"Stanford University officials’ response to a shared image of a student reading Adolf Hitler’s autobiography has drawn a sharp critique from a national free speech advocacy organization.
The image of the student reading Mein Kampf was shared on the social media platform Snapchat and led to the filing of an online complaint with the university, according to an email from Jewish faith leaders addressed to Jewish Stanford students. It isn’t clear from college officials who filed the complaint, though a Stanford spokeswoman, in response to questions from Inside Higher Ed, said a “concern” was raised by an unnamed student organization."
Why would you want to understand the motivations of one of the great monsters of history? It is legitimately similar to learning the hunting habits of mountain lions.
When I worked at the public library where I graduated from high school I noticed that it had several copies of Mein Kampf. I read it. Hitler may have had a very devoted secretary to take down every one of his wisdom-laden words, but what he really needed was a good editor who could have asked him for more explanation here or there, and to explain his many statements he presented as foregone conclusions that needed no expansion.
ReplyDeleteLater I read The Communist Manifesto (not in the original German)
It read like it was written by someone who had never worked a day in his life, which I came to realize was an accurate appraisal.
And as for Ayn Rand, I cannot believe she had any success as a script doctor in Hollywood. She could only write cardboard characters, and plot and character development were beyond her. She later came up with strange conclusions because she was pulling with all her might against the collective, which figuratively put her at right angles to those pulling for collectivism.
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