They Thought They Were Free (1955)

"…it consumed all one’s energies, coming on top of the work one really wanted to do. You can see how easy it was, then, not to think about fundamental things. One had no time."

Well, that resonated just a bit. Oh well, back to doomscrolling.

Re: They Thought They Were Free (1955)

#7

Post by Hilift » Sun, Sep 21, 2025, 11:42 AM UTC

No, they noticed. 90 years ago, 2/3 of the world's books were in Germany. They were educated and literate and knew what they were doing and what was happening. Germans were acutely aware of the reality of the day to day situation and their previous history in WW1.

Re: They Thought They Were Free (1955)

#8

Post by dctoedt » Sun, Sep 21, 2025, 11:43 AM UTC

kleiba wrote: post #2

Posted here multiple times before: - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42943973 (02/2025, 473 comments) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25083315 (11/2020, 382 comments) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31042304 (04/2022, 239 comments)

Spaced repetition promotes learning.

Re: They Thought They Were Free (1955)

#9

Post by Amezarak » Sun, Sep 21, 2025, 11:45 AM UTC

brightball wrote: post #5

I wonder how many people interpret this based on “the other side” rather than objectively?

[flagged]

Re: They Thought They Were Free (1955)

#10

Post by giorgioz » Sun, Sep 21, 2025, 11:47 AM UTC

Hilift wrote: post #7

No, they noticed. 90 years ago, 2/3 of the world's books were in Germany. They were educated and literate and knew what they were doing and what was happening. Germans were acutely aware of the reality of the day to day situation and their previous history in WW1.

Seems unlikely Germany owned 66% of the world books in 1935.

I'm not counter claiming the rest, but that fact seems off.