A
angellous_evangellous
Guest
Well, I disagree.
Perhaps that was all he needed, but it isn't all he did. He rallied a nation, and he was good at it.
He picked low hanging fruit. It doesn't take a genius to do that.
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hitler was a genious
- Thread starter darkpenguin
- Start date
He picked low hanging fruit. It doesn't take a genius to do that.
Storm
ThrUU the Looking Glass
I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.
Terrywoodenpic
Oldest Heretic
I was stationed in Germany after the war, and made friends with many Germans " including Girlfriends" They all remembered life under Hitler. Most still thought he was a great man let down by his staff.
he clearly inspired them so as not to see his faults.
Those closer to him probably understood better his true failings.
But after all the civilians had gone through in the last period of the war, they could still not bring themselves to think he had hoodwinked them. They were "True Believers"
He had an amazing power over people.
It would be foolish to believe his power was not real, or that it could not happen again.
he clearly inspired them so as not to see his faults.
Those closer to him probably understood better his true failings.
But after all the civilians had gone through in the last period of the war, they could still not bring themselves to think he had hoodwinked them. They were "True Believers"
He had an amazing power over people.
It would be foolish to believe his power was not real, or that it could not happen again.
A
angellous_evangellous
Guest
I believe that his power was real and he was drunk with it. I just don't think that he was a genius.
I'm not impressed at all that a skilled orator could take advantage of the economic crisis [that fueled anti-Semitism] and the drive for a glorious Germany that was lost in WWI.
A
angellous_evangellous
Guest
Yes, that is the lesson of WWII.
An otherwise intelligent, civilized, and modern nation being lead astray by a madman.
If it can happen in Germany, it can happen anywhere.
YmirGF
Bodhisattva in Recovery
In my view, Hitler's legacy is that sensible people should be wary of charismatic leaders or speakers telling them what they want to hear. That should be a major "head's up".
A
angellous_evangellous
Guest
It's not charisma that we should fear - that's not what killed millions of people.
It's the willingness of people to hate their neighbor and willingly participate in their destruction. This can happen without a good orator.
It also teaches us not to willingly vote for one person to have total control over the government.
Hitler was voted in by the people of Germany bringing about the ultimate fall of a democracy to tyranny.
Magic Man
Reaper of Conversation
Really? I mean, I could understand if all he did was come to power to take things over and institute some policies or something. But he convinced people to follow him to the point of killing 6 million innocents and starting a war on the entire world. That's a little more than your average skilled orator who takes advantage of current issues to take power. That takes more than just any old politician or orator has.
You might not consider him a genius, but it's hard to deny that he had intelligence and charisma on a level most people don't.
YmirGF
Bodhisattva in Recovery
Sort of, mball. In my thinking, people are strongly affected by charismatic leaders for a number of reasons. They can usually relate to such people but because they are somewhat starstruck, like deer caught in headlights, they will often go along with whatever that charismatic leader tells them. If the message of the charismatic leader appeals to their existing beliefs... almost anything is possible.
In my view, being politically astute, (while he was still sane, of course) and seizing the opportunity that circumstance gave him isn't exactly genius. Heck, you could do it if you were dealt the perfect hand of cards too. Would that make you a "genious"?
Magic Man
Reaper of Conversation
Sure, but we're talking about getting an entire country to start a war against the world and kill millions of innocent people. Obviously anyone with a brain can go on Fox News and drum up support by appealing to certain strong beliefs, but we're talking about a whole country. Yes, people can be sheep, but only to a point. It takes something special to get them to go as far as Hitler got them to go. It's one thing to get them to agree to keeping same-sex marriage illegal, but it's another thing entirely to get them to agree to killing an entire ethnic group while waging war on the rest of the world.
In my view, being politically astute, (while he was still sane, of course) and seizing the opportunity that circumstance gave him isn't exactly genius. Heck, you could do it if you were dealt the perfect hand of cards too. Would that make you a "genious"?
I'm sure I could do some good things, but as I said above, we're not just talking about winning the presidency or overhauling healthcare or something. We're talking about killing millions of people in cold blood. Look at Hitler in contrast to Saddam Hussein, for instance.
The Voice of Reason
Doctor of Thinkology
LOL - I started to post about that yesterday, but I wondered if it would look like I was nitpicking. Good catch, angellous.
Magic Man
Reaper of Conversation
Yeah, I was going to comment, but I held back. It reminds me of a couple of my friends, though, who went looking at stores for Trivial Pursuit, but all they could find was the "Genius" edition, until they asked someone and realized that wasn't the "Genius" edition, but "Genus IV" which is just what they call the regular edition of it. We still give them hell about that years later.
The Voice of Reason
Doctor of Thinkology
I have a friend that, to this day, insists that the game company simply misspelled "Genius", and refused to correct their mistake. And this is a grown man.
Coincidentally, he's also a Baptist fundamentalist that loves to point out that he reads the Bible for 30 minutes every morning.
Magic Man
Reaper of Conversation
Imagine my surprise at that combination.
A
angellous_evangellous
Guest
The Voice of Reason
Doctor of Thinkology
Oh, don't misunderstand me. He doesn't actually live according to the teachings of the Bible - he just likes to claim that he is somehow closer to God than the rest of us.
The Voice of Reason
Doctor of Thinkology
Once you get over your shock, try to guess how many affairs he has had while married, or how many children he has fathered with an underage female while his (former) wife was pregnant with his second oldest son.
It's all okay, though. He isn't perfect - but he is forgiven.
Magic Man
Reaper of Conversation
A
angellous_evangellous
Guest
Yes, but someone who reads can correctly spell, having seen a variety of correctly spelled words for 30 minutes each day.
The Voice of Reason
Doctor of Thinkology
He has two oldest sons? Are they twins?
Actually, he has three oldest sons. They're triplets. The other oldest son is out of the country, so he doesn't count.