• yarr@feddit.nl
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    3 days ago

    What I am saying is that people are extrapolating that Trump will have death camps soon because that’s what Nazi Germany did. Since Trump breaks with Nazi Germany in many ways (such as he advocates for friendly relations with the Jewish state, Israel), we can say as a matter of fact that he has policy differences from Nazi Germany.

    If Trump’s behavior differs from Nazi Germany, then it does not follow that he will establish death camps.

    I am becoming increasingly frustrated with the Nazi analogy with Trump. I will agree that he shows some authoritarian tendencies, but philosophically they have some critical differences:


    “The stronger must dominate and not blend with the weaker, thus sacrificing his own greatness.”

    Adolf Hitler

    “America is a land of opportunity, not a place where divisions are created based on race, religion, or background.”

    Donald Trump


    “Germany will either be a world power or will not be at all.”

    Adolf Hitler

    “Great nations do not fight endless wars.”

    Donald Trump


    Those are quotes directly from the two of them and I would say they differ very much in their views of Democracy and the role of warfare in the modern world.

    Trump is such an absolute disaster that you can easily find things to criticize him on without the flawed equivocation to one of the worst dictators of the 20th century:

    • Multiple Bankruptcies
    • Business Practices: (Trump University was sued for fraud and settled for $25 million in 2016 without admitting wrongdoing)
    • Tax Avoidance
    • Impeachments
    • Election Misinformation
    • Environmental Rollbacks (such as withdrawing from the Paris Accord)

    Stating the above is far more factual and accurate than a crude equivocation to Nazi Germany. Given the above, I can say it’s pretty likely we can expect more of the same in his next presidential tour, such as further environmental rollbacks. Despite my distaste for the man, I cannot envision him starting death camps and exterminating people, or starting land invasions to expand the US, which is what Nazi Germany would do.

    All of the above is quite a bit longer than “TRUMP = NAZI”, but I believe speaking in detail about the specific mistakes Trump made (or will make) lets us have a more productive conversation about how to deal with them and may also enable us to contrast his approach to whomever seeks election in the US in 2028.

    We’ve had enough pointless name calling in the US in the past couple of years. Let’s elevate the discussion and hopefully we will be a better nation in the wake of Trump’s reign.

    • naught101@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Why pick two of his better quotes to make your point? It just make your argument look weak.

      What about the constant resist dog whistling? The “eating the dogs” stuff? The wearing proud boys colours?

      • yarr@feddit.nl
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        2 days ago

        ? The whole point was to show that in some very important areas, Trump is the polar opposite of Hitler.

        Admittedly, I haven’t read everything on Hitler, but I am not sure he weighed in on the ‘eating the dogs’ stuff, nor the Proud Boys. Please re-read my comment and let me know if I am understanding you properly.

        • naught101@lemmy.world
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          17 hours ago

          Sorry, but cherry-picking some good quotes from trump doesn’t prove anything. I’m sure if you searched hard enough you could find equally “good” quotes from Hitler. You are using the same flawed logic (extrapolating from small amounts of data) that you’re accusing everyone else of.

          Optimism does not seem like a good defence against creeping fascism. What if you’re wrong?