It’s fun—a macabre sort of fun—this parlor game of “Who Goes Nazi?” And it simplifies things—asking the question in regard to specific personalities.
Kind, good, happy, gentlemanly, secure people never go Nazi. They may be the gentle philosopher whose name is in the Blue Book, or Bill from City College to whom democracy gave a chance to design airplanes—you’ll never make Nazis out of them. But the frustrated and humiliated intellectual, the rich and scared speculator, the spoiled son, the labor tyrant, the fellow who has achieved success by smelling out the wind of success—they would all go Nazi in a crisis.
Believe me, nice people don’t go Nazi. Their race, color, creed, or social condition is not the criterion. It is something in them.
Those who haven’t anything in them to tell them what they like and what they don’t—whether it is breeding, or happiness, or wisdom, or a code, however old-fashioned or however modern, go Nazi. It’s an amusing game. Try it at the next big party you go to.
But the frustrated and humiliated intellectual, the rich and scared speculator, the spoiled son, the labor tyrant, the fellow who has achieved success by smelling out the wind of success—they would all go Nazi in a crisis.
Still accurate AF, however it doesn’t seem to need a crisis.
All you need to do is manufacture a crisis and present fascism as its solution.
Interesting, thanks for sharing this.
You’re welcome. A friend sent it to me and I thought it was a great read and worth sharing.
Times were different then. And yet, there are enduring themes, particularly in human behavior.
I’ve been looking for this for awhile. First read it back in 2017 when Harper’s published it again. But then I lost track of it and couldn’t find it no matter the search terms.
Thank you for posting it here. Still just as relevant as ever. Dorothy Thompson is a name I won’t be forgetting again.
