Can’t the bloggers find anyone other than Adolf Hitler as the barometer of low-level on-line discourse?
During the dawn of the Internet, a fellow named Mike Godwin developed what came to be known as Godwin’s Law. It states:
As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.
Usenet was around before the Internet, but it’s pretty much the precursor to all online discussion today. Despite being ancient, Godwin’s law holds firm; eventually, at some point in a heated online debate, someone will be compared with Hitler or someone will be accused of being a Nazi. It’s predictable as online debate itself.
As a person who’s read and appreciates the great breadth and depth of history, I am offering a suggestion that online debaters consider using other historical figures as their barometer-o-evil, folks possibly even more deserving of derision than Der Fuhrer.
Satan. I would avoid using the Devil as an example in an online debate. Sadly, Satan has lost his punch in a world where corporate executives and elected officials routinely steal his once ominous thunder. I’m sure he’s weeping in Hell over his loss of dramatic impact, but my guess is he’ll eventually get in the second-to-last word.
Nero. Not only was he a well-known and feared tyrant, Nero wanted to be adored by the public. Sound like any bloggers you’ve dealt with? Caesar Nero, the original (and possibly only) 666, was very prideful, and the people were grossly disappointed with him. Be careful not to confuse Nero with his sadistic Uncle Caligula, who was more ruthless and not as fat.
Torquemada. The famous Grand Inquisitor believed he was doing God’s work by torturing and killing Jews — by the thousands. Use this guy for comparisons to people who go on grand witch hunts or who are obsessed with their own holy causes. Mind the way you spell his name: that’s a Q not a K or a C.
Robespierre. Perhaps the most bloodiest of the butchers of the French Revolution, responsible for thousands of lopped-off heads of everyone from the nobility to meager peasants. Eventually he had his own noggin sliced off by his favorite guillotine. This reference may be a bit too remote for the typical blogging fool.
Stalin. If it weren’t for Hitler, then Stalin most likely would have found himself in the bosom of Godwin’s law. This guy really put the dick into dictator: where Hitler picked on Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, and homosexuals, Stalin broadened his scope and killed anyone living under jurisdiction. In my opinion, the hell he created in the Soviet Union was far more insidious and Orwellian than Nazi Germany could aspire to, though I’m sure historians would be eager to debate the point.
Mao. The Chairman was a real jerk, who probably would have killed more people and induced more terror had he not been busy fighting the Imperial Japanese in World War II. After that, and even though China lacked the technology to wield terror properly, Mao did a good job suppressing dissent and trimming his country’s population, sometimes on purpose but most often out of towering incompetence. His wife, Madame Mao, also gets a dishonorable mention.
Feel free to use any of these characters in your on-line debates, or use some others. There’s sadly a lot to choose from. Despite your efforts, don’t expect your given non-Hitlerian example to have as much impact as the H-guy would. But at least no one will accuse you of laying down Godwin’s law too quickly.
