It's high time people in the democratic mainstream stopped calling one another Nazis
It is far too common on social media to read attacks in which people of broadly mainstream views are compared to Hitler or the Nazis.
This is out of order.
Comparisons to one of the worst gangs of murderers in the history of the planet are only appropriate for egregious evil.
It may be legitimate to make such a charge against groups like DA'ESH (the former so-called "Islamic State") who practiced mass murder with as little compunction as the SS. But to make such a comparison against someone who has, for example, a different view on how generous state payments to disabled people should be is both disproportionate and an insult to the victims of the real Nazis.
One sign that accusations of guilt by association with Nazis is being over-used as a tactic is when people, usually on social media, start getting worked up about whether the real Nazis were right-wing or left-wing.
It ought to be totally obvious to anyone who has made the most cursory study of mid-20th century history that the policies and actions of the Nazis were massively different from those of either mainstream centre-right parties or mainstream centre-left parties. The fact that they were totalitarian extremists is both more obvious and more important than whether you consider them to be extreme-right or extreme left.
Totalitarians of the far-left and far-right have far more in common with each other than either do with people in the democratic mainstream whether centre-left or centre right, just as the centre-right and centre-left have far more in common with each other than either does with extremists and totalitarians of any kind.
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It is a matter of historical fact that "Nazi" is short for "National Socialist." The full name of Hitler's party, the NSDAP, was the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei which means National Socialist German Workers party. Hitler declared himself a socialist and the Nazi party did originally seek votes from the left as well as the right.
It is also a matter of historical fact that the actual policies of the Nazis do not remotely resemble those of mainstream socialists - any more than they remotely resemble those of mainstream centre-right parties. Only the most partisan or ill-informed opponents of either of those groups could possibly think otherwise.
So if a partisan socialist is trying to use guilt by association to smear mainstream Conservatives by comparing the centre-right with "right wing Nazis" and someone seeks to undermine that argument by pointing out that Hitler's party called itself National Socialists and a worker's party, they are making a perfectly reasonable point and drawing attention to the fact that the real world is far more complex and nuanced than the more partisan would have us believe.
However, if the person who points out what the name of Hitler's party means is doing so as part of an attempt to use guilt by association to make a partisan case that mainstream socialists are like Nazis, they're not behaving any better than the left are when they use the same tactic.
This is out of order.
Comparisons to one of the worst gangs of murderers in the history of the planet are only appropriate for egregious evil.
It may be legitimate to make such a charge against groups like DA'ESH (the former so-called "Islamic State") who practiced mass murder with as little compunction as the SS. But to make such a comparison against someone who has, for example, a different view on how generous state payments to disabled people should be is both disproportionate and an insult to the victims of the real Nazis.
One sign that accusations of guilt by association with Nazis is being over-used as a tactic is when people, usually on social media, start getting worked up about whether the real Nazis were right-wing or left-wing.
It ought to be totally obvious to anyone who has made the most cursory study of mid-20th century history that the policies and actions of the Nazis were massively different from those of either mainstream centre-right parties or mainstream centre-left parties. The fact that they were totalitarian extremists is both more obvious and more important than whether you consider them to be extreme-right or extreme left.
Totalitarians of the far-left and far-right have far more in common with each other than either do with people in the democratic mainstream whether centre-left or centre right, just as the centre-right and centre-left have far more in common with each other than either does with extremists and totalitarians of any kind.
.
It is a matter of historical fact that "Nazi" is short for "National Socialist." The full name of Hitler's party, the NSDAP, was the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei which means National Socialist German Workers party. Hitler declared himself a socialist and the Nazi party did originally seek votes from the left as well as the right.
It is also a matter of historical fact that the actual policies of the Nazis do not remotely resemble those of mainstream socialists - any more than they remotely resemble those of mainstream centre-right parties. Only the most partisan or ill-informed opponents of either of those groups could possibly think otherwise.
So if a partisan socialist is trying to use guilt by association to smear mainstream Conservatives by comparing the centre-right with "right wing Nazis" and someone seeks to undermine that argument by pointing out that Hitler's party called itself National Socialists and a worker's party, they are making a perfectly reasonable point and drawing attention to the fact that the real world is far more complex and nuanced than the more partisan would have us believe.
However, if the person who points out what the name of Hitler's party means is doing so as part of an attempt to use guilt by association to make a partisan case that mainstream socialists are like Nazis, they're not behaving any better than the left are when they use the same tactic.
Conclusion:
Reminding people that "Nazi" is short for a name which includes "socialist" can be helpful if it is done in response to a partisan left-wing bigot who doesn't understand the difference between mainstream Conservatives and fascists as a means of pointing out that the world is more complicated than he or she realises.
It is unhelpful when done by a partisan right-wing bigot who doesn't understand the difference between mainstream democratic left-wingers and fascists.
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