Insane or Just Evil?

In an article found in the New York Times, Hitler is now being explored about whether his type of rule can be attributed to having psychological issues. It is a much debated topic and a new book by Dr.Fritz Redlich has been released stating that although Hitler had other physical ailments, he should not be classified as insane. The article quotes Dr. Redlich saying that Hitler knew what he was doing and did it with passion and enthusiasm and that he blames much of his physical issues on his half-Jewish father, thus partly a reason for his anti-semitism. Although Dr. Redlich would disagree with me, I think it is sad and wrong to try to explain and simplify Hitler because it would only bring out excuses. We may not ever really know how insane Hitler actually was, but we should look past his mental state nevertheless because it will never change or excuse his horrendous actions. 

Article Review

The article I read was about how some of the Olympics' proudest traditions and symbols have a dark past.  The torch relay and the 5 rings were both created by Adolf Hitler as a form of propaganda to add prestige and glamor to the 1936 Germany Olympics.  The torch was supposed to be a representation of the "perfect" German nation and their accomplishments, and the rings were added as part of the pageantry as a representation of the first 5 Olympics.  I think that it is really a shame that 2 international symbols of the Olympics, one of the few events where every country can put aside their differences in the spirit of competition, were created by a person who wanted to dominate the world.

www.nytimes.com/2004/08/14/sports/olympics/14torch.html?ex=1236142800&en=d2bd00907b9d4aaa&ei=5070

Equal Rights?

What is fascism? When I first heard this word I asked myself the same question. The dictionary definition of fascism is a single organization or group repression of opposition and extreme nationalism. It is also any movement, or tendency that favors a dictatorial government like Benito Mussolini practiced in Italy between 1922 and 1943.When I think of fascism I relate it to events that occurred during the 1900’s and not to today’s events. I never made the connection with fascism and the 21st century, until I read the article in Upfront called “The Price of Going to Class.” After reading this article I was shocked at how some people view women and education, especially the Taliban. The Taliban believe that a woman’s place is at home taking care of her family and bearing children, not getting an education. I don’t understand why an educated woman is a bad thing, while it’s the “norm” for a man. Women are entitled to have the same rights as men but in Afghanistan this is not that case. I find this disturbing because women and young girls are not living a life they choose. I am saddened by the thought that women like Inez Milholland, fought so hard for women’s rights and we have not made real progress for women worldwide. How is it possible that some women today are not allowed an education? Every young girl in America has the opportunity to go to school and be educated. We take education for granted. We feel entitled to it and why shouldn’t we? However we must remember that not all women have the same rights as we enjoy in this country. The girls in Afghanistan would do anything to go to school and stop the Taliban from banning their education. When I finished reading the article “The Price of Going to Class” the first word that came to mind was fascism. I believe the Taliban is a fascist group in the true sense of the word. They may not hold all the power quite yet but they are on their way to gaining complete control. It is frightening how fascist groups seem to succeed in gaining control even when their intentions are bad like Adolph Hitler. Even though what he did was horrible he remained in power and was able to convince people to join him and his fellow Nazi members.

Fascism

Through reading the article The Price of going To Class I proceeded to conclude that the Taliban was somewhat of a fascist organization. Although it did not fit all of the requirements of fascism like totalitarianism, and being militaristic, it did identify with other elements that are key to fascism. For example 80 percent of women are illiterate, as well as married underage. In addition women are banned from working outside of the home because they are needed to take care of the children, the household, and bare children to increase the population. The Taliban also has censorship and television, movies, and music, are banned. Censorship, along with not allowing education for women, is a major part of fascism in the case of the Taliban because this enables them to have full control over what the people know, as well as what they can learn. Lastly apart from censorship, and gender roles one of the most important elements of fascism, is having a single organization have complete power, which the Taliban had for five years, and to some extent still have currently.
Because the Taliban is a somewhat fascist group, it shares some similarities with the Nazis organization. First off the Taliban had, ultimate power for five years until the United States overturned them. This is extremely similar to Hitler being sent to prison after the Beer Hall Putsch uprising, which was an attempt to take over the Munich government. However, although the Taliban was overturned by the United States, and although Hitler was sent to prison they both managed to find ways to gain power once again. The Taliban ambushed Afghanistan with checkpoints, as well as the assassination of officials, and they were able to gain control over the countryside. Hitler, and the Nazis acted similarly and began to take over Germany region by region. Lastly both the Taliban, and the Nazis used threats in attempts to get what they wished. The Taliban didn’t want women to be educated, and so they made threats on women who did go to school, and threw acid on their faces. The Nazis didn’t want the Jews to own factories, and didn’t want them to have jobs because the Jews were making they most money, and so they placed threats on the Jews requiring them to give up their jobs, otherwise there would be consequences, which normally meant death.
This article illuminated the idea of how the Taliban is a fascist organization, as well as how similar the Taliban is to the Nazis. It is terrible to think that the horrific organizations that we are educated on to prevent them from occurring again, are still occur in the world today. Also it is clear that just because Europe, and the United States have dealt with, as well as experienced certain events. This does not mean that other countries are able to do what Europe, and the United States have done, and they are suffering from the lack of power to do so.

