Who You Callin' Hitler?

-
I try hard to stay out of politics on-line, mostly because I understand that no one changes someone else's beliefs by simply saying, "You're wrong. Here's the right way to look at it."
Instead I'll do a history lesson.

Adolf Hitler came to power and did what he did by convincing his people that it wasn't their fault things were bad in Germany. They were good people, he said. In fact, they were the best people on the face of the earth. They owed their nation whole-hearted love and allegiance, and there could be no questioning of the Fatherland. They had a proud heritage, and it deserved respect.

What was wrong, Hitler said, was outsiders. People who didn't think, look, or act like "real" Germans. Something had to be done about these people, and we know now what that something was.

I had a really cool prof at U of M many years ago, Dr. Westie, who explained two terms that get in the way of our view of the world. Egocentrism is the feeling that your way of looking at everyting is correct, and it comes from the fact that human beings can't step outside ourselves. Ethnocentrism is similar; we tend to think that the way our society does things is the only right way. We get uncomfortable when our centrisms clash with those of other people or societies. "What? They actually eat horses in Europe? How can they do that?" (I once had an exchange student who couldn't believe we ate carrots. "That's food for animals," she said, "not for people!")

In order to be a thinking person, however, you MUST step outside your ego and ethnocentric views and see things from other perspectives. If you can't do that, you will eventually run into conflict with everyone you meet, because no two of us see everything in exactly the same way. How far you can stretch yourself out of your comfort zone is a measure of where you fall on the political spectrum, much more than intelligence or experience.

Ask yourself, then: Who is telling Americans that one particular segment of one particular nation is right and everyone else is wrong? Who is blaming all our problems on other races, other religions, other people who lack whatever it is that we feel is "us"?

That's the Hitler type, and those people are willing to lead you and your children into war and worse, because they would rather try to prove who is the Master Race than promote the Human Race.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A First-World Issue, Funny...Maybe

-
Image
 I have really short little fingers. I mean, I know that "little finger" should alert one to the fact that it won't be much, but mine are way shorter than the others, barely passing the middle joint of Finger #4. Why is this a problem? Because my new keyboard, which is ergonomic and supposedly hand-healthy, requires a strong push to work the keys on the top row. I learned typing in a real class, where every day we set our hands on the Home Row and learned to keep them there. That means that my right-hand little finger should operate the "Back" key without much change in hand position. Sadly, it isn't up to the task, and it really slows my typing when it takes two or even three tries to erase a mistake. Will this bring about the end of Western Civilization? No. Could I buy a more compact keyboard? Probably. I just thought it was kind of funny that as the world rages and ruins around me, something so small can be so irritating .
Read more

Book Clubs Take Note: Discussion Guide: Sister Saint, Sister Sinner

-
Image
  When I sent Sister Saint, Sister Sinner to my editor, she was (as usual) helpful about pointing out areas that needed more development, parts that repeated information already given, and places where the logic  temporarily failed. At the end, she made a comment that stuck with me: "People are going to be talking about the things you deal with in this book." To me, that meant the story was destined for book clubs. Having visited a few in my years of writing, I knew that they often begin with a list of discussion topics. Now, they often don't stay focused on them, and that's okay. Sometimes it's the wine. Sometimes it's a natural progression. But discussion leaders like having questions that can get the conversation back on track when it strays too far from the story. Every person who reads a book gets something out of it that no one else does. I had the experience once of visiting a book group where one reader didn't like the book and kept bringing up her
Read more

30 Days of Christmas Day 21: IndieBrag Blog-Hop & Giveaway

-
Image
Santa & Maggie Pill Santa was trying to get ready for Christmas, but things weren’t going well, and his droll little mouth pursed in frustration. He couldn’t find the fur-trimmed hat that went with his red suit. He needed a clean hanky to wipe away the ashes and soot after each trip through a chimney. And one of his boots had gone missing. Those were things his wife usually took care of, but she was nowhere to be found. Rubbing his little round belly, he looked in the kitchen to see if she was baking. Visions of sugar-plums danced in his head, but no. She wasn’t there. Was she in the laundry room, washing tiny elf socks and underwear? Scratching his snow-white beard, the jolly old elf peered into the small room at the back of the house. Nope. She wasn’t in the den taking a long winter’s nap, nor in the pantry sorting canned goods. When he finally found her, Mrs. Claus was in the den, curled up on the couch, reading a book on her Kindle. “What’s so interesting, dear?”
Read more