Yes, precisely - people have been quick to forget that eugenics, particularly those of the “hey, let’s only let white people with a 120+ IQ have kids, whereas niggers, wogs and micks should be sterilized” kind was a huge thing back in the 30s.
The thing is, there’s definitely some positive to genetic manipulation and “eugenics-lite” when it comes to disease prevention or even embryo selection (because, really, why *not *let parents pick superficial traits for their kids ? So you want a grey-eyed kid, or a red-haired kid, who gives a fuck ? They can pick it right back when they’re 18 anyway…).
But of course, the problem is that it’s absurdly difficult to differentiate between genuine health concerns; cosmetic shallowness; and abject racism, legal-wise. And it’s one short step from “yes, you can pick and choose a sperm that will result in a kid with grey eyes” to “yes, we will preserve the Aryan purity of your offspring”. Another short step from “If you don’t preserve Aryan purity, you oughta be shot”. And then… yes.
Most of these effects we can absolutely do without of course. But in another, different universe doctors are going “Just let us tweak just one gene set in every baby, and there will be no cancer anymore, ever”. Never gonna happen in this one. Because Nazis, gene purity, all that rot.
I agree, and also just out of general interest. But I thought it might explain the raised eyebrows.
(Also, how did I seem to leave out most words in my previous post?! It’s like about half of all my brain thought I typed is missing… :smack: )
I don’t agree at all. It definitely exists here, although of course most people don’t spend much time thinking about moronic neo-nazi codes.
For example, look at the recent outrage caused by Procter & Gamble when they sold detergent in packaging depicting a football jersey with the number 88. On one hand it was obscure enough that the design made it to the shelves, but on the other hand it caused serious backlash.
Yes, blaming this one on the actual Nazis is stretching it a bit. The 14 words (“We must secure the existence of our people and a future for White children”) originated with David Lane, a white nationalist leader and founder of The Order, a very short lived white nationalist revolutionary organization in 1983-84. He also authored the 88 Precepts, his political manifesto on how to bring about the 14 words while serving his 190 year sentence before dying in prison. 14/88 is a common Neo-Nazi/white supremacist thing.
I’ll admit seeing an 88 in a username does set off some alarms to be on the lookout for other signs of Neo-Nazi political beliefs, but like you I have an email account that ends in 88 for pretty much the same reason as you that is my primary email account that I’ve been using for well over 20 years. I’d been using it for at least 10 years before I found out about the Neo-Nazi fetish with 88=HH=Heil Hitler. My feelings were and remain fuck them, I’m not going to go stop using my email address and go through the hassle of setting up a new primary email address where I get billing statements, etc just because some ignorant Neo-Nazi fucks decided to make the number their fetish.
Interesting, I only knew 88 as “egal ist 88” and CB-Funk meaning as “Kisses and Love”
However, I stand corrected, the weird thing is, that is seems to be “eingedeutscht” also see Wiki B & H Blood & Honour, SWP, 14 words (the 14 words are english words).
We had a German exchange student at my high school senior year. To say she was freaked out by stuff like the daily Pledge of Allegiance would be an understatement. It didn’t help that that this was post 9/11 when everyone was falling over themselves to see who was the most patriotic.
The world reich is similarly verboten in a non-historical context. The only post-war exceptions were East Germany keeping the name *Deutsche Reichsbahn * (in order to preserve treaty rights to operate in West Berlin) and the Reichstag building in Berlin (for historical reasons, and it was still a highly controversial decision not to rename it).
To be fair, and I guess one should be fair even to the Nazis, there were several things they didn’t ruin and in fact immeasurably improved. I’m thinking primarily of the road system. The Nazis were pioneers in the construction of modern motorways and transformed the transportation system in Germany. It was one of Hitler’s pet projects. There were other areas too which the Nazis vastly improved, eg the economy, industry, etc. Did it outweigh the things they ruined? Of course not, they were monsters. But you have to give even the Devil his due.
Folk songs. When I took a German course in college, the instructor told the class that many Germans could no longer listen to generations-old folk songs because they so often sang them at Nazi youth camps. That’s genuinely sad.
The Holy Roman Empire, which included nearly all of Germany, welcomed Jews after they had been expelled from England and France. That is why Yiddish is a combination of Hebrew and Germany.
Is it illegal to own a copy of Mein Kampf in Germany? I have read that one can get a prison sentence for owing a copy in Austria.
I own a copy of Mein Kampf. I have read it. I still do not hate Jews. Hitler expressed his hatred for Jews in Mein Kampf, but he never made an effort to justify it.
There was a minor kerfuffle a while back on Wikipedia where there was a user using ARYAN818 who claimed to be Indian living in the 818 area code of Los Angeles, but they got banned anyway.
SS is back, with a vengeance. Effective in 2005, it is no longer legal in Germany to use the uniquely German letter ß to represent a double-S in many (but not all) words. Spellers are now required to use “ss” instead of “ß”, however there seems to be no criminal or judicial penalty for failing to update German orthography, in our out of the Federal Republic of Germany, and some rogue newspapers are refusing to comply, including the influential *Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. *