My very minor status as an authority on Adolf Hitler comparisons stems from having coined “Godwin’s Law” about three decades ago. I originally framed this “law” as a pseudoscientific postulate: “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.” (That is, its likelihood approaches 100 percent.)

… We had the luxury of deriving humor from Hitler and Nazi comparisons when doing so was almost always hyperbole. It’s not a luxury we can afford anymore.

…

What’s arguably worse than Trump’s frank authoritarianism is his embrace of dehumanizing tropes that seem to echo Hitler’s rhetoric deliberately. For many weeks now, Trump has been road-testing his use of the word “vermin” to describe those who oppose him and to characterize undocumented immigrants as “poisoning the blood of our country.” Even for an amateur historian like me, the parallels to Hitler’s rhetoric seem inescapable.

  • DeconceptualistEnglish
    2·
    7 months ago

    That makes sense and matches what I’ve read and heard in articles and videos. That last part is problematic though.

    Forgetting means peril for us all. As you say, fewer now have really learned in the first place. I’m afraid the same malice is on the rise again. Yes I’ve heard of the AFD, but there’s a more powerful and ambitious faction of fascists in the US who are arguably far more dangerous. They want to marginalize and divide people, even if it drives the country into civil war. And if they win, they won’t stop at the borders, not when the prize is enough military might to fulfill their sick dreams of terrorizing and subjugating the entire globe.

    So yeah, that’s the other reason I’d like to come to Germany, to help everyone not forget, and to understand how to better share the lessons.