity or culture. He sounds rather a lot like a high-functioning fairly organized, paranoid schizophrenic.
There is another reason for putting the Jews in work camps though. I find the notion that large numbers of Jews were "gassed" or otherwise exterminated highly suspect--this would be self-defeating when the prisoners could be used as forced labor instead--which indeed they were. The disenfranchisement of Jews (and gypsies and Freemasons, etc.), provided two sources of money for the 3rd Reich. First, each Jews land, business and possessions were confiscated by the State, creating instant funds for the new government. Second, the prisoners could be set to work without pay and minimal cost. Thus, the 3rd Reich was able to fund many new projects, buildings, and the war effort by confiscating the property of Jews and others the State considered "criminals." Similar tactics were used during the witch hunts. Sadly, the USA is starting a similar tactical operation with drug merchants.
So I see two powerful reasons for Hitlers obsession with the Jews--he believed they were evil and feared them (IMHO, because he was delusional and paranoid). Second, they were convenient milk cows for filling his coffers as well as ready-made national scapegoats. However, because he sacrificed large numbers of people and took their money, he was able to make his particular brand of national socialism work--by using Jews and others as the the "start-up" money to revive the previously depressed German economy.
The first half of Mein Kampf did seem to articulate many legitimate concerns Hitler had about what was going on in Germany. If the Jews were the ruling class its not too hard to understand why he fixated the blame on them.
I think the Jews were initially encouraged to leave Germany, especially for Israel. After the war started, and many countries stopped taking in Jew immigrants, they and other suspect people had to be dealt with so Hitler probably ordered detention camps, like the US made for Japanese Americans. I'm sure this got the German war effort lots of money by taking their stuff since they were a wealthy class.
If mass murders happened I don't see how it can be pinned on Hitler. He was fighting a war on two fronts and losing. I'm sure he ran low on beans, bullets, and band aids. That being the case, Germans probably had a hard time filling their bellies. How much worse did it have to be for prisoners? Our own US civil war prisoner of war camps show how nasty those can be.
I think the Jews were initially encouraged to leave Germany, especially for Israel. After the war started, and many countries stopped taking in Jew immigrants, they and other suspect people had to be dealt with so Hitler probably ordered detention camps, like the US made for Japanese Americans. I'm sure this got the German war effort lots of money by taking their stuff since they were a wealthy class.
If mass murders happened I don't see how it can be pinned on Hitler. He was fighting a war on two fronts and losing. I'm sure he ran low on beans, bullets, and band aids. That being the case, Germans probably had a hard time filling their bellies. How much worse did it have to be for prisoners? Our own US civil war prisoner of war camps show how nasty those can be.
Geez lets bring Hitler from the dead and ask him, this is a useless endless thread...
No it's not, particularly the posts by Dixon. As he said, the dread "evil" of the Jews, was quite simply they stick together. Sure it's a little bit of everyman for himself, but they will help rather than hinder their fellow Jew. Yes everyone should act like this, but few people do.
I have noticed other (previously or currently)persecuted groups help rather than hinder(within their "group"), a philosophy I call "the self +1". Gays will help each other and are likely to get a good "break" in some fields. I see south asians buying up whole new housing blocks, cutting a good deal with developers and sorting out finance within their group. Hey these people didn't make the rules, but people will find the best way, even in a shit system like fuckyerneighbor consumer-capitalism. They are just extending the definition of "family" or at least semi-defined a somewhat alturistic code within their identified group.
Of course people outside these groups get jealous...fearful...or just plain pissed.
Well now that you mention the common identification of one person with a whole race, it does has something to do with this.
Hitler grew up with a Jewish stepfather that used to abuse him and his mother, obviously generating some repressed hate and fear that later was manifested in his hate for a whole race.
The thing is, nobody has mention Hitler’s obsession with occultism, which was corroborated by the extensive search for Atlantis and the Holly Grail by the Germans before WWII.
But most of all, he fed his anger with the study of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky´s books (her complete work is considered the origin of the Theosophy society & “New Age” adepts). She was an iniciate from Russia, that got her knowledge from India, and you can see the similarity of her books with the philosophy of Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism.
In her works of occultism, HP Blavatsky traced the origin of the human race to the “Aryan race”, the “pure race”, the “first race”; and Aryan originally meant “noble”. Far from being a racist work, Hitler was influenced by this, plus his hate for Jews. He considered the Aryans to be the ancestors of the current “white race”, and spent the rest of his life trying to prove this.
Not to mention that Hitler wanted to be a painter, and he was denied the entrance from many painting schools (he was probably a very very bad painter); this influenced the feed of his anger, and his career in politics.
Learned Hand
Registered Senior Member
Well, history teaches us that Hitler received daily INJECTIONS of methamphetamine. Not to discredit anybody else's thoughts, but maybe he was just psychotic, paranoid & delusional and ubsurdly and maniacally thought he was purifying the earth because he was always on crank. Never mess with a tweaker, as the saying goes.
Hitler had a plan for a society that would of been greater than any country in the world. He believed the Aryan race ascended from the great mystical city of Atlantis.
He probably thought the Jews were simply inferior and was slowing down the progress of what could be something great. He probably wanted Germany to be another Atlantis the greatest in technology, science, and power. Years beyond others.
No one knows for sure.
He probably thought the Jews were simply inferior and was slowing down the progress of what could be something great. He probably wanted Germany to be another Atlantis the greatest in technology, science, and power. Years beyond others.
No one knows for sure.
He also took a cycle of the newly discovered steroid testosterone.
He also took opiates.
Recent study suggests psychology more than profit may have been at work in this (though of-course money is a motivator). German scientists were far ahead in certain ares of study, who knows, they may have known this too. One such is the Milgram experiement, where ordinary people electrocute people when given the order, despite what their own thoughts may be.
Check out a book called "Hitler's willing executioners" by Harvard political science professor Daniel Jonah Goldhagen. It's a good, but ghastly, read about how ordinary Germans did more to exterminate the Jews than SS men. There are historical acounts, not opinions, of ordinary people persecuting and killing Jews, without orders or officers to enforce them - even marching a group of Jews to death after Germany had surrendered and Himmler had ordered the killings to cease. It's an eye-opening look at (in)human nature. Similiar is a book called "The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil" about the Stanford Prison experiment. It's scary what ordinarily 'nice' people are capable of when society permits sadism.
Would making this part of high school education be of any use?
Another thing I found perculiar in Goldhagen's book was the consistent report ,by the people doing or observing these things, that the Jews themselves offered no resistance. Why is this so?
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