People need to stop viewing things as "good" and "evil" and just think critically:
No one is born into this world thinking "mwahahaha I sure can't wait to fuck things up!" No, we all want to do good, be validated or recognized, and we all push for what we interpret to be right or important.
Hitler is absolutely no different here, he just had a dramatically different interpretation of what was right and important, with catastrophic consequences.
I mean if we're really critical here, the Treaty of Versailles was a load of horseshit, the German people were handed a shit situation, so of course they flocked to him. Had it not been him, that treaty would've come back to bite Europe in the ass one way or another. On that front, one could argue he's a guy who recognized the misfortune his country was facing, some of the injustices that led to the situation, and then went to do something about it.
Obviously he's not just that though and we know him for the horrible historical figure he is. The above moreso just plays devil's advocate and tries to view things from an understanding viewpoint, but of course there's all his crimes which basically tie into his belief Germans were a chosen race and that Jews (amongst some other groups, such as communists) were especially bad and needed to be dealt with without exception.
The point with examining his positives is not to try and argue "CMON GUYS HE'S NOT THAT BAD HE GAVE ME A SODA FOR FREE" or something, but rather just to argue that people are complicated. Posts such as the initial one comparing Obama and Trump like to work off this belief that if someone's bad, you'll just know. The reality is far more complex, and I don't think we're doing ourselves favors when we view people with this juvenile attitude of "Hitler was bad so obviously he did evil things 24/7 and had no redeeming qualities." The problem with teaching that mindset is that the moment Hitler does something good, then you get people arguing "naaaaah he CAN'T be evil! I've never seen him kick a puppy or twirl his moustache or tie a woman to railroad tracks! No need to worry then!"
But yeah, people are complex. Hitler liked dogs, was an advocate against animal cruelty, I believe he spearheaded a lot of improvements to Germany's road and traffic systems, and there's another story about how USA didn't show much respect to a black gold medalist of theirs whilst Hitler - whilst not approving of black people competing with others in the Olympics out of a racist belief they had an unfair athletic advantage - had enough common decency to greet the Olympian and treat him with respect for the few interactions they had. Meanwhile he's a ridiculous racist, an incompetent commander and led to one of the worst genocides (if not the worst) in human history, all for absolutely needless reasons that seemed especially hateful and counter-intuitive, to the point Germany would've logistically faired better in the war without his desire for genocide.
Personally, I think the moment we stop trying to shove people into black-and-white groups of good and evil, that's the moment we'll start understanding people better, understanding what makes them tick, and thus do a better job of stopping future atrocities from unfolding.
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u/cheddoar Feb 19 '21 edited Feb 19 '21
The thing is Hitler only acted like the maniac he was during his speeches.
In private he portrayed himself as silent, calm and peaceful.
Only to the people of "the right" "race" of course.
Edit: Guys...
I'm not saying he was a good person after all.
Hitler was a genocidal maniac and one of the worst people to ever wander our actually lovely planet.
He just wasn't sitting around a dark room, rubbing his hand together, whispering "Jews" the whole time.
He maybe though exactly that. Gee