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George Orwell’s 1940 Review of Mein Kampf
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Re: George Orwell’s 1940 Review of Mein Kampf
#282I wonder no more why my people, after Habeck announcing more than a uncomfortable winter, are united in supporting the people of Ukraine. He offered suffering for a cause. While the morale is quite different, the social mechanics repeat.
He might have decided so but the people don't share his cause. They are suffering with the heatwave and will also freeze during winter. Time will tell just how far his cause is going to last (it wont) People in the West are quick to forget that fight against Nazism wasn't unanimous. Many in America supported it. Many in Western Europe supported it. It was only when there was economic interests at stake they jumped in…
But its a lot more than just about the "need to suffer for a foreign country", isn't it? Its about the geopolitical interest of Europe. To be dependent on an autocratic foreign power (in this case gas) shows the problems.
For example, if Russia takes over Ukraine, it would make Russia by far the largest exporter of wheat in the world (from 22% to 33%) (second: US 16%) [1]. They would gain additional power in other market commodities like corn, sunflower, steel, etc.
Russia is already playing with their resource exports, I expect them to use it more whether or not they managed to achieve their goals regarding Ukraine. And other partnerships are building and increasing too like BRICS, CSTO, SCO.
Step back and think for a second: Countries staying neutral because they are dependent on the aggressors export resources are exactly that type of influence that superpowers like to have.
Sources: [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wheat_exp...
Re: George Orwell’s 1940 Review of Mein Kampf
#283Hitler tried to use copyright law to prevent translations from being published, notably in France.
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Any group with unpalatable views to the general public don't want to have their views expressed in the open. There isn't some grand parallel to be had here. The meetings in Davos are never televised despite their influence on the masses. Recently the Washington Post Doxxed the LibsOfTikTok account creator, who's only crime was posting the views of socially liberal people on tiktok. Once your uncommon views become mainstream they become ripe for criticism on a mass scale.
Re: George Orwell’s 1940 Review of Mein Kampf
#284Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do you inherently ascribe it to "male loser" vs. just "loser"?
How many female dictators or mass shooters are you aware of?
They've been mostly outside the West.
Tansu Çiller in Turkey, continued state policy of suppressing the Kurds
Khertek Anchimaa, Sükhbaataryn Yanjmaa, both chairwomen in Soviet satellites in Asia. I'm not aware of atrocities, just leading authoritarian regimes.
Isabel Perón in Argentina was democratically elected, but acted as a strongwoman in a time of political convolution. She was often eclipsed by her far more volatile, openly fascist Minister of Social Welfare, José López Rega, so you can contend how much repression came from each.
Sheikh Hasina, currently active, an electoral autocrat of modern times, violently suppresses opposition in Bangladesh.
Right now Jeanine Añez is serving jail time in Bolivia, following a show trial, the likes of which she was arranging for political opposition, that she also suppressed with the military. She stomped into the Bolivian Government palace with Bible in hand and her goons tearing down indigenous banners, promising to bring God back into the country.
And well, more, but none leading the great empires, no.
Re: George Orwell’s 1940 Review of Mein Kampf
#285this is tangentially related, but i've always loved reading this critique of orwell & 1984 by asimov: http://www.newworker.org/ncptrory/1984.htm i've always thought it a valid critique, and it makes me think less of orwell's writings
Thank you for posting this. I really enjoyed it.
Re: George Orwell’s 1940 Review of Mein Kampf
#286Earlier quoted context omitted.
>The fact is that there is something deeply appealing about him. I think the magic ingredient is utter, palpable self conviction. Complete unwavering dedication to your own rightness, regardless of any counter argument, any prevarication, even evidence to the contrary, is intoxicating. You don't need to argue, you don't need to convince, you don't need reasons, you're just right by definition. The simplicity and lack…
I think the grievance husbandry is part of the cocktail too. Obviously if your message is too complicated you’re going to lose people, but if you’re operating at an effective complexity level, you still need a story to tell. “You’ve been very badly treated by not rich people, rather someone else” sells in job lots even today.
Good point. Resentment is the root of all evil. You create a narrative where you’re actually the real victims, and then that justifies ‘retaliation’ at almost any scale or severity. It even justifies lies or distortion because it’s in the service of a ‘greater truth’.
Re: George Orwell’s 1940 Review of Mein Kampf
#287Earlier quoted context omitted.
Eh, war is simply fun. It’s appealing to males in particular, and our testosterone tends to lock in the intoxication. There’s a reason that Battlefield is one of the most successful gaming franchises of all time, and that it’s very hard to find any videogame that doesn’t involve some kind of warfare. (There are dozens of wonderful counter examples: Minecraft, celeste, undertale, sim city, stardew valley. But for ever…
> Eh, war is simply fun. Well an idealized version of war that’s designed to glorify it could be fun. Is actual war fun? Is the Ukraine war fun? I doubt it’s fun for any of the participants. It’s not fun for Ukrainian soldiers, it’s not fun for Russian soldiers, and it’s not fun for Russian or Ukrainian civilians. Maybe it’s fun for some onlookers that like to cheer and spectate, but I would argue that speaks more to…
There's a video floating around of Ukrainian soldiers managing the unusual feat of destroying a helicopter (and obviously its pilot) using a Stugna-P anti-tank guided missile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8Um69fbHA Fun might not be the right word for it but you can't tell me that the cheer from the soldiers when the missile struck home wasn't born of positive emotion, even in the midst of the hell of war.
Re: George Orwell’s 1940 Review of Mein Kampf
#288this is tangentially related, but i've always loved reading this critique of orwell & 1984 by asimov: http://www.newworker.org/ncptrory/1984.htm i've always thought it a valid critique, and it makes me think less of orwell's writings
Asimov spends criticizes how Orwell got future technology wrong.
But I wonder how the technology “1984” corresponds to the technology in Eastern Block countries circa 1984.
HBOs Chernobyl is praised for its accuracy of Soviet life in the 1980d, and it looks a lot like what Orwell describes in 1984.
And some of Asimov descriptions of 1980s tech were fads:
> His hero finds it difficult in his world of 1984 to get shoelaces or razor blades. So would I in the real world of the 1980s, for so many people use slip-on shoes and electric razors.
I’ve purchased two sets of shoelaces and 20 sets of razor blades (in bulk) this year.
Re: George Orwell’s 1940 Review of Mein Kampf
#289> "Whereas Socialism, and even capitalism in a more grudging way, have said to people ‘I offer you a good time,’ Hitler has said to them ‘I offer you struggle, danger and death,’ and as a result a whole nation flings itself at his feet. Perhaps later on they will get sick of it and change their minds, as at the end of the last war." I think there's been a profound change in popular thinking on this since the end of W…
"made the 'world leaders' less enthusiastic about sending the young people off to die in wars in the name of national patriotism and defense of the country." Not supported by current events.
Less enthusiastic != Completely against
NATO os certainly very reluctant to send forces into Russia, or even Ukraine for that matter. They can only send weapons to Ukraine.
Re: George Orwell’s 1940 Review of Mein Kampf
#290Earlier quoted context omitted.
The answer to this is sports. War is competition through violence. When you remove the violence you get peaceful competition. It satisfies the tribal urge to fight things different than you, but also encourages healthy behaviors. Respect for your opponent. Accepting loss. Recognizing your weaknesses and working to improve them.
> The answer to this is sports. War is competition through violence. Absolutely not. Sports is competition through violence, as well. Watch a game of American football, or ice hockey, or basketball for that matter and be able to say otherwise with a straight face. The answer is cooperative, not competitive, activities.
Calling football or hockey "violence" dilutes the meaning of the word. May as well call a high five violence.