RickWhite
Well-Known Member
In discussing the Holocaust there is one question that always seems to come to mind. What could possibly convince so many people to go along with Hitler’s madness?
There are many answers to this question. For purposes of this writing, I am concerned only with the ones that parallel certain attitudes that prevail today. The first and most relevant has to be the power of social proof.
“Social proof, also known as informational social influence, is a psychological phenomenon that occurs in ambiguous social situations when people are unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior. Making the assumption that surrounding people possess more knowledge about the situation, they will deem the behavior of others as appropriate or better informed. Since observation of others usually provides only inconclusive information about what behavior is most profitable, the term 'informational social influence' is superior. Social influence in general can lead to conformity of large groups of individuals in either correct or mistaken choices, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as herd behavior. Although informational social influence at least in part reflects a rational motive to take into account the information of others, formal analysis shows that it can cause people to converge too quickly upon a single choice, so that decisions of even large groups of individuals may reflect very little information (see information cascades).”
Wikipedia
One can easily see how the Nazis used the power of social proof in order to garner support for their cause. In fact, they made specific efforts to influence people’s thinking in regard to deamonizing and scapegoating Jews and others. One way they did this, was through a massive propaganda campaign led by the infamous Joesph Goebbels. Another was through the indoctrination of children by way of the “Hitler Youth,” in which membership was universally encouraged. Yet another, was in the mass rationalization for these deranged views. To avoid the obvious truth that they were arbitrarily singling out a group of their citizens and deamonizing them, they came up with a host of fraudulent grievances and convinced the public that these grievances were valid.
Where this becomes interesting, and downright frightening is in the many parallels we see between the social influence used by Hitler and that of today’s Left. Today we see much of the same Jew hatred, and just as sophistry was used rationalize it in the past, so it is today. The most wide spread and well known of thinly veiled anti-Semitism is in the claim that the Jews stole land from the Palestinians and are committing mass human rights violations. The claim is frequently echoed by those who are wholly ignorant of mid-East politics and the history of the region. The fact that one needs know nothing to find an excuse to hate Jews demonstrates that the thinking of America’s Left often mirrors that of Nazi Germany. In fact, it is not uncommon to hear this same anti Zionism crowd parrot anti-Jewish arguments not knowing they are quotes taken straight from famous anti Jewish literature such as “Mien Kampf “or “Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”
Another group we see deamonized by the Left is what they refer to as the “typical white Christian Male.” Even in the way they refer to people that happen to be White and Christian and Male is defamatory and meant to poison the well against them. We have all heard so many accusations from the Left with regard to “typical white Christians” that examples are not necessary. One technique used by the Left to deamonize anyone white and Christian is particularly interesting. The technique (very common to the Left) is to accuse those they wish to deamonize as being evil. We have all heard white Christians accused of racism, sexism, homophobia and other things universally despised by society. Likewise, the Nazis rationalized their accusations of the Jews on the grounds that they were the cause of all of Germany’s social ills and that they possessed every characteristic seen as deplorable by German society. The Left does exactly the same when they accuse White Christians of these things; a claim that is unwavering and ubiquitous on the Left.
When corporations fail, the Left, instead of blaming individuals witch would be the reasonable thing to do, blames an imaginary group that they see as a secret society of elite power holders (white males either Christian or Jewish). In Nazi Germany, and before, the belief was in a global Jewish conspiracy, often referred to as a “conspiracy of world bankers” among other names. The origins date back to the aforementioned “protocols” and have persisted to this day. When we hear the Left referring to conspiracies of world bankers or of a power elite, they are simply recycling old anti-Semitic doctrine; some knowingly, others unwittingly.
Another old anti-Semitic claim often recycled by the Left is that these “elite” (Jews then, the wealthy today), are hording the Country’s wealth and oppressing everyone else in the process. Yet again, all of society’s problems and hardships are attributed not to various facts of life, but to an evil group that needs to be singled out and destroyed.
To be fair, there are many who would argue that the Right are the ones who show similarities with the Nazis due to their hatred of others. This however is yet another attempt to deamonize those on the Right. Although there are people who do not agree with homosexuality on religious grounds it simply isn’t fair to accuse them of hatred as we all have a right to our opinions - especially religious ones. As for those who identify themselves as Christians and do genuinely express hatred, understand that those individuals do so in spite of their religious teachings and not because of them. It is simply unfair to blame an entire group of people for the wrong doings of a few individuals. This is just as true when discussing Christians or others as it is when discussing Blacks. Certainly nobody on the Left would make the argument that because many Blacks commit crimes they are all guilty of these crimes. And yet, the Left has no problem using the same fallacious logic against their imagined enemies. But of course when one really wishes to deamonize and scapegoat an imaginary group, logic seldom gets in the way.
Nazi Germany was the result of a type of group think that shows a striking similarity to that of the Left in America today. I have little doubt that if we raise the question of who, based on their worldview and mode of thinking, would have been most likely to pledge their allegiance to Hitler, it is clear that it would far more likely be America’s Left than America’s Right.
