Most active commenters
  • mmooss(5)

←back to thread

116 points wslh | 11 comments | | HN request time: 0.207s | source | bottom
Show context
tempodox ◴[] No.42162365[source]
The most astonishing thing about the worst Nazis is that they were incapable of perceiving their actions as monstrous atrocities and crimes. Given that context, this letter was hopeless from the start.
replies(4): >>42162490 #>>42162533 #>>42162850 #>>42165923 #
1. mmooss ◴[] No.42162490[source]
Most people deny, to some degree, that their own behavior as wrong. They deny it to themselves and to others. People can deny incredible things if those things are against their interests.

People who don't deny such things would not be Nazis for long.

replies(2): >>42162506 #>>42162657 #
2. ImHereToVote ◴[] No.42162506[source]
Makes me wonder what most people would do if a genocide was perpetrated right now. I have a feeling they would call the protestors of that genocide woke.
replies(3): >>42162534 #>>42162615 #>>42162725 #
3. worthless-trash ◴[] No.42162534[source]
The term woke has now become a pointless descriptor bearing little resemblement to the self prescribed enlightenment or the derogatory ignorance that is used as for and against.

So with this mindset, yes.. they absolutely will be called woke.

replies(1): >>42170580 #
4. danieldk ◴[] No.42162615[source]
I think most people will just stay quiet. The world is so polarized. Pick one side, and you are burnt down by the other side. Pick the middle (seeing the concerns of and issues with both sides), you are burnt down by both sides.

(At least in my country,) I think there is still a majority of people that are very reasonable and to resolve issues through dialogue. But given the former, they stay out of debates and the whole discourse is dominated by the extremes.

replies(1): >>42167880 #
5. pbasista ◴[] No.42162657[source]
> People who don't deny such things would not be Nazis for long.

Interesting thought. It would imply that denying one's own wrongdoings is a necessary prerequisite for being actually evil.

I am wondering what it means in the context of the recent US election, where Trump denies that he did anything wrong on January 6 2021, where he denies that the numerous trials against him are legitimate, where he surrounds himself by people who are supporting him in these denials with a straight face.

It seems very dangerous to me. He has been building a cult of deniers around him for years. And now the most loyal of these deniers will end up running the government.

replies(2): >>42167863 #>>42168029 #
6. mulmen ◴[] No.42162725[source]
> Makes me wonder what most people would do if a genocide was perpetrated right now.

You don’t have to look very hard to find active genocide specifically or human rights atrocities in general.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_genocides

> I have a feeling they would call the protestors of that genocide woke.

Woke means “aware”. By definition any protester is “woke”.

Some people use it as a slur but I’m not sure why it would be insulting.

7. mmooss ◴[] No.42167863[source]
Trump is often said to be a narcissist (I have no idea). Narcissists are sometimes depicted as the ultimate in selfishness - everything has to be the way they like it.

The reality is that narcissists are very fragile and can't handle reality, so they insist that everyone around them play roles the narcissist feels safe with (think of their kids or spouse) and that reality be a certain way.

8. mmooss ◴[] No.42167880{3}[source]
> I think there is still a majority of people that are very reasonable and to resolve issues through dialogue. But given the former, they stay out of debates and the whole discourse is dominated by the extremes.

That's not incidental, it's intentional - a tactic well-known and practiced by people trying to radicalize society. People need to stand up for the things they believe, in the same way Dr. King would emphasize that he wasn't passive at all, that he was a warrior who created real tension and pressure.

But I think the 'both sides' isn't born out factually. One side controls governments, including the most powerful one soon. They control business, international affairs, much of social media, etc. They are fighting wars of conquest. The other side has no power anywhere.

9. mmooss ◴[] No.42168029[source]
> It would imply that denying one's own wrongdoings is a necessary prerequisite for being actually evil.

It just came to mind that in studying IT security I read a criminolgy expert (not specific to IT), who said that criminals need a justification or rationalization; iirc examples include 'this big company steals from ordinary people', 'they won't miss it', etc.

Despite the Silicon Valley fantasy and the neo-alt-whatever attempt to condition people otherwise, humans are inherently moral. Sociopaths are very rare. Even criminals need a rationalization.

Look how much effort political leaders put into giving people a rationale, even awful people like Hitler, Stalin, etc.

10. ImHereToVote ◴[] No.42170580{3}[source]
The term was coined as being aware of your surroundings when traversing the southern states. As in; be woke as a black man when travelling in the south.

It then morphed to be a virtue signal of high status by the neo-liberal bourgeoisie.

replies(1): >>42191883 #
11. mmooss ◴[] No.42191883{4}[source]
> It then morphed to be a virtue signal of high status by the neo-liberal bourgeoisie.

That's a group of inflammatory, partisan claims; what evidence is there?