All posts tagged History

Claim 1: Nazis Weren’t Socialists

DON’T MAKE NAZI COMPARISONS!!!

Okay, now that I have that off my chest, if someone is dopey enough to do a Nazi comparison, the response should not be to try to rewrite history and say that the “Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers’ Party)” weren’t socialists.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is non-partisan, and it describes the Nazi platform (in part) this way:

The 25 points combined extreme nationalism, racial antisemitism, and socialist concepts with German outrage over the Versailles peace settlement following their defeat in World War I.

But, you don’t have to trust their interpretation. Take a look at the 25 points yourself:

Nazi Party Platform

The Nazi Party Platform was a 25-point program for the creation of a Nazi state and society. Hitler presented the program at the Hofbräuhaus Beerhall in Munich, Germany on February 24, 1920.

For instance, point 13 & 14:

13. We demand the nationalization of all businesses which have been formed into corporations (trusts).

14. We demand profit-sharing in large industrial enterprises.

Does this mean that modern socialists are Nazis? Of course not.

But, truth matters…and Nazis were socialists.

Claim #2: After the 60s, Democrats Became the Party of Lincoln

Now, I cannot blame any group with a repugnant history of racism for wanting to somehow disconnect from it, but another case of rewriting history is the idea that after the Republicans saved the Civil Rights Act in the 60s, their mantle as the “Party of Lincoln” switched over to the Democrats. This article does a thorough review of how that is not true:

The Myth of the Republican-Democrat ‘Switch’ | News/Talk 1130 WISN | Dan O’Donnell

Dan O’Donnell debunks a popular myth that the two political parties switched positions and that racist southern Democrats became Republicans during the Civil Rights Era.

Does this mean that modern Democrats are racist? No, and it’s not the purpose of this post to argue one way or another.

However, truth matters. The Democratic Party is not the “Party of Lincoln,” Republicans continue to be.

Albeit, far from perfectly. (Of course, Lincoln was far from perfect too. You and I come up far short too.)