History Has A Way Of Repeating Itself

The following is copied from a very interesting book I am reading called “Humans. A Brief History Of How We F*cked It All Up.” I thought to myself as I was reading: “Wow! This is simply amazing!”

Maybe you will find it amazing as well. And, I hope the author sells some books from this post. It’s a fun read, well researched, and provides lots of room for thought. Let’s see who you can guess who this maniacal past dictator sounds creepily like. Answer at the bottom of the page.

EXCERPT: “Beyond being a genocidal maniac, there is an aspect of Hitler’s rule that kind of gets missed in our standard view of him. We still tend to believe the Nazi machine was ruthlessly efficient and that the little dictator spent most of his time ……… well, dictating things.

It's worth remembering that Hitler was actually an incompetent, lazy egomaniac and his government was an absolute clown show. In fact, this may even have helped his rise to power as he was consistently underestimated by the German elite. Before he became Chancellor of Germany, many of his peers had dismissed him as a joke for his crude speeches and tacky rallies. He was a “pathetic dunderhead” according to one magazine editor; another wrote that his party was a “society of incompetents” and that people should not “overestimate the fairground party.”

Even after elections had made the Nazi Party the largest in the Reichstag, (German Parliament) people still kept thinking Hitler was a peasant, a nincompoop who could easily be controlled by smart people. Franz von Papen, who lost the Chancellorship, was bitterly determined to regain his position. He thought in doing so, he could use Hitler as a pawn. He entered into discussions with him to form a coalition government. After the deal was done, making Hitler the Chancellor and von Papen the Vice-Chancellor with a cabinet full of the latter’s conservative allies, von Papen was confident of victory.

“We have hired him,” he reassured an acquaintance who tried to warn him of his mistake in acceding the Chancellor position to Hitler.

"In two months,” he predicted to a friend, “we’ll have pushed Hitler so far into a corner, he’ll squeak.”

That’s not exactly how it worked out. In two months, Hitler had seized absolute control of the German state persuading the Reichstag to pass an act that gave him the power to bypass the constitution, the presidency, and the Reichstag itself. The following are snatches of interesting facts and comments taken from the author’s research on Hitler. They make very interesting reading.

Why did the elites of pre-world war 2 Germany underestimate Hitler? They were not wrong in their view of his competency and state of mind. Far from it. Where they failed was failing to realize this was not enough to stand in the way of his overriding ambition. Yes, he was crazy, but crazy like a fox Just how bad was Hitler's mental state and competency?

Firstly, Hitler was really bad at administrating and running a government.

Even his own press chief wrote in his memoirs that in the 12 years of his rule, Hitler created more confusion in government than has ever existed in any modern world state.

He had a very short attention span and hated to read paperwork.

He would consistently make important decisions without looking at papers and documents provided to him by staff members.

Policy discussions with staff were a disaster. He would wander off track subjecting his staff to long, boring speeches and rants about what ever came to mind.

He was phobic about germs. He avoided any form of close contact and often wore gloves and bathed numerous times a day.

His government was in constant chaos.

Under Hitler's watch, nobody was entirely clear on who was in charge of what.

When asked to make difficult decisions, he procrastinated and often appeared muddled.

The German state allies were often left in the dark as Hitler relied on gut feelings when making strategic decisions.

His unreliability was maddening to those working around him and he often provided conflicting rulings on affairs of state.

Hitlers's staff spent most of their time in-fighting and backstabbing, attempting to win his attention or avoid being the subject of Hitler's many incoherent rages and temper tantums.

Hitler would often stay in bed until midday reading newspapers and journals to see what was being written about him.

He did not like Berlin. He complained people were always asking him to do things. He much preferred his private country retreat.

He was obsessed with the media and his status as a celebrity. He loved reading stories that lauded him and his successes.

He described himself as the greatest actor in Europe and felt all those surrounding him loved his speeches.

He was deeply insecure about his lack of knowledge. He preferred to ignore information that contradicted his preconceived ideas.

He was said to “rage like a crazed lion” when anyone dared to contradict him. However, his mood would brighten if a reporter or journalist wrote something complimentary about him.

Hitler craved the approval of those he loathed.

Hitler’s personal failings did not stop him from having an uncanny instinct for political rhetoric that would gain him that mass appeal he craved.

There is more in the book but I think if you are a follower of American politics, you will see the similarities. I found them striking and scaringly familiar. Buy the book: it’s a read worth the money.

If you guessed who Hitler resembles in many ways and your answer is Donald Trump, you win first prize.

There are many, many other examples of lunatic world demagogues of modern times who can be compared to leaders of civilizations down through the ages. We ignore the lessons of history at our peril.

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