tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post3354210070206151844..comments2024-03-27T03:19:11.216-04:00Comments on Assistant Village Idiot: Naziism Was Not NationalismAssistant Village Idiothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-45488704913349597572009-02-07T00:21:00.000-05:002009-02-07T00:21:00.000-05:00And somehow, my usual eagle eye for misspellings d...And somehow, my usual eagle eye for misspellings didn't catch that particular one.karrdehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00205160745963596856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-49192736581341514672009-02-06T19:41:00.000-05:002009-02-06T19:41:00.000-05:00Hi karrde, I must apologize - it's been a long wee...Hi karrde, I must apologize - it's been a long week at work. I was on my way into work this morn, when I realized, upon trying to recall what I'd written here, that I typed Arianism instead of Aryanism - the first being a major early Church heresy of no relevance to this topic. To your point though, yes I've read some books and articles about Hitler's involvement in a lot of Super-race oriented theories - and possibly even membership in a Teutonic-themed anachronistic group, which may have spawned his delusional yearnings all the more. However, I do not pretend to be an expert in any of these matters - only having once had a more curious imagination in especially my latter-teen years (when Chariots of the Gods was one of my favorite books - enough said). Cheers, TomAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-42411639525985048732009-02-05T21:23:00.000-05:002009-02-05T21:23:00.000-05:00What I find curious is that "Nationalism" can almo...What I find curious is that "Nationalism" can almost be classified as a null-word.<BR/><BR/>That is, with one definition of "Nationalism", the post makes perfect sense. With another definition of "Nationalism", the post becomes sadly mistaken, perhaps even nonsense.<BR/><BR/>Neither definition does justice to the subject of Nationalism, and neither is totally wrong.<BR/><BR/>Thus, "Nationalism" has a null meaning, which can be filled with argumentative power by the appropriate choice of definition.<BR/><BR/>It should be easy, however, to argue that Nationalism was a <I>tool</I> of evil, not a <I>cause</I> of evil. <BR/><BR/>The same can be said about transnationalism. It can be a <I>tool</I> for either good or evil, but it does not itself make the deeds of the people who hold it either good or evil.karrdehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00205160745963596856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-58993593831619118532009-02-05T21:10:00.000-05:002009-02-05T21:10:00.000-05:00TomGI do not consider myself an expert in this...b...TomG<BR/><BR/>I do not consider myself an expert in this...but I became aware, partly through G.K. Chesterton's critique of the intellectual fads about Aryan people, that there was more imagination and wild theory than solid evidence about who and what the Aryans were, and who their rightful descendants are in the modern world.karrdehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00205160745963596856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-82941785942999537632009-02-05T17:58:00.000-05:002009-02-05T17:58:00.000-05:00drank, I take your point that a people seeking to ...drank, I take your point that a people seeking to be a nation are in some sense nationalists, whatever the current state of their boundaries is. I am making an additional distinction because of the connotations that nationalism currently carries in current discussion. A multi-ethnic America, founded around a set of ideas rather than a people, is accused of a dangerous nationalism, even though it is philosophically distinct from German nationalism in the 30's.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-86697139330625289112009-02-05T16:23:00.000-05:002009-02-05T16:23:00.000-05:00I recall reading once that this "Arianism" he took...I recall reading once that this "Arianism" he took so much stock in, was actually not the blue-eyed blondish race many interpreted (not that he personally was either anyway), but rather of some possibly (my memory not serving me well) Persian decent(?) Which would indicate his having been way off track in his racialist fantasies - to be so off on his terminology, and perhaps even ethnic attributions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-24339113953310446882009-02-05T15:12:00.000-05:002009-02-05T15:12:00.000-05:00"Nationalism" means a movement that identifies a p...<A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalism" REL="nofollow">"Nationalism"</A> means a movement that identifies a particular "people" or "nation" and seeks a sovereign state that is coextensive with that "nation". This fits, exactly, your description of the Nazi movement. <BR/><BR/>The Nazis gained absolute control of the German state and governed in the name of the German Volk. They used traditional instruments of state power (war, annexation, genocide) to pursue their ends. <BR/><BR/>When an Iraqi Arab expresses solidarity with a Palestinian Arab, it means that he hopes that <I>Palestine's</I> national aspirations will be realized. When the Nazis talked about solidarity with ethnic Germans in Austria or Czechoslovakia, it was a demand that those ethnic Germans and the territory they inhabited be brought under the control of the German state because they were part of the German Volk.<BR/><BR/>If this isn't "Nationalism", then what on earth is? <BR/><BR/>If your point is that the Nazis had a single ethnicity in their "people", while the US in 1940 defined its "people" as a plurality of ethnicities (as you say, the Japanese weren't on the list!), then you should say that. Both are examples of Nationalism.drankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893236953000599339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-47259855074111962572009-02-05T13:42:00.000-05:002009-02-05T13:42:00.000-05:00I agree that the Nazis were less Nationalists than...I agree that the Nazis were less Nationalists than they were racists and tribal.<BR/><BR/>I suppose the difficulty is the connotation that "nationalism" carries in common discourse today. The popular idea of nationalism today is an exultation of ones own nation or culture above all others - and typically at the expense of others. This is not how I see the response of the Allies. Rather, they responded like patriots.Quasimodohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06975543902013031816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-21512719242658272082009-02-04T23:05:00.000-05:002009-02-04T23:05:00.000-05:00An interesting post on an important topic.An interesting post on an important topic.David Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464681514800720063noreply@blogger.com