Citing the Nazis
Citing the Nazis It is a fact universally acknowledged that if one invokes the Nazis in an argument, that argument is lost. Everyone knows that, don’t they? Bring up Hitler in an online thread and that thread comes to an end. Compare someone to a Nazi and you are the one who ends up looking ridiculous and extreme. Putting something modern day alongside the Nazis is considered the ultimate in overreactions. And in the vast majority of cases, that’s true. But at the same time, there is a tremendous risk in dismissing all such comparisons with such instant contempt. Because if we aren’t careful, we might end up forgetting one of the most important lessons that history can ever teach us – how people with extremist, dangerous views can work their way into power. For anyone who has it available to them, I would strongly recommend watching the first series of the BBC documentary series Rise of the Nazis because while it is a hard and sobering watch, it is also a lesson in the dang...