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The Final Speech from The Great Dictator (1940)

charliechaplin.com

151–160 of 412 posts

Re: The Final Speech from The Great Dictator (1940)

#151

Meanwhile: > Trump tells rally immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood of our country’

Given that he's married to an immigrant, I highly doubt he said that.

I mean, you can just look this stuff up; it’s not like what ol’ Mini-Hands says at campaign rallies is secret or anything: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-says-im...

What you have to remember is that he’s not, you know, a smart guy. And the base he’s appealing to with this stuff are also generally, well, probably not in the running for any Nobel prizes.

Re: The Final Speech from The Great Dictator (1940)

#152

"Don't let your mind speak louder than your heart" - I think many have this so very wrong. Is support for fascism is a sensible, logical, well-thought-out policy? No, it's a heart-felt, emotional appeal to scared, proud, paranoid, crude, brutal people (who seem to be about half of our neighbors). surely the mindful decision is empathetic, constructive, and wise - not just base.

> "Don't let your mind speak louder than your heart"

The "heart" has always symbolized goodness, kindness, love and benevolence.

That's the intended message here: always infuse your decisions with 'humanity'.

Re: The Final Speech from The Great Dictator (1940)

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While this was a pithy comment, I'd totally upvote and read an article on how someone who frequents HN found themselves in the scenario you mentioned.

There's a long story which I hope soon to be able to document. One thing I learned was never, ever, ever to judge people on first impressions. I think I thought "Oh no" when they put that kid in my cell, but he was an utterly fantastic cellmate. His case was fascinating; he had stolen approximately $60,000 over several months as a night cashier at Target by managing to pick the lock on the safes next to the register…

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Re: The Final Speech from The Great Dictator (1940)

#154

I'd wager it's more like we don't think at all and feel only anger. At least online that is.

I feel in my heart a deep sense of empathy after watching that. Like the quote from National Treasure, “People don’t talk like that anymore.” But the response from Nicolas Cage is, “But they feel it”. As I understand it, Hitler used an economic narrative to build his team of supporters and eventually, desperate times cause people to vote with their wallets. Does anyone else feel like the advent of modern online inter…

I'm not convinced the Web has gotten worse (or Web interactions worst necessarily). Maybe.

I kind of think it's the web itself that has trapped people indoors and into un-social lives when, in the past, boredom would have sent them out into the world to find some kind of entertainment or actual companionship.

(And I speak as someone who thinks I also needs to get out more.)

Re: The Final Speech from The Great Dictator (1940)

#155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given that he's married to an immigrant, I highly doubt he said that.

I mean, you can just look this stuff up; it’s not like what ol’ Mini-Hands says at campaign rallies is secret or anything: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-says-im... What you have to remember is that he’s not, you know, a smart guy. And the base he’s appealing to with this stuff are also generally, well, probably not in the running for any Nobel prizes.

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Re: The Final Speech from The Great Dictator (1940)

#156
post #30

I find it ironic that "We think too much and feel to little" appears to contradict the conclusion at the end "Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness."

I don’t see the contradiction. Humans can be emotional and at the same use science to make all humans life better! In fact why would we ever develop any technology that makes life better for others if we don’t have any feelings for them?

"It would not be much of a universe if it wasn't home to the people you love."

-- Stephen Hawking

Re: The Final Speech from The Great Dictator (1940)

#157
post #16
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's not forget about the feed algoritms that will prioritize anger and only anger because this is what drives impressions.

That's still indicative of choosing to spend your time in an environment where content is algorithmically controlled. Which is most of the mainstream ones, but following along with the mainstream is a choice.

Which environments today aren't? Everything online is to a degree, and the offline ones are heavily influenced by online ones.

Re: The Final Speech from The Great Dictator (1940)

#158
post #98
post #85

> And so long as men die, liberty will never perish > Over the past ten years, the [longevity research] industry has grown in financing from $500 million in 2013 to a peak of $6.2 billion in 2021.

Everytime I read about longevity research and how many people are in favor of it I can't stop thinking about this speech. And one of the endings of Cyberpunk 2077.

I think also in some respects Altered Carbon, the Netflix series (at least the first season).

Re: The Final Speech from The Great Dictator (1940)

#159
post #142

I'd wager it's more like we don't think at all and feel only anger. At least online that is.

Given the amount of bad encounters I've had driving post-2020, and interacting with strangers, I think it's seeping into the real world as well. The way people act and speak in public feels noticeably different than even a few years ago, let alone 10-20. People are very short with each other now. Even more disturbing, I think I can feel the change in myself too at times.

Driving brings out the worst in people. You're all trying to get somewhere, you're all a danger to one another, and, critically, you can't see faces well. So, you end up receiving offenses against you as if they're personal (because you're you!) but commit offenses as if they're impersonal (because others look like cars, not human beings).

Would you rudely shove youself in front of someone at the market to get the next spot at the cash register? Probably not. But, would you block oncoming traffic by tailgaiting the person who took a left in front of you, instead of just waiting one more light cycle? Absolutely.

Re: The Final Speech from The Great Dictator (1940)

#160
post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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Those policies aren't proven to work and your caveat renders the assertion meaningless. But regardless: it is well studied that fascism is an appeal to emotion, not reason. Neither Italian fascism nor German nazism were rational or grounded in science. They were pseudoscientific and appealed to notions of blood, purity, sacrifice and nationalism -- that is, they appealed to emotion. They clouded the reason.

To be fair to the people of the day, that pseudoscience was considered mainstream legitimate science at the time, strongly promoted by their equivalent of Elon Musk on their equivalent of ExTwitter.

Just part of what terrifies me about the leadership of the world’s superpower from next year being a toss up between two guys who would have been taught that eugenics was settled fact in school.

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