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Hitler was brilliant and gifted in public oratory in hoodwinking the German people in the early 1930s by blaming Jews and others including Communists, Socialists for Germany's problems. A term called 'scapegoating'.
The German's hurting from the worldwide depression, believed the Nazi's and their extreme right wing idealogy- the Nazi's practiced 'mob rule' in the streets, beatings of opponents, and of course anti semetism.
Once in power the Nazi's set up concentration camps for any dissenters- who dared to oppose the regime. The German people sadly went along with them.
True, except as far as the ¨Jewish Problem¨the German people were raring to go. They werent tricked, forced, hoodwinked, persuaded or otherwise led along some path they hadnt already been comfortably living on for centuries. It was deeply a part of their cultural identity. Hitler put it into mass action.
People always say this. Was Hitler really brilliant though? or is man just generally vulnerable to misinformation/propaganda?
What made him brilliant? whats the evidence? that he had an army? I'm going to make a leap so bare with me. Sarah Palin has an army (granted extremely small in comparison to Hitler). But is she brilliant? Nope.
At any given moment any schlub can gain to attention of the masses and have the power to make them do destructive things.
Define brilliant.
Do I think he was ultimately an extremely intelligent man with plenty of insights into human nature? Absolutely.
Do I think he a lazy, ill-tempered, bipolar, psychopath who believed in some extremely destructive and stupid things and was willing to kill anyone (even his closest friends) who stood in his way? Absolutely.
Ultimately, I think he was intelligent, but he had countless personal and ideological flaws that turned someone who under the right circumstances could have been a truly great leader. He had a lot of the ingredients of someone who could have achieved good things. He also had a lot of the ingredients of a tyrant. In the end, his evil side won long before he ever achieved true power.
I'd also like to point out that a lot of "good" leaders and a lot of "bad" leaders tend to have similar personality traits. They tend to be alpha males (mentally and personality wise, but not always physically), they tend to take unpleasant news rather badly, they are very ambitious, they are often lazy when it comes to things they have little interest in, but extreme drive when it comes to things that do interest them, and they are masters of social climbing.
In the end, it comes down to how they view people (as ends or means) and what they believe (Pol Pot was supposed to be a rather nice guy, I doubt if he was a supporter of liberal democracy, the end results would have been the same).
Do I think he was ultimately an extremely intelligent man with plenty of insights into human nature? Absolutely.
Do I think he a lazy, ill-tempered, bipolar, psychopath who believed in some extremely destructive and stupid things and was willing to kill anyone (even his closest friends) who stood in his way? Absolutely.
Ultimately, I think he was intelligent, but he had countless personal and ideological flaws that turned someone who under the right circumstances could have been a truly great leader. He had a lot of the ingredients of someone who could have achieved good things. He also had a lot of the ingredients of a tyrant. In the end, his evil side won long before he ever achieved true power.
I'd also like to point out that a lot of "good" leaders and a lot of "bad" leaders tend to have similar personality traits. They tend to be alpha males (mentally and personality wise, but not always physically), they tend to take unpleasant news rather badly, they are very ambitious, they are often lazy when it comes to things they have little interest in, but extreme drive when it comes to things that do interest them, and they are masters of social climbing.
In the end, it comes down to how they view people (as ends or means) and what they believe (Pol Pot was supposed to be a rather nice guy, I doubt if he was a supporter of liberal democracy, the end results would have been the same).
"You know, not many people knew it, but der Fuehrer vas a terrific dancer...."
True, except as far as the ¨Jewish Problem¨the German people were raring to go. They werent tricked, forced, hoodwinked, persuaded or otherwise led along some path they hadnt already been comfortably living on for centuries. It was deeply a part of their cultural identity. Hitler put it into mass action.
Many people perished : slavs, gypsies, homosexuals, mentally handicapped, physically handicapped.
Many people perished : slavs, gypsies, homosexuals, mentally handicapped, physically handicapped.
I know. They killed the Communists too, early on in Spain as well as at home, which is why it drives me so crazy that some people nowadays are so ignorant they insist, "The Nazis were Socialists -- the National Socialist Party!" I guess they were just told that, though, by some Trusted Leader.
nature is genetically random. just like you get lottery winners who should have never won etc. that's why you get people who have great talent but coupled with bad character or other flaws etc and they can rise to the top but you will see the negative effects or even conventional ideals of raw power etc. an individual that has great talent, power and beautiful character is really rare.
this is why any regime or philosphy is usually or has been flawed is because of the corruption of the leaders. even communism, socialism etc are not evil in themselves, it's just that humans are flawed and twist agendas to cause the usual harm or problems.
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