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Does Mein Kampf have a place in the study of Political Science


old man emu

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Before you go off on a tangent, I'm not espousing the anti-Semitism contained in Volume 1 of this two volume work. I'm looking at the political and economic philosophy presented in Volume 2 

 

Mein Kampf  Vol 2 outlines Hitler's political ideology and future plans for Germany. Much of this deals with returning Germany to its pre-WWI economic and political position on the world stage. Mein Kampf, in essence, lays out the ideological program Hitler established for the German revolution, by identifying the Jews and "Bolsheviks" as racially and ideologically inferior and threatening, and "Aryans" and National Socialists as racially superior and politically progressive. Hitler's revolutionary goals included expulsion of the Jews from Greater Germany and the unification of German peoples into one Greater Germany. Hitler desired to restore German lands to their greatest historical extent, real or imagined.

Leave out the anti-Semitism and racial superiority and the book expresses Hitler's political and economic aims.

 

It has been suggested that Mein Kampf can be seen as one of several books that resulted from the crisis of German culture following Germany's defeat in World War I, and the effects of the harsh conditions of surrender and reparation imposed mainly by the French. So, is it in the same boat as the writings of Lenin? Is it in the same boat as the economic-political theories of Adam SMITH, John Maynard Keynes, John Stuart Mill, or Friedrich Engels?  

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16 minutes ago, old man emu said:

...Hitler's revolutionary goals included expulsion of the Jews from Greater Germany and the unification of German peoples into one Greater Germany. Hitler desired to restore German lands to their greatest historical extent, real or imagined...

The bit quoted above is very similar to the stated aims of another political movement, which produced this map:

 

 

FF416502-305E-4FCE-BA93-A75B160B3641.jpeg

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I reckon Hitler suffered from a  lack of education. And this was partly from lack of family money.

Now I would be the first to make them pay tax, but I have observed that born-rich people are not as nasty as born-poor.

If you compare WW2 leaders, Hitler and Stalin were much worse than say Churchill.   

 

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1 hour ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

If you compare WW2 leaders, Hitler and Stalin were much worse than say Churchill

Adolf and Joe were very similar in their exercise of power. They were both dictators in totalitarian governments. No one dared say "No" to them. Churchill and Roosevelt on the other hand were leaders of free-will governments. They both faced being deposed at the will of the people. In fact, Churchill was, and Roosevelt had introduced the two-term rule, although his Vice-president did win the next election after the war.

 

 

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The major differences between Churchill, Stalin and Hitler, is that Churchill wasn't prepared to use criminality to further his power - whereas Stalin and Hitler were absolutely ruthless in utilising criminality, mass murder of opponents, and any other totally immoral technique, to garner more and more power over their populations.

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4 hours ago, onetrack said:

Churchill wasn't prepared to use criminality to further his power

Churchill and Roosevelt operated in a system that would not allow the use of cruelty. They were both products of an ancient political culture, whereas Hitler and Stalin were overthrowers  of ancient cultures.

 

Someone will soon pop up with the statement that while Churchill and Roosevelt didn't do these things to their own people, they weren't averse to turning a blind eye to their people doing it to others in the name of colonialism. 

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Interesting angle there, Bruce. But I'm not so sure about Churchill being rich. He certainly wasn't born into great wealth, although it appeared that way, as he was born into aristocracy.

However, his parents were spendthrifts, and Winston Churchill inherited their undesirable traits, in the same manner.

 

Winston Churchill hovered around bankruptcy during the largest part of his life - simply because he obviously had no money-management skills.

But writing saved him, and writing his memoirs after WW2 saved him most of all, and he ended up with an estate valued at £7M when he died. 

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/01/why-winston-churchill-was-so-bad-with-money/419094/

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I think that to get some background on Nazism, Volume 2 should be the one that is studied as it is more to do with the philosophy and plans to implement that philosophy. After 75 years I think we have all agreed that the procedures followed are to be abhorred, but as a document in history, it should stand alongside the Russian Communist Party Manifesto.

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Bruce

The iliterate of this & other countries have No use for Any books.

Can,t get a job !.

Can,t get a driving licence !.

Can,t afford Any books at any cost !.

Drink, Drugs, Gamble, & Smokes, day to day life, no hope nor future.

AND lots of kids, ( ten or more l lost count ).

Not an isolated case ( person ).

spacesailor

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7 hours ago, spacesailor said:

Bruce

The iliterate of this & other countries have No use for Any books.

Can,t get a job !.

Can,t get a driving licence !.

Can,t afford Any books at any cost !.

Drink, Drugs, Gamble, & Smokes, day to day life, no hope nor future.

AND lots of kids, ( ten or more l lost count ).

Not an isolated case ( person ).

spacesailor

Audiobooks.

Available to download absolutely free from your local library.

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Illiterate people  !,

 

never use liberies. What on earth are you thinking? .

 

They,r not morons and some are quite accomplished, 

 

BUT

When Father comes home from Vietnam, can,t do anything due to nightmare,s of yesteryear, the children suffer the most.

No government assistance was forthcoming, SO a carton of grog a day  keeps the nasties at bay, ( bad dad ).

The son went to the same school as my daughter. 

AND learned  F A.  Sent to this room , and that room, just to get him out of the teacher,s way !.

Disruptive they call it, But l suspect it was more a cry for help !, that was not forthcoming from The System.

His elder brother comittited suicide.  And that didn,t help anyone, the dad died of emphysema,  & his wife a few months later.

No help for that family, in the government's System at all.

Now  he has at least ten children and is another illiterate dole person, becourse that same System say,s, He Cannot earn enoughth money  to support hisj brood !, 

And he had a special case manager to read his forms,  Even got him through the driving test, for a licence, which he lost due to Roads sending Paperwork for renewal.

spacesailor

 

 

Edited by spacesailor
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37 minutes ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

I reckon legacy and the RSL should have helped more

There's help available, but many people in that condition have given up hope of anyone giving a damn for them, so they don't ask. Also, they have been traumatised by anything to do with the military and veterans that they don't want to mix with them at all. 

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Trouble with that story, is the third generation is always in trouble with the law, just like " like father, like son ".

It seems the cops are alway,s  right there, if a problem comes along !!  Then it,s off to the lockup again.

I tried visiting him a few times at his jail,

BUT it,s just to much having cars following us home each time, makes you paranoid.

We have had a few parked within whatching distance from our house.  

spacesailor

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Old K, the worst thing the RSL ever did was to refuse admittance to viet vets. I don't think this was everywhere, but it was awful. For myself, my marble didn't come up and I became a protester, but never once did I or anybody I knew have a beef with the soldiers who went there. We regarded them as victims and not as perps.

To this day, I have admiration for the vets and I think they did us proud, although they should not have been sent there.

 

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