12. How to fight the rise of fascism and Neo-Nazism.
The National Socialists did not rise to power just from mesmerizing people. The National Socialists were voted in as a reaction to the allied powers' collective punishment of the German people, and the horrible economic situation in the Weimar Republic. Instead of trying to rebuild and reintegrate Germany back into Europe and the world as quickly as smoothly possible, which would have made it unlikely for totalitarian ideologies such as National Socialism to gain power, the allied governments forced the Treaty of Versailles onto Germany, which restricted the size of the German Military, put Germany into deep debt that would take three quarters of a century to pay and initially wrecked the economy, and took chunks of German lands where German people lived, and abused them.
All of the humiliation, combined with post traumatic stress disorder, created a situation in which the German people were willing to vote in anyone who will make them feel strong again.
Here's a comment from the Foundation For Economic Freedom:
Flemming Rose:
"This European narrative is based on a widely accepted interpretation of what led to the Holocaust. It basically says that anti-Semitic hate speech was the decisive trigger, that evil words beget evil deeds, that if only the Weimar government had clamped down on the National Socialists' verbal persecution of the Jews in the years prior to Hitler's rise to power, then the Holocaust would never have happened. I was confronted with this argument during the Danish cartoon crisis, in 2006. People condemned the cartoons as Islamophobic, and warned that the demonization of Muslims might trigger mass violence. "We know what happened in the twenties and thirties," critical voices argued, referring to the seemingly inevitable link between speech and violence.
Researching my book, I looked into what actually happened in the Weimar Republic. I found that, contrary to what most people think, Weimar Germany did have hate-speech laws, and they were applied quite frequently. The assertion that Nazi propaganda played a significant role in mobilizing anti-Jewish sentiment is, of course, irrefutable. But to claim that the Holocaust could have been prevented if only anti-Semitic speech and Nazi propaganda had been banned has little basis in reality. Leading Nazis such as Joseph Goebbels, Theodor Fritsch, and Julius Streicher were all prosecuted for anti-Semitic speech. Streicher served two prison sentences. Rather than deterring the Nazis and countering anti-Semitism, the many court cases served as effective public-relations machinery, affording Streicher the kind of attention he would never have found in a climate of a free and open debate. In the years from 1923 to 1933, Der Stürmer [Streicher's newspaper] was either confiscated or editors taken to court on no fewer than thirty-six occasions. The more charges Streicher faced, the greater became the admiration of his supporters. The courts became an important platform for Streicher's campaign against the Jews. In the words of a present-day civil-rights campaigner, pre-Hitler Germany had laws very much like the anti-hate laws of today, and they were enforced with some vigor. As history so painfully testifies, this type of legislation proved ineffectual on the one occasion when there was a real argument for it.
I have yet to be presented with evidence for the proposition that hate-speech laws are an effective instrument to prevent violence."
And another comment:
I had to take my own advice and come back to my comment because after thinking about it and reading some more: the situation around Hitler wasn't as simple as him having 'the freedom to spread his ideas'. There was a lot of opposition to him at the time, and when he was able to take over the German parliament and control the debate, effectively eliminating freedom of speech, that is when he really gained power - so yes, you're right that more freedom of speech and equal, open debate would have been better for society.
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Here's something I write from awhile ago.
"To me, people should see history AS IS, NOT as a POLITICAL THING. In my opinion, censorship actually politicizes history because it's usually politically motivated (unless one doesn't count moralists wanting the government to make decisions for the people).
As for the rise of Neo-Nazis, so what? How many people do you know take them seriously? I think that a lot of Neo-Nazis on the internet are trolls who do little more than muddy the waters on any political issue that can possibly have anything to do with Jewish people, historical revisionism, and/or immigration.
Not only do they already alienate people who don't perfectly agree with them, but also, they barely have real unity among themselves. I've seen a lot of people in those circles debate which race is truly "white" or rather or not Christianity should be practiced or things like that.
I can even show you members of the alt-right who don't identify with Neo-Nazis, as they see Hitler as controlled opposition to the central banks, a contributor to the creation of Israel or something in that manner.
If you don't like the current trend in racism in Europe that stems from immigration issues, then stop messing up countries worldwide with wars and IMF predatory loans, rebuild countries that need help, get control of borders, deport troublemakers, and make legal immigrants assimilate.
If you dislike Nazism, teach people to question what they read, and to adopt the non-aggression principle and individualism with the rule of law.
Sheesh. It's 2017, we have the internet, and I can't believe humans have such a hard time figuring this stuff out."
Reasons for the rise of the NSDAP, other than the trauma of WW1 and the humiliation from the Treaty of Versailles, is the collectivism of German culture, as explained in the video The Validity of Nazi Comparisons - feat. Three Arrows, and the child abuse prevalent in German and Austrian cultures;
The Childhood Origins of the Holocaust | The Association for Psychohistory
The Political Consequences of Child Abuse | The Association for Psychohistory
A Suicidal Embrace: War as Self-Punishment and Suicide | The Association for Psychohistory
The Origins of War in Child Abuse | Stefan Molyneux Reads Free Full Audiobook
With the worldwide decline of child abuse, along with predictions from Whatifalthist's The Four Trends of the 21st Century., I have cautious optimism for mankind becoming more tolerant and peaceful.