Mein Kampf

[Al_Capone_Junior]

I heard a stat last night on history channel.

Next to the bible, Mein Kampf is the second biggest selling book of ALL TIME.

In case anyone doesn't know, Mein Kampf is the book Hitler wrote, basically outlining his personal philosophy, vision of Germany etc etc. I have not actually read it tho. I am sure it can he had in an english translation, if I so cared to look for it.

Does anyone else find this somewhat disturbing?

al

[Roy Munson]

I usually, but not always, find the most popular of any category(books, movies, music, food, fashion, etc.) disturbing or puzzling.

[HDPM]

Well, the problems with the Bible come more from those who read it, rather than the author. The Problems with Mein kampf were caused more by the guy who wrote it than those who read it now. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

Seriously though, WWII and the Holocaust and the postwar shakeout were such colossal historical events that it is not surprising a book written by Hitler sells. The vast majority of people who read it do so for historical purposes and to get a glimpse at the mind of Hitler. they don't admire him or wish to emulate him. The number of people who like the guy is comparatively small, although I am sure bigger than rational people would prefer.

I confess to not having read it myself, however. I see it in bookstores and such and have looked at it, but never read it. No particular reason for that tho.

[Jedi Poker]

I actually read close to 50 pages of it back in college as a part of an assignment my marketing and advertising professor made me do. It turns out somewhere between pages 60 and 90 were laid out some of the most powerful advertising principles ever taught: frequency, reach, richness, targeting, and repetition. These are principles that ultimate showed up in marketing and advertising textbooks beginning in the 1960s and after. As for the rest of the book (that I did not read because I frankly wasn't interested), the only thing I know about those is that Winston Churchill was the only major European leader that read them pre-WW II. It convinced Churchill that Hitler had to be stopped before he could gain too much power. No one listened and look at the bloodshed and suffering that happened.

Coming back to the present. Bush and Blair did the right thing stopping Saddam Hussein before the present-day Hitler (along with his sons) could reach a point where they could have become once again a threat to the Middle-East and therefore the rest of the world. The Bush Doctrine of attacking the bad guys where they are is I'm sure killing and stopping a lot of potential Adolf Hitlers in their tracks. Our troops are taking a lot of casualties in Iraq but for each of our soldier that dies in Iraq, 20,000 innocent civilian lives are probably being saved. Those young men and women that have sacrificed their lives are in effect saving hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of lives. They are true heroes.

[Cyndie]

Try tying this in with the "multiple reality" thread...think about what would have happened if Saddam were allowed to continue...Think about the castles and walls of the middle ages where people stayed behind walls to be protected from random acts of terrorism and violence.

Personally, I like the idea of being able to travel with out fear of suicide bombers. For those of you who actually remember when Kennedy was assassinated, and the several other murders of leaders in the late 60's, the world lost a lot of innocence then. This is just another way that people can be manipulated by fear.

The marketing aspects of mein kampf are interesting. Thank you!

Perhaps the real warning is not to disallow marketing, but to be aware of the methods. It seems people get the government and the "spin" that they deserve given their level of insight into the process. We really are responsible for what happens to our lives...study of history is important so that we are not doomed to repeat it.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

[whiskeytown]

I tried reading it one time for historical purposes (I'm a big WWII student) - but it was a rambling pain in the ass...

it's one of those books you want to buy with cash, if you do - I'm sure the govt. is tracking purchases of it...LOL

RB

[Al_Capone_Junior]

Buy this with your credit card. Then tomorrow, see guys in black suits with binoculars in a nice black van watching your house from across the street.

The documentary on Nazis in the US was quite disturbing. I recommend it to anyone and everyone. I liked that it covered Nazi-ism from its beginning, before WWII. It's a shame the swastica is forever tainted with the Nazi party's name, it was actually quite a cool thing before the Nazis.

I too am a WWII buff. Here's a link for you, one of my favorites... http://www.kbismarck.com/operheini.html

I often wish I had been in the WWII generation. Many say it was the "last generation of real men." I would have joined the 8th airforce, flown in B-17s, and quite possibly gotten my ass blown away.

al

[kdog]

http://www.thedropzone.org/

[Terry]

I find it disturbing that people are disturbed by a book they haven't read.

The full text is available online. Here is one place.
http://www.mondopolitico.com/library...troduction.htm