The Nazi Mind with Laurence Rees

Ok so first of all, I was very surprised to learn that children in the UK can opt out of History class as early as 13 years old … I need to fact check this! 

I totally agree that understanding history can be an incredible tool for analysing the present and thinking about future scenarios. Where I do draw the line though and don’t fully agree is that history always repeats itself. Call me naïve, but I think that we can learn from the atrocities that happened 70 years ago and be able to take the lessons and learn from it. Isn’t that what human progress is and isn’t that what we’ve seen over the years? Sure, we’re not living in an ideal world right now (understatement) but we’re definitely in a better place than our ancestors ever were. If you need more convincing on this, please order/read “Enlightenment Now” by Steven Pinker and subscribe to the “Fix The News” newsletter. 

Lots of things made me think again in this episode but here is the top 4:

1. The fact that Nazis were a group of ordinary people, frustrated with their lives or feeling left out/misunderstood or in some sort of economic distress…

2. Rather unbelievable to think that this happened in a “cultured” nation, at the heart of Europe, and that a majority of people knew they were voting to NOT have the right to vote again.

3. The author made me reflect on how being complacent about everything (including about the institutions around us) can actually be very dangerous. I think this is something I never thought of as seriously as today, listening to this episode.

4. Lastly I thought it was an interesting point that Hitler would consistently say “either” / “or” in his rhetoric - definitely pulling on the right strings to heighten fear and dread… 

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/open-book-with-anthony-scaramucci/id1663394459?i=1000715411465