Today marks 100 years since Hitler assumed the leadership of the National Socialist German Workers Party, better known as the Nazis, giving rise to millions of debating points accusing anyone right of centre of being a "Nazi".

We've had plenty of arguments on this forum about whether he was a socialist or not, and no arguments that he wasn't evil, so at least we an agree on something.

In this article Larry Reed makes a very persuasive case that Hitler was a socialist http://fee.org/articles/what-the-nazis-had-in-common-with-every-other-collectivist-regime-in-the-20th-century/.

"Ask yourself this: Does the following statement sound like something a socialist would say or something a free-market, capitalist advocate would espouse?

'The good of the community takes priority over that of the individual. But the State should retain control; every owner should feel himself to be an agent of the State; it is his duty not to misuse his possessions to the detriment of the State or the interests of his fellow countrymen. That is the overriding point. The Third Reich will always retain the right to control property owners.'"

A good point, which then led me to think about how our politicians, both left and right, whatever that means under the current disposition, have a remarkably similar attitude when it comes to pandemic control. Businesses have certainly been expected to be agents of the state.

I'm particularly alarmed by the idea that control might go beyond where it is now to suggest that if you haven't been vaccinated, then you will be the only ones who have to lockdown.

Socialism seems to mutate more than the virus, infecting without differentiating between "left" and "right".

We can learn from the period of history at how
Adolf Hitler rose to power. This history holds
important lessons on the rise of Nazism in
Germany and how similar excesses can be prevented
in the future for us here in this country.

Once a fascist group obtains political power it can be
difficult to displace.

Voters need to steer clear from
political groups that are not committed to democratic
processes or have radically motivated agendas.

Politicians sharing power in their own party, or in
other parties can be dangerous. Politicians of the
center right and the center left may see each other
as historical opponents but they should be allied in
fighting extremists on either side.

Hitler's ascent involved conservative politicians sharing
power with an extremist party and being outmanoeuvred,
quickly falling in line when the new regime had
cemented its power.

In our troubled times and the rising of political extremism
around the world we can learn from the lessons of the past.

cont'd ...

There's more at the following link:

http://www.thecoversation.com/understanding-how-hitler-became-german-helps-us-deal-with-modern-day-extremists-118516

Excuse my typo. Here's the link again:

http://www.theconversation.com/understanding-how-hitler-became-german-helps-us-deal-with-modern-day-extremists-118516

Of course Hitler was a socialist; but we live in a country where some people think the Liberal party is conservative, ignoring the fact that 'liberal' actually applies to the left.

The interesting thing about it being 100 years since Hitler is that it neatly fits the 'once in a hundred years' theory of events. We now have another thuggish dictator and would be world leader in Xi Jinping.

The Liberal Party in Australia cannot be compared
to the Liberals in the US. They are totally different.