TO THE EDITOR:
In response to the Oct. 18 letter “Republicans are not Nazis, obviously,” it should be noted that Mr. Council’s passionate defense of the GOP and disgust for ahistorical comparisons contains not only substantial factual errors on the history of National Socialism, but also logical fallacies.
Ostensibly decrying fatuous misuse of history to make cheap political points — which I, as a historian of modern Germany, wholeheartedly agree with — the letter’s reference to “Hillary brownshirts” hypocritically suggests that Council feels that wielding the Nazi cudgel is an exclusive monopoly of the Right.
Additionally, the author seems blissfully ignorant of the irony in his self-righteous epistle: baseless accusations of arson perpetrated by the political opposition apparently are just as popular in 2016 as they were in 1933.
Neither Democrats nor Republicans should make superficial comparisons between the Third Reich and contemporary American politics. Intellectually lazy and frequently riddled with errors, hyperbolic references to Nazis are far from heuristic. Instead, they radicalize thinking, prevent productive discourse and ultimately replace critical thinking about the issues facing our polity with smug vitriol. Trump and Clinton are not Hitler.
If one feels absolutely compelled to turn to history to understand our current political scene, I would urge foregoing scouring the internet for specious parallels and instead consider a lesson of 1933 that remains salient: democracy is fragile and requires work. It demands an engaged citizenry committed to upholding the system.
When ignorance, antipathy and extremism replace rigorous discourse, democracies suffer. Pushed to the brink, they disintegrate.
Peter Gengler
Graduate Student