There are many answers to this question. For purposes of this writing, I am concerned only with the ones that parallel certain attitudes that prevail today. The first and most relevant has to be the power of social proof.
“Social proof, also known as informational social influence, is a psychological phenomenon that occurs in ambiguous social situations when people are unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior. Making the assumption that surrounding people possess more knowledge about the situation, they will deem the behavior of others as appropriate or better informed. Since observation of others usually provides only inconclusive information about what behavior is most profitable, the term 'informational social influence' is superior. Social influence in general can lead to conformity of large groups of individuals in either correct or mistaken choices, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as herd behavior. Although informational social influence at least in part reflects a rational motive to take into account the information of others, formal analysis shows that it can cause people to converge too quickly upon a single choice, so that decisions of even large groups of individuals may reflect very little information (see information cascades).”
Wikipedia
One can easily see how the Nazis used the power of social proof in order to garner support for their cause. In fact, they made specific efforts to influence people’s thinking in regard to deamonizing and scapegoating Jews and others. One way they did this, was through a massive propaganda campaign led by the infamous Joesph Goebbels. Another was through the indoctrination of children by way of the “Hitler Youth,” in which membership was universally encouraged. Yet another, was in the mass rationalization for these deranged views. To avoid the obvious truth that they were arbitrarily singling out a group of their citizens and deamonizing them, they came up with a host of fraudulent grievances and convinced the public that these grievances were valid.
Where this becomes interesting, and downright frightening is in the many parallels we see between the social influence used by Hitler and that of today’s Left. Today we see much of the same Jew hatred, and just as sophistry was used rationalize it in the past, so it is today. The most wide spread and well known of thinly veiled anti-Semitism is in the claim that the Jews stole land from the Palestinians and are committing mass human rights violations. The claim is frequently echoed by those who are wholly ignorant of mid-East politics and the history of the region. The fact that one needs know nothing to find an excuse to hate Jews demonstrates that the thinking of America’s Left often mirrors that of Nazi Germany. In fact, it is not uncommon to hear this same anti Zionism crowd parrot anti-Jewish arguments not knowing they are quotes taken straight from famous anti Jewish literature such as “Mien Kampf “or “Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”
Another group we see deamonized by the Left is what they refer to as the “typical white Christian Male.” Even in the way they refer to people that happen to be White and Christian and Male is defamatory and meant to poison the well against them. We have all heard so many accusations from the Left with regard to “typical white Christians” that examples are not necessary. One technique used by the Left to deamonize anyone white and Christian is particularly interesting. The technique (very common to the Left) is to accuse those they wish to deamonize as being evil. We have all heard white Christians accused of racism, sexism, homophobia and other things universally despised by society. Likewise, the Nazis rationalized their accusations of the Jews on the grounds that they were the cause of all of Germany’s social ills and that they possessed every characteristic seen as deplorable by German society. The Left does exactly the same when they accuse White Christians of these things; a claim that is unwavering and ubiquitous on the Left.
When corporations fail, the Left, instead of blaming individuals witch would be the reasonable thing to do, blames an imaginary group that they see as a secret society of elite power holders (white males either Christian or Jewish). In Nazi Germany, and before, the belief was in a global Jewish conspiracy, often referred to as a “conspiracy of world bankers” among other names. The origins date back to the aforementioned “protocols” and have persisted to this day. When we hear the Left referring to conspiracies of world bankers or of a power elite, they are simply recycling old anti-Semitic doctrine; some knowingly, others unwittingly.
Another old anti-Semitic claim often recycled by the Left is that these “elite” (Jews then, the wealthy today), are hording the Country’s wealth and oppressing everyone else in the process. Yet again, all of society’s problems and hardships are attributed not to various facts of life, but to an evil group that needs to be singled out and destroyed.
To be fair, there are many who would argue that the Right are the ones who show similarities with the Nazis due to their hatred of others. This however is yet another attempt to deamonize those on the Right. Although there are people who do not agree with homosexuality on religious grounds it simply isn’t fair to accuse them of hatred as we all have a right to our opinions - especially religious ones. As for those who identify themselves as Christians and do genuinely express hatred, understand that those individuals do so in spite of their religious teachings and not because of them. It is simply unfair to blame an entire group of people for the wrong doings of a few individuals. This is just as true when discussing Christians or others as it is when discussing Blacks. Certainly nobody on the Left would make the argument that because many Blacks commit crimes they are all guilty of these crimes. And yet, the Left has no problem using the same fallacious logic against their imagined enemies. But of course when one really wishes to deamonize and scapegoat an imaginary group, logic seldom gets in the way.
Nazi Germany was the result of a type of group think that shows a striking similarity to that of the Left in America today. I have little doubt that if we raise the question of who, based on their worldview and mode of thinking, would have been most likely to pledge their allegiance to Hitler, it is clear that it would far more likely be America’s Left than America’s Right.
