RE: License to....

[Aleksander Mierzwa <alex@matrix.pl>]

At 07:26 18.10.98 -0700, Avi Meron wrote:

>It is not only the fault of the nazi government...........most Germans
>participated in it very happily...........
>There was EXTREMELY low resistance to the Hitler regime (up till
>1945!)..........make no mistake about it.
>The Germans are followers......just like the Japanese, it is no mistake or
>coincidence that those two nations afflicted so much misery on the world (in
>this century) for  no reason at all, other than their own twisted
>logic.............
>And yes (sorry again Brad!) there is a collective guilt (for a nation) and
>it does not go away!

Don't forget the power of propaganda. Anyone, ANYONE can be made a serial
killer if you brainwash him long enough, Avi. Particularly if you do this
to a kid. And Nazis were experts in propaganda and brainwashing. So, even
if there is a collective guilt, it's not shared equally between Germans.
One cannot underestimate the guilt of Hitler, or Himmler, or Goebbels, but
you can't equally blame a young Hitlerjugend boy recruited into army. And
IMHO it's not that only "Germans and Japanese are followers". As other
listers pointed out, almost every nation has some period in history
they're, well, not quite proud of. It can happen again, and it can happen
anywhere. No matter what country and what nation, just choose a right
moment, right leader and right ideology. That's why we all are equally
responsible for not allowing this to happen again. 

>How would you like to be a Serb now? (although by no mean do I fault all the
>Serbs for the Millosovich regime.......do you really think that what is
>happening in Serbia is ONLY the fault of the Serbian government?

Because those Serbs who do not support Milosevic regime are either already
dead, locked in jail, or in best case forced to keep quiet. Every regime
first wipes off the opposition in it's own country. Once you destroy
democracy and gain full control on TV, newspapers etc., it's only a matter
of time until you convince people that it was really OK. So, even if
majority of people indeed do support the regime, it does not change the
fact that it was a narrow group of crazy politicians who started the evil. 

Aleksander Mierzwa
Warsaw, Poland
mailto:alex@matrix.pl
87 Audi 5000CS turbo (mine)
88 Renault Medallion wagon (mom's)
91 mountain bike (just in case both cars broke at the same time :-)