Will Smith Hitler Comment
POSTED BY: Causal
UPDATED: Thursday, January 16, 2025 20:40
VIEWED: 4650
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http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/25/people.willsmith.ap/index
.html
Discuss.
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Quote:
"It speaks to the dangerous power of an ignorant person with a pen."
'Nuff said.
A man who walks the Earth.
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The thing that gripes me is that if a person makes a comment about Hitler or the Nazis that even looks like it might be anything other than negative (regardless of whether it actually is or not), that person will be eaten alive. Come on now. I think Smith's comment is instructive: not even a person like Hitler thinks of himself as evil. In the mind of such a person, what they're doing is right. So how can we help people think more accurately about the things they do, such that the world won't have to have another Hitler or Stalin or Pol Pot?
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""Even Hitler didn't wake up going, 'let me do the most evil thing I can do today'," said Will. "I think he woke up in the morning and using a twisted, backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was 'good'. Stuff like that just needs reprogramming."
And ?
This is news ?
To paraphrase Mal
"Ain't nothin worse than a monster who thinks he's right with God."
Most evil in the world isn't done by evil men, it's done by people who honestly believe in their heart that what they are doing is right, like The Operative from Serenity - their ideology blinds them to the horrors they create.
When ideology trumps reason, and a persons humanity is suppressed or damaged in some fashion (See Also: Works of Alice Miller)- and that person achives a position of power, such abuses are all but inevitable.
While not specifically antagonistic against most religions, this is the primary reason I am averse to them - common sense would tell you that sending someone to thier death at the end of a sword or gun barrel is an immoral, inhumane act, but look how often it gets done, and gets justified, by "True Believers" and the damned fools who blindly follow them.
One of the things I am earnestly being thankful for today is the fact that shrub has all the charm and charisma of a nettlebush draped in limburger cheese...
-Frem
It cannot be said enough, those who do not learn from history, are doomed to endlessly repeat it
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This is the sort of thing that makes democracy a dangerous thing. And what really annoys me is not the stupid people who respond do such misinterpretations and demagoguery. They don't know they're being lied to (although I'd like to encourage them to think a bit more critically than they do). But the people who propagate this crap DO know better - and they do it anyway, for their own ulterior motives.
We need to start calling out the journalists and pundits who play these games and rubbing their noses in it.
SergeantX
"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock
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Casual, Well Said, and thanks.
I know we agree on almost nothing else, but that one thought.. we do, and seem to on it's vital importance, the NEED to understand that as a preventive measure.
Here's for hopin this one doesn't go flamewar.
(we can hope, right ?)
-F
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I've long held the notion that the essence of evil is the denial of evil. Which is to say, without humility, without the basic acknowledgement that we, all of us, are capable of doing great harm in one way or another, we are likely to commit acts of cruelty and violence against others. The moment a person, or, much worse, a group of people manage to convince themselves that "they can do no wrong," that they are "the good guys" despite what they actually do, is the first step on the road to atrocity.
Absolutely, Hitler saw himself as "the good guy" saving humanity from the "bad guys." More interestingly to me is the idea that every action we take is preferable to some other action in our mind. O.J. killed his wife to avoid something he found even more terrible. What was it? Actions can be good or evil, but we humans come equipped with the capability of both, no matter who we are.
O' course, it doesn't hurt if we can convince ourselves that our own actions are caused by other people--someone else's actions or even just their presence makes us do the terrible things we elect to do. That's why blame is such a dangerous mental habit, it's the blank check upon which we may write whatever revenge strikes our fancy.
What frustrates me most about the press latching onto Mr. Smith's words in this way is that we've become a world of tattle-tales. And the press has become the equivalent of some nasty clique of high school cheerleaders massaging the egos of the powerful and humiliating anyone they can get away with defaming.
That's what's so utterly infuriating about the whole "P.C." madness: it's the moral opprobrium of the school yard. People talk about the "dumbing down" of the culture but what I mostly see is the "maturing down" of the culture. Any adult--that is, a person acquainted with human suffering and falibility, with responsibility and consequences--should be able to see what Will Smith was saying. As a very wise man once said, "And? This is news?"
HKCavalier
Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.
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Quote:
Originally posted by HKCavalier:
I've long held the notion that the essence of evil is the denial of evil. Which is to say, without humility, without the basic acknowledgement that we, all of us, are capable of doing great harm in one way or another, we are likely to commit acts of cruelty and violence against others. The moment a person, or, much worse, a group of people manage to convince themselves that "they can do no wrong," that they are "the good guys" despite what they actually do, is the first step on the road to atrocity.
Well, and interestingly, this can happen no matter what a person's ideological commitments. So no matter which end of the ideological spectrum you occupy, there's great danger in thinking that your cause justifies any means whatever.
Quote:
The press has become the equivalent of some nasty clique of high school cheerleaders massaging the egos of the powerful and humiliating anyone they can get away with defaming.
That's what's so utterly infuriating about the whole "P.C." madness: it's the moral opprobrium of the school yard. People talk about the "dumbing down" of the culture but what I mostly see is the "maturing down" of the culture.
I like the comparison of the media with snobbish high school girls. Another point of comparison: any hint of weakness and they attack. Their favorite targets are the ones that are already down.
As for as the "P.C. madness" the thing that drives me nuts is the idea that people have the right to not be offended. Where did that idea come from? Whence the notion of entitlement generally? Ridiculous.
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- Grand High Poobah of the Mythical Land of Iowa, and Keeper of State Secrets
- Captain, FFF.net Grammar Police
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Quote:
Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
""Even Hitler didn't wake up going, 'let me do the most evil thing I can do today'," said Will. "I think he woke up in the morning and using a twisted, backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was 'good'. Stuff like that just needs reprogramming."
And ?
This is news ?
Trouble is, that ain't what they said he said. As you know, it got published as ", "Will Smith said Hitler was good." whole ' nother thing...
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That being why I posted the exact quote prior to discussing it, I much prefer digging out the facts and making my own decisions on a subject rather than simple blind acceptance of whatever the mainstream media (or even alternative media) is tryin to spoonfeed us this day or week.
Governments, Police, Newspapers... they're all people, when it comes right down to it.
And people are... well, people, and we lie, cheat and steal.. sure, it's all a matter of degree - but when our humanity is so damaged that we begin to do those things to ourselves out of mere habit, that's when things get kinda flaky.
First they lie to themselves, then somehow twist it up until it's palatable to them, then they try to foist it on US... "for our own good".
And the first line of defense against that is thinking radicals who'll slam it right back in their faces while the rest of the populace is still debating on whether it's a good idea or not.
The more aware one is of how these things happen, right now... the more scared, or angry, take your pick, one oughta be - and right now, I tellya, I'm pretty pissed.
-Frem
It cannot be said enough, those who do not learn from history, are doomed to endlessly repeat it
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