Posted on 03/25/2013 10:58:17 AM PDT by TurboZamboni
People across the political spectrum, from left to right and back again, seem to revel in perverse delight when comparing the policies of a political foe to those of the Nazis. Sometimes, they will skip the group comparisons and head straight into drawing personal parallels between the individual in question and Adolf Hitler. The practice is so onerous that, in the Dark Ages of the internet (1990), an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation named Mike Godwin coined what has become known as Godwin's Law. It states that, the longer and more involved an argument becomes, the more likely a Nazi/Hitler reference is. A corollary to Godwin's Law is that the first person in a given debate to drop a Nazi reference automatically loses the argument by default. The reason is simple enough: As upsetting and egregious as the policies of a given leader might be, the situation in modern-day America isn't within a country mile of being Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Furthermore, George W. Bush wasn't Hitler, and Barack Obama isn't Hitler, and various other national political leaders aren't Hitler. Only Hitler was Hitler, and at last check, he was still thoroughly dead.
(Excerpt) Read more at reviewonline.com ...
Godwin?
I was about to post that your link looped around to this same thread. Which made me think for a second you were the author of the article. LOLS!
One does not simply Make a Boromir Meme and not use it!
“Maybe he thinks as long as millions dont die in concentration camps, its all good.”
I believe Marx expected 25%-30% of the population would be lost in the forced transition to the new socialist society. Maybe that is his number. Silly “kulaks”.
Godwin sounds like a nazi.
I dunno. Looks like a good ol' boy to me (see post 21)
The argument that goes so far as to invoke Hitler is an argument that has gone too far. By the time the Hitler reference occurs the casual observer will have concluded that both participants are idiots.
The Bible covers this with considerable clarity and wisdom.
Proverbs 26:4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
That sage advice is just another way of saying, "don't argue with an idiot". The point is that when you decide to argue with an idiot no one listening will be able to tell which of you is the idiot.
Some earlier advice from Proverbs suggests that you not engage in an argument with a fool in the first place.
Proverbs 14:7 "Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge".
That is an interesting theory. Some people only have the Hitler analogy, though. I guess that means they are idiots. And I guess anybody who argues with them has to be an idiot too. But how do you know that in advance, especially online?
Sberna's not wrong that common sense is needed. You have to be able to tell legitimate analogies from illegitimate ones. His history, though, can be disputed (as can the history he criticizes). If you had widespread gun ownership in Germany in the 30s things might have taken a different turn. It's interesting though, that when we took over in 1945, we did disarm all Germans.
Proverbs 14:7 “Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge”.
I’d never be in college again...
Liberal Fascism Explained
by: Amanda Busse, January 16, 2008
http://www.campusreportonline.net/main/articles.php?id=2062
That’s the operant term: collectivist.
Communists, Fascists, Socialists.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.