A Humanitarian Crisis

Pakistan is the sixth-most populated country in the world, with more than 172 million people living inside its borders. Of those, roughly twenty-five percent are school-aged children. And of those, just under half are girls. That is over twenty million girls who will not be educated, or whose education is under attack by the Taliban. These Islamic extremists believe that girls should not be educated, and should remain the ignorant and purely domestic women that mirror the path that many of their mothers have been forced into.
The Taliban very much resemble the fascist governments or groups of power that were prevalent before World War 2. As we know, these include the USSR under Stalin, Italy under Mussolini and Germany under the control of their fuehrer, Adolf Hitler, as well as Japan under Emperor Hirohito. Like these examples from the past, the Taliban has chosen to bypass the bureaucracy, and instead take power by force. Stalin used his uprising to directly seize the title of dictator, as did Mussolini. The Nazis most closely resemble the Taliban by way of their similar scare tactics and invoking of fear in their opposition. Both were relatively small, regional nuisances until they received greater attention, at which point their power exploded and they quickly became a force to be reckoned with. Both staged public displays of humiliating their rivals and executions, inspiring fear and giving them a pushover crowd to work with. However, after gaining popular support, the Nazis began to take parliamentary seats, and elected Hitler to be chancellor, while the Taliban has yet to take any legal political action to further its cause.
Instead, the Taliban focuses on fear-mongering and violently suppressing opposition. As they have accurately realized, a smart opponent is a dangerous opponent, so they have forbidden for girls to become educated, seeing as their lower status in fundamental Islamic society would make them more likely to stand up against the injustice. 20 million people are having their futures stripped away by an injust power. To put that in perspective, that is almost the same number as have died of AIDS in the last 30 years. I’m not saying that what these girls are suffering is as bad as having no immune system, but you notice that AIDS is considered a major humanitarian crisis, while the issue of girl’s education is commonly overlooked. Another example: malaria is a huge issue for the population of sub-Saharan Africa. For every person that dies of malaria, there is a girl in Pakistan having her life stripped away by the Taliban. Although frequently passed over, the issue of girl’s education in Pakistan as well as other Islamic-rule countries is a crisis that must be solved by the global community.

Dedication to Education

The Taliban are doing anything to keep Afghanistan girls out of school, but the girls’ dedication toward their education is superseding to their threats and terrorizations. Using fundamentalist Islamic values as a motive, the Taliban forbid women to attend school, work outside of home or wear any other clothing besides burkas. Originally these were only threats imposed to the public, but as the Taliban kept seizing more control over the nation disobeying these rules could lead to grave situations. Now girls are not allowed to attend school and those that do are paying a high price. The Taliban have gone to such drastic measures that they are spraying acid, like in Shamsia’s case, or monitoring specific schools until they close, like in Malala’s case.
Even though they use traditional Islamic values as an excuse for their terrorizations, it is more likely that their real intentions are to keep women as “stupid things” to prevent them from becoming individual minds that can endanger their control. Women, being almost half the population in Afghanistan, have the potential to unite and rise up against the Taliban successfully. With a decent education, girls can learn how to form, express, and put to action their opinions. Fearing that with a good education there is more of a chance that the women will resist against their control, the Taliban are doing anything to prevent these girls from attending school.
However, what is more impressing then the assaults the Taliban are doing is the devotion many girls have toward their education. While many students in the U.S. are cutting classes, girls in Afghanistan are defying not only the Taliban’s orders, but their parents’ will and sneaking out of the house just to go to class. As many schools were close many girls convert their own rooms into miniature classrooms. Some girls, like Shamsia Husseini, that have already been attacked by the Taliban are also continuing to attend classes. Such intrepid actions demonstrate these girls’ staggering dedication for their education.
It is clear that for many girls the Taliban’s threats and terrorizations will not stop them from persueing a decent education. Such dedication should be admired. These girls, like any other girls in the world have the right to an education and they should not have to be fighting for their rights. Yet they are. And they are fighting against a very dangerous and violent group. They are being penalized for not doing anything wrong. Facing such unjust punishments with such bravery should be commended for.

No Modern Day Gestapo

For me to relate Nazi Germany to modern day Afghanistan would be going out on a limb and tying together laces of history that do not make for a tight knot. I believe that a strong argument claiming 1930’s Europe is identical to modern day Afghanistan does not exist. While wrestling to form an argument about Nazi Germany and Afghanistan, one might start by comparing the similarities between the Nazi Party and the Taliban. One might say that the Taliban kills innocent citizens just as the Nazis did, and that they instill fear into the hearts of those they rule over. One could say that the Taliban takes control of communication and commerce as if they were Nazis. Let me convince you that the Taliban is no Nazi party. For one, all of Afghanistan disapproves of the Taliban's tactics and mentality, as exemplified through the democratic government that is in place -- a clear message that the Taliban is not welcome. We must remember that the Nazi party gained party members in the legislature through Hitler's campaign tactics, and took control of the government through politics rather than force -- something the Taliban demonstrated in 1996 after defeating the Soviet Union. As Hitler took control of Germany through the government, he gained followers that helped him ingrain the Nazi ideals into the German core. The momentum of the Nazi party did not grow through gunfire, but rather through the excitement of the German citizens. The Nazis then continued to prove to Germans that they were the answer to all of their economic failures. They succeeded in raising the unemployment rate from a few million to a few thousand, and brought Germany from a loser of WWI, to a major world power leading up to WWII. Hitler had an organized police force and bodyguard in the S.S. and S.A., and with Heinrich Himmler, Hitler convinced the Germans that they belonged to a nurturing and politically enhanced nation that would one day belong to the middle class that built it. The S.S. and S.A. created job opportunities for the youth of Germany, encouraging young men to belong to something greater than themselves, which from an economic and political standpoint is a strikingly good idea. This is completely different than the Taliban because these new jobs were a contributor to the strengthening economy of Germany. The Taliban are far from prominent in the economy of Afghanistan. Instead they are helping with its demise. Although it may appear that my argument is applauding the Nazi Party, I am only proving that they had everything that the Taliban does not -- the support of their nation.