The main article source has this from Hitler’s Mein Kampf as
a way of introduction to the following post for today with
this story headline:
“What
Trump and Hitler Actually Have In Common”
And
why the Trumpian lie can be just as dangerous.
The Mein Kampf extract: “All this was inspired by the principle — which is quite true within itself — that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods.
“It
would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they
would not believe others could have the impudence to distort the truth so
infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought
clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to
think there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always
leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is
known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the
art of lying.” — (Adolf
Hitler, Mein Kampf, vol. I, ch. X)
Now consider Trump’s political career — from the Obama birther accusations
to Joe Biden stole the 2020 election.
Trump’s political career is marred by one lie after another, all tied to his “Big Lie” about 2020 election fraud claims that led to the Capitol Hill riots on January 6.
The big lie isn’t unique to Trump or Hitler.
It’s a tactic used by totalitarians throughout history, from
the Chinese eunuch Zhao Gao to
Russian president Vladimir Putin.
— The Stab-In-the-Back Myth via Hitler’s “Big Lie”: Hitler rose to
power on the back of his “Big Lie” – his myth that the Germany hadn’t actually
surrendered in World War I.
The claim is that various
conspiracists and across the nation, which included socialists, communists,
trade unions, and, of course, the Jews.
Hitler wasn’t the one who started the stab-in-the-back myth,
but he was instrumental in its spread throughout 1919 when he gave regular speeches to the
German Workers Party.
Like Trump, Hitler would simultaneously *gaslight his opponents while telling the big lie. He
presented himself as the single source of truth, lambasting opposition
reporters as the lying press,
Trump’s “fake news – the media is the “enemy of the people.”
*FYI – Gaslighting – The term “gaslighting” comes from a 1938 story about a husband who decides to begin telling his wife lies and exaggerations.
The husband kept repeating the lies so often that the wife began to question her own perception of reality. This is known as gaslighting.
The ultimate power of the gaslighter is to make it impossible for the victim to imagine a reality different from the one the gaslighter imposes.
The reason gaslighting works is that when a person of authority, whom you truly believe and maybe even feel love for, tells you lies, it runs against your critical thinking ability.
We want very much to believe the person of authority, so our critical thinking process begins breaking down.
As Hitler rose through the
ranks, his lies and claims would become increasingly outlandish as everything
became an anti-Jewish money-making scheme. Eventually, the world was colluding
against Germany.
The “Big Lie” would engulf
the entire nation and thrust it into WWII, compelling Hitler’s followers to
commit the worst crime in human history (against the Jews known as the
holocaust).
Now here we are today with Putin – this from The AP: Vladimir Putin told the world in his lead-up to invasion of Ukraine that his operation aims to “de-Nazify” – a country BTW whose president is Jewish.
The Holocaust, World War
II, and Nazism have been important tools for Putin in his bid to legitimize
Russia’s moves in Ukraine, but historians see their use as disinformation and a
cynical ploy to further the Russian leader’s aims, ergo: His “Big Lie.”
This summary: “The
Big Lie vs. Regular Lies”
According to Dan
Ariely, the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at
Duke University: “Most of us are partially constrained by our moral compass
when we tell a lie. We would be careful not to take our fibs too far. We need
to convince ourselves that what we’re doing is still socially acceptable.”
The totalitarian “Big Lie”
works precisely because the common person could not fathom someone fabricating
a falsehood on that big of a scale. Philosopher Hannah Arendt notes in her
essay, Truth and Politics,
the “Big Lie” completely tears apart the “fabric of factuality.”
For example, when Bill Clinton lied about his affair
with Monica Lewinsky, his falsehood distorted the time
and space of those directly impacted by the affair; the rest of the world was
left mostly intact.
When Stalin lied about the starvation in
Soviet Ukraine, or in 2014 when Putin said that those weren’t his
troops positioned in Crimea, they distorted reality on
such a scale it’s basically unbelievable.
To Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen, the “Big Lie” is nothing more than a power play saying: “It’s no different from a bully striking his victim while chanting why are you hitting yourself?”
The dictators are effectively demanding that their citizens
surrender their independent judgment to the leaders’ vision.
It’s very much like from George Orwell’s Big Brother doublethink
quotes: “War is peace; Freedom is slavery; and Ignorance
is strength.”
Similarly, Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election fraud has distorted the entire American electoral system.
Historian Timothy Snyder puts
it this way: “If you believe in Trump’s big lie, you have
to believe in a conspiracy that inevitably divides the nation into
us-versus-them. Trump becomes the only source of truth. The Democrats and
everyone who acts against him automatically become traitors of the state.”
My 2 Cents: My earlier related post is here – Trump praises
Putin (again).
I hope you enjoyed this
post and research. I sure did.
Thanks for stopping by.
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