/lit/ - Literature

Technically speaking, Nazis were a clearly definable political movement, with clearly definable party membership. They existed for about a decade, and their existence ended immediately after the second world war whereby participation in that political movement was made illegal and several high ranking party officials were publically tried and executed.

Legally speaking, the Nazi government was thoroughly defeated, their leadership was put on trial, and punishment was dealt with according to international law. The vast majority of people involved in the nazi party were ordinary Germans who had no idea of the excesses and human rights violations being undertaken by their leadership. Every European country has forgiven Germany, only in the USA and Israel do you hear continued calls for vengeance against a group of people who already stood legal trial and accepted their punishment according to international law, and who as a generation do not have longer than a decade to live anyways.

Politically speaking, nazi has become a meaningless phrase used to label anyone politically to the right. Here we might ask ourselves "to the right of what?" which is a fair question, but judging from how 'nazi' has even been applied to party democrats, its obvious that the answer is entirely subjective. The "punch a nazi" meme is an effective rallying cry to justify political violence and the threat of political violence against dissident voices.

The inability of America to move on speaks volumes about Americans. Specifically, that it was the last 'just war' which they fought, where they can say that their involvement was necessary, productive, and morally justified. Since the end of ww2 the US government has been involved in human trafficking, mass starvation, funding ethnic genocide, disinformation campaigns, terrorist sponsorship, and the backing of multiple coups in neutral and democratic countries, yet no American believes Americans should be punished AS AMERICANS for their governments crimes the way Germans should be punished AS NAZIS for the crimes of their government. Nazis as an idea represent a psychological totem, an embodiment of America's desire to see history as a clear linear struggle between good and evil, a struggle where America is the side of good.

Of course that isn't the case. Under American sanctions, over 500,000 children were starved to death in Iraq. Millions died in Iran due to the Western backed Shah. The US has sold chemical weapons illegally used to murder not just enemy combatants but also political dissidents. Tens of millions of people have died due to ill-planned American colonial ventures SINCE THE END OF THE COLD WAR, and if you open any history book you will discover accounts of ethnic cleansing campaigns practiced against Native Americans during Western Expansion which dwarfed anything Hitler ever did. But still Americans talk about "punching nazis" like political violence is a funny joke. You deserve to suffer a thousand 9/11s.