On jargon:
These [socialist] writers were obviously counting on the proverbial humility of a certain section of our people, who believe that a person who is incomprehensible must be profoundly wise.
On new Prime Ministers:
The Press succeeded in the magical art of producing names from nowhere within the course of a few weeks. They made it appear that the great hopes of the masses were bound up with those names. And so they made those names more popular than any man of real ability could ever hope to be in a long lifetime. All this was done, despite the fact that such names were utterly unknown and indeed had never been heard of even up to a month before the Press publicly emblazoned them. At the same time old and tried figures in the political and other spheres of life quickly faded from the public memory and were forgotten as if they were dead, though still healthy and in the enjoyment of their full viguour. Or sometimes such men were so vilely abused that it looked as if their names would soon stand as permanent symbols of the worst kind of baseness.
On art:
The more vile and miserable are the men and products of an epoch, the more they will hate and denigrate the ideal achievements of former generations.
On cancel culture:
The tactics of Social Democracy consisted in opening, at a given signal, a veritable drum−fire of lies and calumnies against the man whom they believed to be the most redoubtable of their adversaries, until the nerves of the latter gave way and they sacrificed the man who was attacked, simply in the hope of being allowed to live in peace. But the hope proved always to be a foolish one, for they were never left in peace.
On the middle class:
Those among whom I passed my young days belonged to the small bourgeois class. Therefore it was a world that had very little contact with the world of genuine manual labourers. For, though at first this may appear astonishing, the ditch which separates that class, which is by no means economically well−off; from the manual labouring class is often deeper than people think. The reason for this division, which we may almost call enmity, lies in the fear that dominates a social group which has only just risen above the level of the manual labourer – a fear lest it may fall back into its old condition or at least be classed with the labourers. Moreover, there is something repulsive in remembering the cultural indigence of that lower class and their rough manners with one another; so that people who are only on the first rung of the social ladder find it unbearable to be forced to have any contact with the cultural level and standard of living out of which they have passed.
On education:
There is no reason why millions of people should learn two or three languages during the school years, when only a very small fraction will have the opportunity to use these languages in later life and when most of them will therefore forget those languages completely.
Have you got it yet? I bet you have. The language used and the way I’ve framed the question suggests a well-known historical figure and someone we’re not supposed to agree with.
But it’s interesting, isn’t it? Whatever he was, he was not a numpty. Well… he was a numpty. But he was clearly capable of recognising patterns and coming up with theories to explain them. Some of which were correct.
Which makes me wonder. Getting hold of a copy of Mein Kampf is not the easiest thing in the world to do. For instance, there were no second-hand copies on eBay last time I looked. I can’t imagine they are that scarce. So I assume eBay and others have been leant on by the authorities.
So, what are they so worried about? We are told that Hitler was a raving loony. That is the narrative. But it is not true. Read Mein Kampf for more than a few minutes and you realise that there’s more to the guy. But the government can’t stand that idea. Apparently. It fears the idea that rather than being a raving loony, Hitler was a raving loony with an ability to reason. Crazy not stupid, so to speak. But why would that idea so threatening to the government?
P.S. I’ve just read the Jewish stuff. Oh Boy.
P.P.S FWIW, I am reading the Murphy translation. I understand there are quite a few translations out there. Or were.
https://x.com/Never_Again2020/status/2087949138486767685?s=20
No problem finding a copy if you speak Arabic.
Forcing people to buy new puts more money into the pockets of the fascists who tend to publish books like Mein Kampf. Why people would lean on others to create that result is a mystery to me.
I inherited a March 1939 edition from my paternal grandfather. Published by Hurst & Blackett.
Never read it. Was taught at school that it was famously dull, but have long suspected that was intended to put people off reading it.
A friend at university had to read the original in the original german for his course. He told me the original german is mind-cheesingly turgid, most of the english translations put it in hugely more readable language.
“Was taught at school that it was famously dull, but have long suspected that was intended to put people off reading it.”
It’s long-winded, repetitive and the language flowery, for sure. But it wasn’t until I read it that I understood the nature of his hatred of the Jews – race not religion – or its centrality to national socialism. He also thinks that propaganda can trump military reality.