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[–] 104 points 1 year ago (73 children)

controversial opinionThese nazi racist fuckheads are still human beings. As unfortunate as it may be and as implausible it might seem, any of us are capable of becoming or raising someone to become entrenched in a bad and hateful ideology. Dehumanizing them doesn't stop their ideas from spreading. In fact, a big part of their ideology is the dehumanization of different groups of people. So please don't encourage that practice.

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  • [–] 14 points 1 year ago* (4 children)

    Two counterpoints to this (although I like the spirit):the paradox of intolerance suggests that intolerance will easily spread if we tolerate it. So in a world where tolerance is abundant: intolerance itself should still not be tolerated.

    In a way I feel this may be saying the same thing again, but when we speak of protected classes and human rights we generally think of immutable qualities assigned at birth. That is, it’s not okay to discriminate based on things such as skin color, height, sound of voice, heritage, language, race, disability etc. and you get the idea.

    Modern ideas stretch this a bit, as sexuality and gender identity have recently (as in within the last century, and only then within more educated cultures) entered as protected facets of human expression due to our understanding of them as involuntary. Even an individual’s personal religion is universally considered to not be up for debate, even though each of the world’s religions are composed of transient beliefs that an individual is allowed to change whether they are comfortable with it or not.

    Any group’s ideas for societal idealism do not and should not get these types of protections, because ideas obviously should change if a better idea is presented. It should be agreed upon that whatever utopia is (for however close the human race can get to it), it would need to be universally agreed upon by all living individuals as well as all possible human group permutations. This is seemingly insurmountably large, so some of us tried to take shortcuts by eliminating other groups, and to make a long story short you could say the world universally condemned these ideas as one of the first “global” acts.

    The point is, if somebody has:

    1. Willingly violated the social contract in defiance of available historical context and public information, and

    2. Elected to voluntarily hold that an aforementioned Protected Class of people should be either eliminated or exiled (in service to making their version of utopia easier to achieve), then

    Then this somebody has found themselves to be a member of the one group of people (a group founded on voluntary belief) that society at large would be better to either eliminate or exile.

    Obviously debate is preferred but one cannot reason with somebody who believes deep down in another group’s inferiority.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I agree with all you wrote, and it's a good point well made. However, in the context of what it's replying to, it could be interpreted as condoning the death penalty for extremists, which I disagree with, if it was intended that way.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago*

    I see what you mean, in my case I believe that the only viable options are debate then expulsion in extreme cases.

    I know I was being somewhat brash when I wrote this (middle of the night where I am) and would likely omit the “or eliminate” part if I written again. I know that was a popular option durning the Nuremberg trials for some of the worst orchestrators but I’m always of the “We have to be better/there has to be a better way” mindset.

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  • [–] 60 points 1 year ago* (11 children)

    There is only so much empathy you can lend out to a fascist black hole before it sucks you into its hateful gravitational pool. Purity tests like what you are proposing just makes them stronger.

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  • [–] 25 points 1 year ago (8 children)

    I'm not saying you have to treat them with kindness. I am saying you have to reckon with the fact that they are still human. Or you will be doomed to follow the same path.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    You sound an awful lot like a Nazi right now.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    I don’t believe they are the same species as me. They have devolved to the point where their brains lack empathy, a distinctly human trait.

    -You

    The subhuman is a biological creature, crafted by nature, which has hands, legs, eyes and mouth, even the semblance of a brain. Nevertheless, this terrible creature is only a partial human being. Although it has features similar to a human, the subhuman is lower on the spiritual and psychological scale than any animal. Inside this being is a cruel chaos of wild, unrestrained passions, nameless desire for destruction, the most primitive desires, the most naked meanness

    -Der Untermenshen, Nazi propaganda pamphlet circa 1942

    You sound like a Nazi.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago

    I think the idea that some people are subhuman has been abused a lot, most notably by the Nazis, and society is better off without that kind of thinking regardless of the context. We need to accept that these are people, just like us. We need to figure out what made them that way so we can stop making the same mistakes.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago

    Some Nazis were raised. They believe what they believe because their parents were Nazis.

    Some of them do leave that way of thinking, but it is not easy.

    Do not treat people like things, just because you think they are irredeemable.

    That is what Nazis do.

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  • [–] 39 points 1 year ago (10 children)

    It's literally the one message every old European used to preach to us younger generations back in the day. I remember how important it was to them to make us understand that the minute we start dehumanizing people we don't like, we are repeating the cycle.

    It is why movies like Der Untergang exists. We have to understand that the most despicable people who ever lived were still human beings and much closer to ourselves than we like to think.

    I have carried with me, my whole life the knowledge that I am fallible and I am capable of evil no matter how good of a person I think I am. To a lesser extent, every time I have thought I was too clever to fall for x, y and z, that's when I have fallen right into it. "I would never end up in an abusive relationship. I have too much self respect for that" 🤡 "I'm far too strong to become the doormat in this and that friendship" 🤡 "I'll never fall for fake information online. I'm too observant" 🤡

    I could never trust myself to believe I would be too smart, kind or principled to not fall into a destructive and abusive pattern of behavior if the circumstances are twisted just right. I think more people would benefit if they reminded themselves of their imperfections and got off their high horses. On Lemmy alone I have encountered far too many holier than thou types who are super duper anti fascist but ironically act exactly like fascists, but to them it doesn't count because they are "on the right side of history".

