Editor in Chief Bill  | 09 Jul 2018 5:12 p.m. PST |
53% of you said he was just evil – TMP link 22% said he was sane 13% said he was crazy |
Ceterman | 09 Jul 2018 5:27 p.m. PST |
Editor, Can you send me the names of that 22% so I can Stifle & Ignore the Hell outta them? Please? I feel I could enjoy TMP a lot more then. Thank You. |
Blutarski | 09 Jul 2018 6:31 p.m. PST |
The trick is defining exactly what the terms "crazy", "sane" and "evil" mean. B |
Scott MacPhee | 09 Jul 2018 6:50 p.m. PST |
You can start with me, Ceterman. I think to claim that Hitler was insane diminishes the evil that he wrought. I believe he was in complete control of himself. |
abelp01 | 09 Jul 2018 7:02 p.m. PST |
+1 Scott MacPhee! He knew what he was doing! |
Mobius | 09 Jul 2018 7:51 p.m. PST |
1936 crazy or 2018 crazy? There's a difference. |
Winston Smith | 09 Jul 2018 10:10 p.m. PST |
It diminishes his evil to say he was insane. He knew what he was doing and followed a plan. |
Korvessa | 09 Jul 2018 11:39 p.m. PST |
A long time ago I worked in a jail. There was a 'man' there that was so completely evil that you could feel it when he was in the right mood. I wouldn't call him "insane" (though he claimed to be in background of "One flew over Cookoo's nest") – just plain evil. I imagine Hitler was the same way. |
Fred Cartwright | 10 Jul 2018 1:12 a.m. PST |
Of course the problem is the 2 are not mutually exclusive. You can be insane and evil and sane and evil. You can also be insane and be a good person. FWIW I think he probably had a narcissistic personality disorder, but that doesn't mean he wasn't responsible for his actions. People with personality disorders know what they are doing is wrong they just don't care. |
4th Cuirassier  | 10 Jul 2018 1:56 a.m. PST |
I like Churchill's description of him: "bloodthirsty guttersnipe". |
Frontovik | 10 Jul 2018 2:41 a.m. PST |
I find the term evil less than useful. Dolfi didn't consider what he did as 'evil'. I recommend the book 'Ordinary Men' by Chistopher Browning. |
deephorse | 10 Jul 2018 3:07 a.m. PST |
Should have run this poll before Kershaw wrote his books. Would have saved him an awful lot of time and effort. Who needs academics when you have TMP polls? |
Landorl | 10 Jul 2018 4:31 a.m. PST |
Hitler had reasons for what he did. He believed that he was justified and right, and so he planned out the whole thing based on his experiences. He chose to let his experiences turn to hatred which leads to evil acts. That isn't insanity, it is evil. I think that as the war went on his bitterness and anger turned increasingly more to the realm of insanity, but when he started off, he was deliberate and thoughtful in what he did. Quite twisted, but not insane. |
Ceterman | 10 Jul 2018 6:11 a.m. PST |
Scott MacPhee, So did you vote "Sane" or "Evil"? That then would be the question… |
foxweasel | 10 Jul 2018 11:38 p.m. PST |
Why wasn't there a "both" option? |
Andy ONeill | 11 Jul 2018 2:34 a.m. PST |
There's a strange theory about Hitler. The background is touched on here: link Hitler suffered from some sort of shell shock in ww1 and he was treated for it. The details are disputed. One interpretation of events has the "draconian" treatment of the hysterically blind Hitler resulting in massive over confidence. This is held to explain the apparent changes in his personality post ww1. |