berchman Loc: South Central PA

The Washington Post)

“You know, Nazis were the National Socialist Party. Just like the Democrats are now a national socialist party.”

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), speaking at an “America First” rally, May 27

Those who apparently do not know history are doomed to make basic mistakes.

It seems so simple. The official name of the Adolf Hitler’s political party — the Nazis — had the word “socialist” in it. Ergo, it must have been a socialist party. And that means that Democrats, some of whom call themselves socialists, must be Nazis. Or something like that.

Greene is not the first Republican lawmaker to make this facile observation. So here’s a quick history lesson. (The video above also provides a useful primer on socialism.)

The Facts
The full name of Hitler’s party was Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei. In English, that translates to National Socialist German Workers’ Party. But it was not a socialist party; it was a right-wing, ultranationalist party dedicated to racial purity, territorial expansion and anti-Semitism — and total political control.

Let’s take a look at the first eight of the “25 points” in the 1920 Nazi party platform.

1. We demand the unification of all Germans in the Greater Germany on the basis of the right of self-determination of peoples.
2. We demand equality of rights for the German people in respect to the other nations; abrogation of the peace treaties of Versailles and St. Germain.
3. We demand land and territory (colonies) for the sustenance of our people, and colonization for our surplus population.
4. Only a member of the race can be a citizen. A member of the race can only be one who is of German blood, without consideration of creed. Consequently no Jew can be a member of the race.
5. Whoever has no citizenship is to be able to live in Germany only as a guest, and must be under the authority of legislation for foreigners.
6. The right to determine matters concerning administration and law belongs only to the citizen. Therefore we demand that every public office, of any sort whatsoever, whether in the Reich, the county or municipality, be filled only by citizens. We combat the corrupting parliamentary economy, office-holding only according to party inclinations without consideration of character or abilities.
7. We demand that the state be charged first with providing the opportunity for a livelihood and way of life for the citizens. If it is impossible to sustain the total population of the State, then the members of foreign nations (non-citizens) are to be expelled from the Reich.
8. Any further immigration of non-citizens is to be prevented. [Note: this was aimed at Jews fleeing pogroms.] We demand that all non-Germans, who have immigrated to Germany since the 2 August 1914, be forced immediately to leave the Reich.
As Ronald Granieri of the Foreign Policy Research Institute has noted, in that platform there are also passages denouncing banks, department stores and “interest slavery.” That could be seen as “a quasi-Marxist rejection of free markets. But these were also typical criticisms in the anti-Semitic playbook, which provided a clue that the party’s overriding ideological goal wasn’t a fundamental challenge to private property.”

The Nazi party was largely supported by small-business men and conservative industrialists, not the proletariat. Still, left-wing parties such as the Communists and Social Democrats were major parties in 1920s Germany so the inclusion of “socialist” in the party’s name was attractive to working-class voters who might also be anti-Semitic. Hitler adamantly rejected socialist ideas, dismantled or banned left-leaning parties and disapproved of trade unions. In many countries, trade unions played important roles in socialist movements or helped launch political movements that eventually adopted socialist platforms.

In fact, one of the most famous quotes of that era, enshrined on a wall at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, is by Martin Niemöller, a prominent Lutheran pastor who spent seven years in Nazi concentration camps. His words provide a flavor of what the Nazis thought about socialists.

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

When are people going to understand that the labeling of conservative movements in the US as "Nazi" is the exact opposite of their philosophy. There is a continuum of The various left v right philosophies. To the left is central government control nAnd the means of production.. Nazi. Communist, Socialist, and strict Monarchies are all central government control, hence Leftist. And the type of government that exists in those countries lies in the srrictness of that controol. On the Right side of the continuum are thise goverments with less central government control. Democracies, republics and parlimentary forms of government.Therefore conservatives, by definition, can not be Nazi As the favor less government control. To the extreme left wing form of government is N,Korea. Absolute government control. To the extream right is chaos, no control at all. At this time only parts of Gaza are in chaos. No government at all. I hope thiis clears it up. But I know it won't, all those who suffer from TDS will still call Trump a Nazi

berchman Loc: South Central PA

University level political science courses do not accept your taxonomy of political systems. Conservatives favor less government control? Is that why they want the government to tell women what they can and can't do with their bodies?
No one said that Trump is a Nazi. He's an authoritarian who would like to be a dictator. He is supported by those Americans who worship Nazi Germany because of his comments on people other than white. He utters age old anti-Jewish stereotypes.

Prior to being elected, Trump seemed to suggest to a room full of Jews that they buy off politicians; tweeted an image of Hillary Clinton’s face atop a pile of cash next to the Star of David and the phrase, “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!”; and released an ad featuring the faces of powerful Jewish people with a voiceover about them being part of a “global power structure” that has “robbed our working class” and “stripped our country of its wealth.” After moving into the White House, and just a few short months following his assertion that he is the least anti-Semitic person to walk the earth, Trump refused to condemn neo-Nazis and, just last August, accused American Jews of being “disloyal” to Israel by voting for Democrats. And if you thought the coming holiday season would inspire the president to pump the brakes on blatant anti-Semitism, boy, do we have a surprise for you!

