This comparison is an insult to every one of Hitler and Stalin’s victims and their loved ones. If I lost a loved one to Auschwitz or the gulags I would be livid at people comparing my mother’s killer or my father’s torturer to a man who is trying to guide the US away from Bush’s legacy of isolationism, war, environmental apathy, corporate kickbacks, and melding of church and state.
Even if you dislike Obama and disagree with his policies, you have to at least admit that he HASN’T MURDERED MILLIONS OF PEOPLE. For chrissake, at least have enough decency to avoid comparing him to two of the worst mass murdering psychopaths of the 20th century! I couldn’t stand Dubya—I even participated in two marches on Washington against him—but I never once tried to convince myself or other people that he was equivalent to A) an architect of genocide, or B) a dictator who stripped his people of their civil rights and killed millions of them through an engineered famine and a brutal labor camp system.
I know a lot of folks have a bone to pick with the idea of universal healthcare, so maybe their line of thinking goes like this: universal healthcare = socialized healthcare --> socialized healthcare = socialism --> socialism = National Socialism (Nazis) and communism. Or maybe they just didn’t pay attention in history class and therefore don’t understand what the hell they’re saying when they claim that Obama is equivalent to Hitler and Stalin.
I want to add that socialized medicine does not equal communism. There are some countries, such as those in Scandinavia, that have been quite successful with socialized medicine. They do not use the KGB to spy on their citizens. They do not ship off their freethinkers to Siberia. Comparing socialized medicine with communism is like the proverbial comparison of apples and oranges (or apples and Subway trains). Also, not all socialism is Nazism and not all communism is North Korea- or Soviet-style communism. In their purest form, socialism and communism aren’t evil. I’m not saying I agree with all their tenets (I’m too materialistic, yo)—all I’m saying is that they got corrupted over the years by various regimes, so you cannot compare their root to their branches. It’s like the difference between what Jesus taught and what fundamentalist Christians teach. They are completely different ideas sharing the same name.
Some friends discussed this very issue on Facebook recently; here are some of their comments:
No offense, but I fail to see the similarities between Nazi Germany and the present day US. If anything, our president is the exact opposite of Hitler—encouraging a multiplicity of ideas & championing diplomacy over/against aggression. Even the mythical “socialist” connection is laughable. Hitler did not desire to provide for all people—he chose to systematically annihilate over 17 million individuals who did not think or look like him. –KLHF
I get that Hitler and Obama were both charismatic individuals and that they both ran on platforms advocating equal rights, peace, and propriety, and a general promise for hope and change. BUT That doesn’t mean Obama is going to turn evil like Hitler and start killing Jews, gays, gypsies, and the mentally handicapped nor is he hell bent on world domination! Why is it when a politician is charismatic they get compared to Hitler? There are many charismatic people in the world that he could be compared to. Being charismatic doesn’t make one Hitler, nor does wanting to set up national healthcare; look at how many countries in the world have national healthcare and I don’t see those countries setting up concentration camps. –RMC
One could even argue that of all the people discussed in this thread, Jesus was the closest to the core tenets of socialism. –KP
I too am interested in how providing healthcare to those who aren’t rich is contrary to Christianity. When did feeding the poor and taking care of the sick become the work of the devil? I must have been reading the New Testament wrong all these years. –KP
I really don’t see how wanting to help your fellow citizens is the antithesis of Christianity or how it is a bad thing in general. Clearly the welfare system needs an overhaul and clearly there are people who abuse the system. But it doesn’t mean that it should be eradicated completely—especially when it comes to making sure everyone has access to healthcare and food.Funny how the people who scream the loudest about liberals being “bleeding hearts” are so often the ones who also profess to be the strictest Christians. If anybody should be a compassionate bleeding heart, it’s a Christian. Yet so many of the most compassionate, giving people I know are atheists. –JB
I may be mistaken but didn’t Jesus feed the poor and care for the sick? Or maybe Jesus just did what was best for big business.On another note I fail to see how morality and religion are in any way related to government. “Family Values” is not a political issue any more than manners or common courtesy are political issues.
As for those who would compare Obama to Hitler. Why don’t you ask a holocaust survivor if that is an accurate comparison? Why don’t you ask a German who lived through that time and perhaps was bullied into the “cause” how they feel about that comparison. It’s asinine, inaccurate, and downright offensive.
–TM
song heard most recently before posting:
Mild und Leise—Richard Wagner
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment