Shawn Klein recently wrote an interesting post about "The Evil Competition: Nazis and Communists"
I dreamed the Mr. Evil Competition
Was held in Hades. Hitler won again.
He seems to have a lock on the position.
Stalin complained. "Most evil of all men?
I spit upon you. I killed many more,
Yes, millions more than you. Why do I fail
To win the votes for evil that you score?
My gore-bespattered record makes yours pale."
Then Hitler replied: "It isn't just the count,
It turns out people hate the Master Race
Idea, and that runs up my vote amount.
I'm sorry, Joe, but you won't fall from grace
Completely until socialism's seen
As not just mistaken, but murderous and mean."
In my gut, Naziism feels more evil. But that's not really logical.
ReplyDeleteCommunism has the numbers. Add Stalin to the Khmer Rouge, and it far outnumbers what the Nazis did.
Cambodia's killing fields, which targeted the educated, the urban, and then anyone viewed as disloyal, were certainly equally evil to Nazis' extermination of Jews.
Communism, though, remains a more serious threat than Naziism or fascism. Dictatorial communist regimes are common (Cuba, Venezuela, etc.), while Nazis are a thing of the past.
While Hitler T-shirts would be rightly viewed as shockingly offensive, Che Guevara T-shirts are common fashion items for today's ignorant youth.
Well, I have to admit the Nazis somehow "feel" worse to me, too. I wonder if it's because their elite come across as culturally refined killers, where the Bolsheviks tend to come across as unrefined peasants with machine guns.
ReplyDeleteYes, I still see Che shirts all over. Sheesh!