r/technology • u/marketrent • 1d ago

Site altered title “ALL HAIL CHAIRMAN TRUMP! WITH HIS GLORIOUS 10% PURCHASE OF INTEL, THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF AMERICA ENTERS A BOLD NEW ERA” -- California governor Newsom riles Republicans with Trump-trolling posts

https://www.barrons.com/news/meme-lord-newsom-riles-republicans-with-trump-trolling-posts-05b74794
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u/No-Mark4427 1d ago

The one thing I find most scary and most fascinating about most people, including myself, is how unbelievably easy it is for anyone to convince themselves that anything is true or OK. Even if it means they are a massive hypocrite, its super easy to simply switch that off and say 'nah its different for me'

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u/1-800PederastyNow 1d ago

I agree. Anyone that says they would never have been a Nazi is deluding themselves, there is nothing inhuman about Nazis and that's why they're so terrifying. With just the wrong upbringing...

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u/Senior-Albatross 1d ago

Nazis were quintessentially human, actually. That evil is within all of us was the lesson. Unfortunately, not wanting to acknowledge difficult truths and replacing them with nonsense is also within all of us.

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u/Canadian-Man-infj 1d ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eichmann_in_Jerusalem

Philosopher Hannah Arendt coined the term "banality of evil" and it's exactly what you're describing.

She found that they weren't "evil" necessarily and not even that intelligent; they were just obedient underlings doing what they were told to do...

In the end, they were just "doing their job."

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u/el_muchacho 1d ago edited 1d ago

Basically when society tells them something that was once unacceptable is now acceptable, most people don't think twice and it becomes their new normal. This is why propaganda channels like Fox are so dangerous. You can see the shift year after year towards fascism and what was inconceivable only a decade ago is now accepted and will eventually become the norm. What Nazism taught us is, there is no bottom to this process, even in a society we call "civilized".

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u/Lil_S_curve2 1d ago

My fucking father summed up.

I hate this ride.

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u/ComprehensiveSoft27 1h ago

Ew he was fucking when he said that?

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u/BuckThis86 1d ago

Nazism and fascism occur when fear and greed take the place of care and love

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u/Anxious-Depth-7983 18h ago

It takes place when sociopathic children are encouraged instead of disciplined. Phrases like "boys will be boys" come to mind. Or "that's just Trump being Trump."

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u/xpdx 1d ago

Nazi Germany was absolutely swimming in methamphetamine. Soldiers took it, housewives, police, bakers, and the fuhrer himself had quite the habit going too. Pervitin it was called, although Mr. Hitler got injections of the really good shit from his doctor.

Yes they were humans and all humans have the capacity for evil, but truckloads of meth sure does help push it over the top.

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u/SunyataHappens 1d ago

Millions of doses used during the Nazi blitzkrieg through Poland into France.

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u/overkill 23h ago

The book "Blitzed" by Norman Ohler is an excellent exploration of both of these subjects. The subtitle of it could be "Were the Nazis crank fueled meth heads?" and the answer is "largely, yes".

They even had meth laced chocolate called Hausfrauenschokolade for housewives so they could do their housework at super speeds.

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u/entropicdrift 23h ago

Yeah, good thing nobody's on meth or other stimulants for one of the most commonly diagnosed disorders in the US

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u/goldenstudent 23h ago

Valid, but from personal experience other stimulants don't have the same degenerative effects and if you have ADHD and take modern prescriptions correctly it pharmakinetically makes people "normal" not meth goblins.

🌈The more you know🌈

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u/s_4_evrysing 1d ago

Jesus what a hauntingly strong comment

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u/Martial_Brother_Wei 1d ago

That evil is within all of us

speak for yourself and yourself only, thanks.

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u/calgarspimphand 22h ago

As an engineer and a history buff, I always thought about what it would have been like for engineers at places like BMW or Krupp to keep working on weapons even after the Nazis had revealed their full evil. How could one do that?

And so I am now unemployed, because at this point in American history I refuse to continue working in the defense industry.

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u/Bakoro 1d ago

The actually scary thing is that the ideology might not be totally wrong, it's just that they have it twisted.

Look at the history of slavery: it was the law of many countries for centuries, yet the entire time there was a small group of people who fought against it on behalf of the slaves, for no other reason than they thought it was the right thing to do. A small group of people, promoting ethics and compassion, in spite of their whole society.

Look at all the movements and seligions that got started over millennia which basically said "let's stop being shitty to each other and just work together, and let people be."
And then they get ostracized and killed for that peaceful message.

Maybe some people just are born better. In all recorded nations, among all "races", across time, some small fraction of people just seem to be born better than everyone else, and they drag the whole world into a slightly less shitty direction.

Nazi shitheads are the other end of that spectrum, the people who think they are better, based on nothing, and use that as an excuse to lie, cheat, steal, rape, murder, and subjugate.

And all the people in the middle who just do whatever the closest person says to do.

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u/AutisticPenguin2 16h ago

Some people believe that "good" or "bad" is something you are, and others believe it is what you do.

If good is defined by what you do, then you need to do good things in order to be a good person. If good is simply something that you are, then no amount of bad deeds can take that away from you.

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u/Bakoro 13h ago

Most people have goodness and badness inside.
Having it doesn't mean you are it.

There are no "good people" who continually and willingly conduct evil deeds.
Nobody is good because the merely have thoughts of selflessness and charity.
Someone who never acts out their worst inner thoughts and impulses isn't evil for having the thoughts and impulses, they're just in possession of an evil aspect.

Good people don't go along with evil out of convenience or self-interest.
Good people do good things when there is no reward for doing it, even if it costs them something.
Even in situations where they are under threat of violence, good people either stand up to evil people anyway, or they find ways to continually undermine evil.

People who have greatness in them are proactive in their efforts, and are able to convince other people to do the same.

If you only do good things when it's easy, convenient, and/or free, that doesn't make you a particularly good person, you're just an average schlub who isn't actively evil. That's most people. Most people just go along to get along, and like to think of themselves as being "good people" just because they aren't aggressively evil.

It's not just about "good" or "bad" though, I'm saying that maybe some people are just objectively better humans who are extremely effective at being whoever they are, good or bad.

There are people are born into an inequitable system who don't accept inequity, slavery, vapid bigotry, or short-term-only thinking, who are able to set successfully balance their self-interest against the well-being of others in a sustainable way, and who are able to motivate others to do good.

We have sociopaths and narcissists who are excessively self-interested, and who go out of their way to hurt people.
Why couldn't there be people on the opposite end of the spectrum who have the best qualities of humanity in abundance, and that compels them to action?

That's an uncomfortable proposition, because we love the story that "anybody can be a hero" and "anybody could be great".
Historically, it sure as hell seems like movements coalesce around individual figures and then collapse when those people are gone.
It sure as hell seems like society is consistently being moved by small groups of unusuallly effective people, for good and ill.

I don't think anyone wants to entertain the idea that we're all side characters in a narrative that is being driven by people who have a "main character" trait.

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u/Educational-Site4639 19h ago

You’re just ONE step away from having a breakthrough in admitting you have the inclination to default into “an asshole” setting when confronted with the notion of being hypocritical or contradictory. Your close! You can do it! 😉👍🏾

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u/DavidL21599 1d ago

I love the simplicity and irony of your comment…Bravo!