We always think of Nazism as something of the past and that we have officially defeated them after WW2, however, there are still people even in America, who was very opposed to fascism that still salute the swastika and go around terrorizing minorities that they don't like. There is a sort of a psychology behind these kinds of groups. There are some of my theories of why Nazi's and terrorists still exist
1. Humans have evolved to want to belong to a group.
There are a lot of different types of groups, friend groups, fandoms, religious groups, ethnic groups and many more. The reason we have evolved to want to be in groups is that back when we were early humans, being in a group meant you were safer from predators. Some could look out, some could take care of offspring. These people that form into neo-nazi groups have probably been conditioned to think that they are better in some way and clump together because they have no one else that agrees with them. People feel a loyalty and love cheering for their football team, like how neo-nazi love advocating for hate and discrimination. Endorphins are released into the brain when people are out cheering for something they identify with.
2. Humans naturally enjoy feeling superior to others.
In order to survive back in the early human stage, people had to sometimes fight each other for a space of land or for food and mates. Because of this, endorphins are released when someone feels superior to another like they have accomplished something. People that are neo-nazis find it very easy to feel like they have accomplished something because all they have to do is to spread hate and terrorize other groups. It is easy to "defeat" other people and put them down when you fight each other.
I think that you make a common misconception throughout this post that Nazis still exist in America. True Nazis no longer exist in our country, possibly with a very rare exception. What does still exist in America is anti-semitism. This goes well with your second point - the idea of humans wanting to feel superior to others. In addition to this feeling, people like to blame others for their problems. Some ignorant Americans decide that it is easier to arbitrarily blame a group of people for their problems rather than accept responsibility.
ReplyDeleteI respectfully disagree and I think that recent events have proven that there are still "nazis" in America that are not simply anti-semites. There exists a culture of white supremacy, xenophobia, and ultranationalism that is more prevalent than maybe previously assumed by many. It is true that there may be those who agree with many of the philosophies but do not take on the branding of Nazi, but I do not think that an idea or a belief should be different just because its name has changed. I am not arguing that anti-semitism is not a problem in need of being addressed, but Neo-Nazism is alive and well in America today.
DeleteI agree with what Corinne said that most recent events seem to be showing that "Nazis" still exist in American society. They might not call themselves that, but they have the ideas that similar of those
Deleteduring the times of Nazi Germany. I agree with what Kyle said on that those who feel superior those blame others because that is the exact thing that Hitler did by blaming the Jews for a lot of things leading to a lot of anti-semitic behavior back then that still exist today.
Agreeing with the two above, I believe the recent events still show that "Nazis" or the sense of white supremacy still exists in forms of racism, and segregation. While it is true that the term of being a Nazi has been turned into a negative branding and is highly frowned upon in today's society, many people still behave in ways that Nazis would back then. The idea of supremacy and racism still lingers that while they might not identify as one, the fundamental idea of segregation the lead to the anti-semantic ideas of what Hitler had believed in and promoted across Germany still exists. As an example, Hitler worked to remove the jews from what he believed to be a superior race built with his "pure blooded" people, and in today's society, we see many American protests to deport a certain race of people or simply remove rights for minorities.
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