Out of curiosity, does anyone think things like multiplayer WWII games have normalized this in any way? I could never bring myself to play the Germans in Call of Duty because, well, they’re literally Nazis, but there were obviously players that had no issues with it.
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Those games are really just playing sides on a battlefield. You put historical context to make it authentic, but it’s still just soldier killing soldier. There isn’t a game out there where you are in charge of oppressing a population, rounding innocent civilians up, committing genocide. Or, at least, I hope not.
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Hmmmm…
Do you believe children should be allowed to call black children “n-word” in the halls? Applying your logic, those children called that word should:
a) not be easily offended by it
b) not try to rebut being called that by “shouting it down”
c) not be hostile to being called the n-word
d) learn to tolerate that behavior.
Am I correct in summarizing your views on how children in this country should expect to be treated (which you so clearly find abhorrent…obvy)
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No. Being tolerant of intolerance is not a virtue that needs to be taught. This is being so concerned with protecting the “free speech” rights of bullies, to allow them to abuse those unlike themselves, and being utterly unconcerned with the welfare of their victims.
All you are saying here is to the victims “be silent, and don’t protest or fight back, because the ‘right to attack you’ of those people attacking you is seen as greater than your right to live in peace without being threatened. Peacefully co-exist with those who find your existence intolerable, and hope that they get bored before they attack you.”
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As someone who has been bullied all their life “just because”, thank you for this. I am sick of the “ignore them, they will go away” bullshit. Because they don’t.
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Few German soldiers were actually Nazi. Nazi was a shortened version of National Socialist which was the name of the political party, “National Socialist Worker Party”. Which is why I find it crazy that people today honestly believe that the Nazi were some sort of right wing extremist party during that period. They simply were not; today, those idiots we used to call Neo-Nazi not withstanding. I don’t play Call of Duty, but I have seen it played. I imagine playing Germans would appeal to such misguided people, but I highly doubt it would promote such behavior in any normal person any more than taking a trip to Germany would. You don’t become gay by marching in a gay pride parade, nor do you become Catholic by visiting The Vatican.
If someone is threatening violence, there is no free speech. But bullying is NOT simply saying something you find offensive.
I was the guy who got hit a lot because I placed myself between the bully and victim. I know what bullying is… Someone saying something I don’t like is not bullying.
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Then please tell me what, exactly, your definition of bullying is? And, furthermore why this behavior does not qualify under that definition.
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It’s coming closer to home.
My ancestry is complicated and until recent years I’ve never regarded Jewishness as part of my identity. Different posters on here would have different opinions on the matter, and I don’t want to go down that rabbit hole, but until a couple of years ago anti-Semitism really had no effect on me at all. OK, I was subjected to annoying bullying by an Australian and I’ve been threatened and had a minor knife injury from a National Front supporter while living in London, but that could have happened regardless. Then Brexit and Trump happened in short order.
One of my kids has a middle name which is not merely Hebrew, but in a slightly variant spelling which could be taken by a bigot as being Muslim. And it’s on a passport. Double whammy. Their plans for holiday in the US next year have been cancelled, and for the first time I am beginning to worry about my children and grandchildren.
In English law, it may be. (I know, this is a US website, but perhaps worth remembering that the US is not the world.)
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I dunno, maybe video games are different, but I grew up playing Avalon Hill/SPI board games and it didn’t warp my brain. Someone has to play the Germans or the Japanese and issues other than military strategy/technology simply wasn’t included.
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Yeah, how could they possibly have got that impression?
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Nice way to take it out of context… Since I was specific to the Nazi of that period vs those Neo-Nazi of today. Classic…
Ummm… because they were? They were no more “socialist” because it is in the name than the Democratic People’s Republic Of Korea is a democracy?
Heck, one of the very first things that was done after the Nazis took power was purge their liberal wing, during the Night Of The Long Knives.
So, yes, the Nazi party was a right wing party. It was an extremist party. And it existed during that time period. Attempting to claim otherwise can only be the result of willful ignorance.
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You should read their platform and then determine if their platform sounds more left or right wing.
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Yeah, it’s more of a “Nazis weren’t that bad” sort of normalization. I’m aware that someone has to be the cowboys to the indians, more of a beginning of thinking that they might be “my side” instead of “those fucking Nazis.”
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This is not quite that, but it’s on it’s way. One, or maybe one-and-a-half, out of three, in my estimation.
Prison Architect. Build and Manage A Maximum Security Prison.
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Thing is, being a wargamer naturally led to having a much greater grasp of history than the average 10 year old, which also included how horrible their various atrocities were, despite it not being a part of the games. On top of that my dad, a german lutheran, would have been all over us if we’d given even a hint of leaning in that direction.
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And where does that line lie?
A threat doesn’t need to be verbal. If someone glared at me and punched his left hand with his right, I would consider that a specific threat of violence. If someone caught me eye and drew his finger across his throat, I would consider that a specific threat of violence. And, if I were Jewish and someone did a Nazi salute in my direction, I would be absolutely fucking sure that that was a specific threat of violence.
Nazi Germany is not distinguished from any other dictatorship in history in terms of the amount of area their dominion covered, or the number of people they killed, or how brutal they were to the populace, or any other statistic save one: they brutally, systematically, specifically, and deliberately murdered millions of Jews.
I would consider any display of the Nazi swastika to have an implicit meaning of “Kill Jews.” I would consider anyone wearing that symbol, outside of a museum or historical performance, to be explicitly stating “I want to kill Jews.” And, if I was Jewish, I can’t reasonably see how someone could make such an explicit statement in my presence and it not be considered a specific threat of violence against me.
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Remember those unfunny “Hitler World Tour” t-shirts in the 80s? There were a few in my school.
(Note, I am NOT disagreeing with OP point re. then/now - this is just an aside. As a parent myself, the whole thing fills me with despair.)
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