    Am I sad that some nazi KKK guy died? No. But he was human. Most likely a very terrible human, but still human.

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  • [–] 13 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    I do agree with almost everything you wrote, but I don't understand the moral consequence. One do not have to think they're too smart or too pure to take some kind of solace from the fact that there's one less fascist walking the earth.

    To me, that has nothing to do with being "better" as a human. It's just that their project means my/our death. The more they grow, the more we die and vice versa. I do not dehumanize them nor do I think they're stupid or deserve anything.

    It's as simple as : the more they grow, the more anything I care for will wither away.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago

    You're right, but it makes people uncomfortable so they don't want to agree with you.

    This isn't like the economy. It IS a zero sum game. If they succeed, we lose. If they thrive in life, we lose. If they continue to live at all, we lose.

    They can CHOOSE to come back to humanity, unlike their victims, but I won't give them any consideration as having value until they do.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    All that was said was that they are still human. Even if we dislike them. That is all. I find it interesting how defensive people are being about acknowledging that a terrible person is still a person.

    If we stop acknowledging a bad person as a being a person, we have become what we hate. Its got nothing to do with caring or not caring about a kkk member dying. All we have reacted to was the claim that the guy wasn't a human. That is the dangerous part.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    ICYMI, I didn't want to sound defensive. I mean it's an interesting conservation, and I found it intriguing that I agree wholeheartedly with what you wrote yet arrive at a slightly different conclusion. People don't always look to pick fights, sometimes, it's just about discussion.

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  • [+] 11 points 1 year ago* (4 children)
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  • [–] 18 points 1 year ago* (5 children)

    Genuinely curious your perspective: so what then?

    How would you want to handle the growing fascism problem because I believe shaming, ridicule and cruelty are due with where we stand and with how bad things are and how much, much, worse they can get.

    These are your enemies they have the entire govenment and a cult and they want to brutalize, make illegal and remove people (one way or the other).

    What do you propose?

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  • [–] 30 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    I believe I called them fuckheads so I don't seem to have a problem with ridicule. My point of contention is in the reply tweet of "no human being was harmed". I'm not trying to defend the thoughts or actions of these people, I'm just saying we have to recognize that they are people. I propose building a better world, proving those ideas wrong, and defending ourselves when necessary.

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  • Yes, it does. Because when you don't acknowledge someone, you start pretending they shouldn't have any rights at all, and then you can fall victim, far more easily, when they scapegoat someone, or fall victim to that hatred being redirected to an invalid target

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    I would ask you, is it OK to fight Nazis in a war? If you say yes, then what's the difference?

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    The point isn't whether or not it is okay to fight nazis. The commenter only states that the guy who died is still a human even if we don't like him.

    That is a fact. If we start dehumanizing people we don't like, we open ourselves up to becoming monsters no matter how justified we feel we are.

    I struggle with this myself. I have a deep-seated disgust toward narcissists and emotionally, I do not consider them human beings. Rationally, I know that they are and that if I continue to refuse to accept that they are one of the countless aspects of humanity, I open myself up to my own narcissistic aspects, where I see an entire subsection of humanity as lesser than me, as pests instead of human beings with a severe personality disorder that most likely came from repeated childhood neglect and abuse.

    It is okay to feel strong negative emotions toward people we don't like, but we cannot allow ourselves to dehumanizing them because that is how we become monsters ourselves.

    Empathy is hard because it isn't always the easiest or most comfortable path. It can feel downright injust at times, but that is all emotions talking. The more we think about it, truly reflect on it, the more we will understand that choosing empathy over emotional outbursts, will serve us and society far better in the long run. But it is fucking difficult.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (24 children)

    Ummmm.

    No?

    Fuck nazis and kkk and southern pride and confederate apologists and white supremacists and bigots of all kinds.

    Like get fucked. Straight up well known nazis can fucking die. They are worthless. They make a choice to continue being that way. They can do irreparable harm.

    Like, fucking no. Just no. You're pathetic.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago*

    Persecution fetish exists regardless how you treat them. Some just WANT to feel persecuted to feel like they have some kind of casus belli.

    Also, you either experience and/or witness enough bigotry that you reach a point of being fucking done with the hateful spiteful pieces of shit. Apparently you're too privileged to have to care.

    But let me try to make this clear again. I grew up in it. I saw it. I know and love people today who go through it. There are those who think it's just okay to decide some groups of people don't warrant humanity and to even outwardly work to make those people's lives harder or straight up fucking oppress or harm them.

    Fuck. Them. All. Everyone who has even an ounce of racist white supremacist Aryan whatever the fuck thoughts or actions. Fuck their flags. Fuck their views. Fuck their lives. Fuck everything about them. Scum of the earth. The vast majority will never change. Fuck em.

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  • [–] 13 points 1 year ago (21 children)

    The ability to strip away the title of "human being" is exactly what they are arguing for. You just have different criteria.

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  • [+] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (13 children)
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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

    You are right. If we exclude any population from rehabilitation, we exclude ourselves.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Until they are rehabilitated though, I will treat them as maggots. Being human does not automatically grant you untouchability for your actions. It doesn't absolve you of your sins. It does not mean anyone around you must tolerate your continued existence.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    No, I can't blame anyone for visiting harm on Nazis. But that is a temporary solution. If we are to nullify supremacist ideologies, we must eacape survival of the fittest world views. Any ideology that requires violence will be surpassed by the next strongest, including the ideology that kills Nazis and white supremacists.

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