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Perhaps I've been going too fast--publishing my radical conclusions without presenting the groundwork. So let's begin at the beginning--with the foundation or bedrock. This is the first part of six parts of my online publication.
Why is Nazism relevant? Because Nazism is nationalism, the dominant ideology in the world today. What is occurring in the United States and in many other countries--grows out of this ideology. Perhaps we don't recognize this because the ideology is so pervasive and all-encompassing.
Hitler was a nationalist. Very conventional in terms of his thinking. What he did was to embrace this ordinary ideology--and carry it though to an extreme, bizarre conclusion.
Richard Koenigsberg
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ABSTRACT: Hitler and Nazism often are portrayed as if an aberration; outside the norms of civilization. Hitler’s ideas, however, were fully within the mainstream of Western political culture. National Socialism was a subset of the ideology of nationalism. One may characterize Hitler as a radical conformist. Hitler embraced and promoted certain ordinary ideas—fundamental propositions contained within the ideology of nationalism—and carried them to an extreme, bizarre conclusion.
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I. THE HYPOTHESIS
The Nazi movement grew out of an ideology embraced and shared by millions of people. The actions of the Nazis grew out of their ideology: they acted out propositions or theorems contained within it. In this paper, I delineate the underlying structure of Nazi ideology: a coherent fantasy that shaped the ideology and was the source of the energy invested in it.
I hypothesize that an ideology evokes enthusiasm—elicits an emotional response—to the extent that it articulates a fantasy that is shared by members of a population. Hitler was passionate about his ideas. When he spoke, he conveyed his passion—and elicited comparable passion within others. Hitler’s ideas excited the German people. What he said struck a responsive chord in the minds and hearts of millions of other Germans. It was an ideology that united the German people and gave rise to Nazi culture.
Hitler and Nazism often are portrayed as if an aberration; outside the norms of civilization. I have found, on the contrary, that Hitler’s ideas were fully within the mainstream of Western political culture. National Socialism was a subset of the ideology of nationalism. One may characterize Hitler as a radical conformist. Hitler embraced and promoted certain ordinary ideas—fundamental propositions contained within the ideology of nationalism—and carried them to an extreme, bizarre conclusion.
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