Jewish Defence league. Are they really that dumb?

[Ghoulish Delight]

No one has published the full context of his quote. The reaction is based on an article author's preface, "Remarkably, Will believes everyone is basically good." What a disgusting twist on a quote with no other context.

Sorry, but all he said was the Hitler himself didn't think what he was doing was evil. Who can possibly dispute that statement? Hitler thought he was doing the right thing. Period.

This "controversy" is pathetic.

[€uroMeinke]

I guess no evil can come in to the world as long as we think what we are doing is good...

If ever there was a lesson to come out of the Nazi era, I would hope that it would be that the essence of evil lurks in everyone - but then again it's always easier to blame your ills on some one else/some other group

[innerSpaceman]

Yeah, yeah, whatever.


It was STUPID for Smith to say such a thing, even though the limited truth of it (Hitler approves of self and own actions, d'uh) is self-evident.

That being so, however, does not explain why a public figure would make such a controversial statement unless he was a moron or a sh!t-stirrer.

[Strangler Lewis]

You don't answer the point about willful cruelty. The Poles of Jedwabne were happy to have been occupied by the Germans because it allowed them cover to massacre their Jews, beating them to death in the street and burning the rest in a barn. Did they dust off their hands at the end of the day and say, "Yes, well done, much nicer?" I think they probably went home and masturbated.

Thus, I don't think Will Smith's comment is terribly useful. Declaring it a useful perspective seems inconsistent with your view that, as an absolute proposition, Hitler was evil, rather than a product of his circumstances who stumbled into what we, the victors, call evil to boost our standing.

[Jazzman]

So you think that Hitler went to bed every night thinking, "Bwahahaha!!! I did so much evil today! I am so evil and terrible! I'm the evilist, most terrible person who ever lived!!!"

I highly doubt that was the case. Even though he pretty much was the most evil and terrible person to ever live, he didn't think so and that is what Smith was speaking to. Nobody is arguing that Hitler was basically an average Joe who just got caught up in his bad side. The point is that Hitler was so deranged and completely removed from reality that while committing the most heinous acts humanity has ever seen he thought it was all fine and good, and there is a lesson to be learned in that.

Smith's comments weren't incorrect, inappropriate or anti-Semitic, they were just challenging and thought provoking.

[Strangler Lewis]

Originally Posted by Jazzman

So you think that Hitler went to bed every night thinking, "Bwahahaha!!! I did so much evil today! I am so evil and terrible! I'm the evilist, most terrible person who ever lived!!!"

I highly doubt that was the case. Even though he pretty much was the most evil and terrible person to ever live, he didn't think so and that is what Smith was speaking to. Nobody is arguing that Hitler was basically an average Joe who just got caught up in his bad side. The point is that Hitler was so deranged and completely removed from reality that while committing the most heinous acts humanity has ever seen he thought it was all fine and good, and there is a lesson to be learned in that.

Smith's comments weren't incorrect, inappropriate or anti-Semitic, they were just challenging and thought provoking.

I doubt that Hitler probably did not assess himself using adjectives like good or evil. However, I have no problem thinking he went to bed thinking, "Bwahaha!! I killed so many Jews, etc. today! I accumulated so much power today for myself and my country at the expense of the weak."

I'm certainly willing to think that Hitler was deranged and removed from reality, although since he was elected to rule a country that largely shared his views, I'm not sure that this is as apt as saying that he was the product of a sick or damaged culture in the same way we condemn inner city culture as sick or damaged.

I don't think Will Smith's comment captures any of this. He makes Hitler sound like someone who just couldn't see the other side of the argument. Since everyone who disagrees with me is willing to declare Hitler objectively evil, I still fail to see that Smith's comments are particularly useful.

[Jazzman]

Originally Posted by Strangler Lewis

since he was elected to rule a country that largely shared his views

Sidenote: this is not true at all. The German people were suffering the effects of the Treaty of Versailles. They were demoralized and felt oppressed and Hitler took advantage of a movement (set into motion long before he arose) to reinvigorate Germany to seize power for himself. One of the first things he did was eliminate any political opposition, including top military leaders, which might stand in his way. The German people supported him as far as rebuilding Germany and its economy, but they didn't at all wholesale believe in exterminating Jews, world domination and all that. They just wanted a stronger Germany. Remember that a lot of the Jews who were killed were German. Look into accounts of German life during the war and you'll see that by and large, with the exception of the rich upper class the German populace suffered greatly under Hitler and disliked him as much as, if not more than, anyone else.

[Strangler Lewis]

Originally Posted by Jazzman

Sidenote: this is not true at all. The German people were suffering the effects of the Treaty of Versailles. They were demoralized and felt oppressed and Hitler took advantage of a movement (set into motion long before he arose) to reinvigorate Germany to seize power for himself. One of the first things he did was eliminate any political opposition, including top military leaders, which might stand in his way. The German people supported him as far as rebuilding Germany and its economy, but they didn't at all wholesale believe in exterminating Jews, world domination and all that. They just wanted a stronger Germany. Remember that a lot of the Jews who were killed were German. Look into accounts of German life during the war and you'll see that by and large, with the exception of the rich upper class the German populace suffered greatly under Hitler and disliked him as much as, if not more than, anyone else.

I do remember. They're in the family tree. They were also upper class. At least until their properties and businesses were confiscated. And I didn't say that the majority of Germans went so far as to favor mass extermination, although I think that's an open question. They certainly favored discrimination, confiscation and allowing their kids to beat my dad up for being Jewish so that he skipped school most of the time.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by Jazzman

So you think that Hitler went to bed every night thinking, "Bwahahaha!!! I did so much evil today! I am so evil and terrible! I'm the evilist, most terrible person who ever lived!!!"

This is too funny and needed to be posted again

[€uroMeinke]

I think Hitler has become iconinc for evil in our culture and thus a benchmark - but I think sometimes demonizing him allows us to ignore the same or even worse evils going on today. But becasue of his iconic nature, no reasonable conversation can be had about him - thus Godwins law.