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from the what-y'all-love-social-sciences dept.
It's 2017. Why are there still Nazis?
It's a question many observers are asking after hundreds of white supremacists, many displaying swastikas and Confederate battle flags and shouting racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-communist slogans, took to the streets of Charlottesville, Va., this weekend, provoking violence that claimed the life of one counter-protester and resulted in multiple injuries.
The continued existence of people who hold openly white supremacist ideologies more than seven decades after the fall of the Third Reich can be explained, in part, through a social theory developed in the early 1990s. Social dominance theory seeks to explain how hierarchy-enhancing ideologies do not just drive social inequality, but are also a result of it. It suggests that a single personality trait, called social dominance orientation (SDO), strongly predicts a person's political and social views, from foreign policy and criminal justice to civil rights and the environment. What's more, it offers insight into how ideologies such as racism, sexism, and xenophobia tend to arise from the unequal distribution of a society's resources.
"Social dominance theory provides a yardstick for measuring social and political ideologies," says Felicia Pratto, who developed the theory with fellow psychologist Jim Sidanius. "SDO is one way – not the only one – to try to figure out what those ideologies are 'about.'"
You too can take the Social Dominance Orientation quiz to determine your nazi quotient.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by jmorris on Sunday September 17 2017, @12:39AM (3 children)
Lots of reasons for Nazis. Not a lot of "real" Nazis though.
When the official Narrative says anyone to the Right of Antifa is a NAZI! it causes major distortions in reality. First you get the people who resign themselves to being labeled a Nazi regardless and decide if they can't escape the label to at least try out the stylish jackboots.
Then you get the ironic Nazis. Then related are the LARPer Nazis like Anglin at dailystormer (of so much recent sound and fury) who just poses as a Nazi because it gets attention and he thinks it is hilarious to post Nazi memes for lulz. But I heard him debate Vox Day and it was clear the guy has never so much as even browsed Hitler's writings. Hell, he is too young to have even seen the Hollywood Nazis on Hogan's Heros. Anglin is a troll.
Then you get wanna be Nazis like David Duke. Sorry, the Klan isn't really Nazi, it was the terror wing of the Democratic Party long before Hitler was born. They might want to aspire to be Nazis but no, ain't happening. Since being cast aside when the Democratic Party went in a different direction and downsided em they have been haplessly flailing around for a reason to exist.
Then there are the wanna be Nazis at Stormfront, but their tech sucked and couldn't survive the shuttening.
If you search hard enough though there ARE some actual Nazis who really know what it is and believe it. But then if you search hard enough you can find people who believe just about anything on the Internet. If every one of em converted a hundred new recruits they wouldn't be a big enough problem to justify keeping them as the designated #1 threat. As usual we chase phantoms to distract from actual problems.
As for Confederates, try reading some history. Dig though, remember that Lincoln's side won and got to write most of the history books so be sure to find some from the other side too. Until you actually know why so many Southerners who didn't own slaves were willing to fight and die you do not understand. Until you can see where both sides had an argument for being right AND were vulnerable to equally strong arguments as to why they were wrong; you do not understand. Until you realize that the Confederate veterans were eventually granted pensions and other benefits from the US Government and understand how that could happen, you still need to read more history. Reality is much more complex than the soundbites we are given.
Ponder this. The South lost, Lee surrendered. Yet there are statues of him across the country. There are few if any statues of General Cornwallis even though we now consider England our best friend and ally in the world. Why? When you know the answer you will achieve enlightenment.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 17 2017, @03:17AM
There are few if any statues of General Cornwallis even though we now consider England our best friend and ally in the world. Why?
Is it because *England is a fag country* [youtube.com]?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 17 2017, @04:17AM
why so many Southerners who didn't own slaves were willing to fight and die
I already linked to a killer bit of audio [kpfk.org] when replying to another nitwit (E-f). [soylentnews.org]
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 18 2017, @07:54AM
Oh the lack of self awareness!
As for the Nazis, try reading some history. Dig through, remember that Hitler's side lost and all the world's official history books are from the side that won. If you try real hard, you can find historians trying to dig up the truth. [youtube.com] But you won't like it, because it uses facts to disprove the established narratives. Looks like the good guys don't always win every war...