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Most Nazi references are inaccurate. It's so pervasive that Internet newsgroups have come up with "Godwin's Law," or "Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies." Here it is:
"As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."
The implication, of course, is that these comparisons don't really hold water, especially since they're being made so often. It's become a catchall for anything you don't like or anything you consider evil, completely glossing over centuries of historical detail. A lot of people say that making a Nazi analogy instantly makes you lose an argument.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law
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Source(s):
Personal experience and formal study (Former teacher of WWII and Nazi history)
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Answered Question
M$1
August 22, 2009 07:32 AM
What are some bad and inaccurate Nazi References you hear in the news?
I was reminded of when Ben Stein compared the police who caught Larry Craig to the Gestapo. It made me think to ask what are some other inaccurate Nazi references that you've heard come out of the mainstream media?
Are the media doing citizens a favor by using Nazi references to describe modern day politics?
Are the media doing citizens a favor by using Nazi references to describe modern day politics?
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Best Answer Chosen by Asker
| August 22, 2009 09:07 PM |
"As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."
The implication, of course, is that these comparisons don't really hold water, especially since they're being made so often. It's become a catchall for anything you don't like or anything you consider evil, completely glossing over centuries of historical detail. A lot of people say that making a Nazi analogy instantly makes you lose an argument.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law
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Other Answers (3)
August 22, 2009 07:50 AM
I think the worst I've heard recently is several references to Obama being a Nazi because of his new health bill. This is horribly inaccurate. I don't exactly expect much from the media though.. in my opinion, they *never* do citizens a favor with much of anything they say.
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August 22, 2009 08:54 AM
I'm not sure if this is what you are getting at but this is what annoys me: (1) referring to everything as a "Holocaust" when what is perhaps meant is a "genocide". There have been, are, and unfortunately will in the future be genocides of many different peoples/ethnic groupc/nationaities. There was only one "Holocaust". It is a very specific term for a very specific event. This does not mean that it is more or less important than any other genocide, just that it has acquired a particular name. (2) Referring to people one disagrees with or abhors as "Nazis" when in fact they are neither right-wing, politically, fasists, or racist/anti-Semites. Many people use the term "Nazis" when referring to Leftists or those in the middle politically, or environmentalist, etc..
Source(s):
Personal experience and formal study (Former teacher of WWII and Nazi history)
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August 22, 2009 08:58 AM
Just reread your question - Ironically, I used to know Ben (Stein) quite well many years ago (although I am quite a bit younger than he and a Democrat). He's a brilliant man - but uses rather overblown rhetoric politically. I always enjoyed disagreeing with him :)!
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August 22, 2009 03:17 PM
There was a word "holocaust" before there was "The Holocaust", and it is legit though possibly misleading to use it about other events in which lots of people are killed.
Similar issues related to "genocide" which doesn't just mean lots of people being killed, it means an entire people being killed. If someone dropped a nuke on London, it wouldn't be genocide, but if they killed most of the remaining members of a small Amazon tribe, it could be.
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Similar issues related to "genocide" which doesn't just mean lots of people being killed, it means an entire people being killed. If someone dropped a nuke on London, it wouldn't be genocide, but if they killed most of the remaining members of a small Amazon tribe, it could be.
August 22, 2009 07:50 PM
I would say that, conservatively and with no real stastistics, about 80% of the time I hear a Nazi reference, it's not accurate. It seems to be a catch-all for people who really don't like someone else, whether or not they are a brainwashed genocide perpetrator or not.
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1. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. The people who claim Obama is a socialist (someone on the "left") and a Nazi (someone on the "right") in the same sentence need to stop and listen to what they are saying.
2. Even if the health care project was a complete waste of money, somehow saying that wasting 50 billion dollars over a ten-year-period somehow is the same as killing six million of your own citizens is just not right.