Speaking at the Israeli American Council in Hollywood, Florida, on Saturday night, Trump hit all of his favorite anti-Semitic tropes before a room full of Jewish people. He started off by once again invoking the age-old cliché about “dual loyalty,” saying there are Jews who “don’t love Israel enough.” After that warm-up he dove right into the stereotype about Jews and money, telling the group: “A lot of you are in the real estate business, because I know you very well. You’re brutal killers, not nice people at all,” he said. “But you have to vote for me—you have no choice. You’re not gonna vote for Pocahontas, I can tell you that. You’re not gonna vote for the wealth tax. Yeah, let’s take 100% of your wealth away!”
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/12/donald-trump-anti-semitic-remarks

IDguy Loc: Idaho

Or they like to call him a Facist...when once again he is the opposite.

Name calling always makes me think of kindergarten.

Rose42

Ah, the morphing of labels to suit ones political leanings. Lol

letmedance Loc: Walnut, Ca.

Get your boots on the shit is getting deep.

Rose42

I need taller boots.

JohnFrim Loc: Somewhere in the Great White North.

I hope you are tall...

"A midget went to the doctor complaining of irritation in the crotch whenever she walked. The doctor hiked up her skirt for a look, then took a big scissor and, without anesthetic (to the dismay of the little lady), began cutting. He then asked her to walk, and she was amazed that the pain was gone. "What did you do?" she asked. He replied, "I cut 2 inches off the top of your boots."

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Comparing.. it appears that the pseudo-Republican, Trump, postures and look smug like Mussolini and rants like Hitler and picks non-lilly white people as the enemy. Trump has even said/brags his father is from Germany... that would be Nazi times. His grandfather was! but not Fred Trump.

Trump wanted to be President for Life. Trump has his thugs, his Brown-Shirts, called the Proudboys. Duck, a coupe is coming... not the Ford Thunderbird Coupe ... rather the other army meaning of coupe, to overturn the government with the church backing... not the Catholic church as usual like in Argentina, rather the evangelicals.

And we must wait till August to see the takeover as Trump brags.

Boomer Jim Loc: Newcastle Okla

I usually pass commenting on these kind of subjects, but the answer is simple. Witch party wants complete control of our lives?

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

I do not care what Academics or any one else says about the left, right, more government vs less government control. The labeling of conservative forms of government as Nazi. The truth is the truth regardless of who is saying it. If anyone, including acedemics, says the 2+2=5 they are still wrong. Ant government that favors more government control is to the left. Less government control is to the right. I realize that these discriptions are broad and their are those that favor mixed forms of governments. And these "hybrids" may account for those academics mislabeling. But it does not excuse the attempt many on the left to mislabel conservatives as to the "right" of hitler

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (with socialism in their name) is more the blueprint of the Leftist Progressive Democrat party now. Lets take a look at, let's say the first 8 points of similarity.

1.) There was no escape from ideological indoctrination — anywhere. A job in the bureaucracy or a military assignment hinged not so much on merit, expertise, or past achievement. What mattered was loud acceptance (wokeness) of the system. Wokeness is becoming our new Soviet-like state religion.

2.) The Soviets fused their press with the government. Pravda, or “Truth,” was the official megaphone of state-sanctioned lies. Now there is the NYT, Wapo, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CNN, et al. ad nauseum.

3.) The Soviet educational system sought not to enlighten but to indoctrinate young minds in proper government-approved thought. The Marxist professors in higher ed. are now seeing the fruits of their labor become teachers for our youngsters.

4.) The Soviet Union was run by a pampered elite, exempt from the ramifications of their own radical ideologies.
We have Governors and Legislators, Woke CEOs, activists such as Oprah Winfrey, LeBron James, Mark Zuckerberg, and the Obamas and their huge estates and their multimillion-dollar wealth.

5.) The Soviets mastered Trotskyization, or the rewriting and airbrushing away of history to fabricate present reality
just as the Progressive Left indulges in a frenzy of name-changing, statue-toppling, monument-defacing, book-banning and cancel-culturing.

6.) Soviet prosecutors and courts were weaponized according to ideology. Democrat politically correct sanctuary cities defy the law with impunity here. Jury members are terrified of being doxxed and hunted down for an incorrect verdict. The CIA and FBI are becoming as ideological as the old KGB.

7.) The Soviets doled out prizes on the basis of correct Soviet thought. Now, the Pulitzer Prizes and the Emmys, Grammys, Tonys, and Oscars don’t necessarily reflect the year’s best work, but often the most politically correct work from the most woke.

8.) The Soviets offered no apologies for extinguishing freedom. Instead, they boasted that they were advocates for equity, champions of the underclass, enemies of privilege — and therefore could terminate anyone or anything they pleased on the pretense that we need long-overdue “fundamental transformation.”

JohnFrim Loc: Somewhere in the Great White North.

Interesting... all these scholars/academics are wrong, but you are correct (and probably “right”). Trump has taught you well. He also took accepted definitions of terms (eg, nationalism) and twisted it to suit his rhetoric.

thomseninc

I suggest you watch a few YouTube videos by Tik. He knows far, far, far more about this than you.