Hitler's mouthpiece got booted from American restaurants, too

[anon61221983]

@gracchus

In that atmosphere the problem of Disney being opportunistically apolitical becomes less of a problem than Henry Ford regularly praising Hitler’s campaign against the Jews.

Agreed, and I don’t think I implied otherwise. But when does silence equal consent? The reality of someone else doing something far worse doesn’t mean we can’t be critical.

@gracchus

That combination of sentimentalism and gimlet-eyed business acumen is one of the cornerstones of the Disney brand to this day.

Which is part of my problem with Disney. How much of that maudlin sentimentalism is just covering up business ruthlessness. the fact that Disney under Walt and Disney today understanding propaganda leads me to believe that the sentimentalism was at least in part itself propaganda. YMMV.

[gracchus]

@anon61221983

But when does silence equal consent?

I think the point about it turning into indifference is a good one, and would agree with you that he was indifferent. He also felt he was far removed from Germany and thus safer than similarly indifferent German business executives.

@anon61221983

How much of that maudlin sentimentalism is just covering up business ruthlessness.

All of it, especially taking into account his sentimental view of art as something that can be pure and unsullied by politics and social issues. That he and later the company went to extreme lengths to perfect their art shows how important it was to them to preserve that illusion.

Whatever Disney does in its business or its art, whether I like it or not, my response tends to be the same: those guys don’t miss a trick.

[knoxblox]

I just want to add that it would help a great deal if we could get the terminology correct. The loosely educated consistently and incorrectly label the Left as Liberals, when Left and Liberal are two separate axes on the same plotting graph. They can often be found in combination, but are not the same thing.

ETA: The same thing could be said for the Right and Conservatism.

[Wanderfound]

@anon61221983

at what point does being neutral become a problem?

[Wanderfound]

Possibly a misattributed quote, BTW.

[Wanderfound]

@gracchus

[* I know you’d like to see a revolutionary third party take advantage of this but Andrea is asking about one duopoly party making its margin in the 2020 campaign]

Actually…

1. I think the 2020 election is already lost. Fascists are counting the votes; it will not be an honestly conducted process.

2. Resisting American fascism will require new political organisation, but that organisation could possibly still use the name of the Democratic Party. But only if the entirety of the old corrupt party machine is defeated and driven out.

[wait_really]

@Wanderfound

Is it about Rawls’ “ideal of public reason” stuff?

That has a known failure mode in the face of fascism.

Eco covers this thought as well, that the most deeply committed fascists are very much aware of the inherent irrationality of their arguments. The idea is to win on pure pathos, cloaked in whatever garments are necessary to appeal to a particular audience.