School apologizes over pro-Nazi essay assignment

[grumbler]

[Doesn't apply, as the OP was already about Naziism.  VOID WHERE PROHIBITED MEIN FUHRER

Of course it applies.  It always applies.

[katmai]

Don't slide back, it's a ridiculous exercise. No need to ask college students to prove Jews are evil either.

I think it's a useful way to learn about Nazi ideology.  Know your enemy & all that.

So tell me more about yourself Spicy.

[DontSayBanana]

I( gonna call bullshit on this.  No one claims that Nazis "solely consist of raving, antisemitic ideologues" - that's a classic strawman argument.  Antisemitism was at the core of Naziism.  The goal of the Nazis was to restore Germany and then advance the Aryan race through purifying it of "tainted blood" and wrong thinking, until the Aryans evolved into Supermen.  The Jews were a threat to all of these objectives, and the government said so.  See the Nuremberg Laws, for instance.  To argue that antisemitism wasn't part of government propaganda (which is what the assignment is about) is to ignore history.

Backing away from your original assertion (that Nazis were, by definition, antisemites) doesn't make it a strawman.    There were plenty of economic reasons to side with or join the Nazis without having to believe that Jews were a pestilence to be exterminated.

Again, the fact that antisemitism was a part of the propaganda from the top doesn't mean it was universally accepted by all Nazi party members.

[garbon]

Don't slide back, it's a ridiculous exercise. No need to ask college students to prove Jews are evil either.

I think it's a useful way to learn about Nazi ideology.  Know your enemy & all that.

So tell me more about yourself Spicy.

[garbon]

You're not a teacher, and obviously only Teacher Knows Best.

Obviously, Teacher Knows a Fuckton More Than You Do! 

Enjoy all the free press when your critical thinking exercise on "You must argue that gays are evil, and use solid rationale from propaganda to convince me of your loyalty to the Republican Party!" backfires on you.

Or do you have the girls working on their "You must argue that slavery is good for negroes" plantation dioramas this semester already?

[KRonn]

I'm sure even you could've come up with something better than "You must argue that Jews are evil, and use solid rationale from government propaganda to convince me of your loyalty to the Third Reich!" for a critical thinking exercise.

It is a terrific exercise.  It forces the students to actually read the rationales that the Nazis actually created here in the real world, instead of just making shit up on their own.  It makes the familiar unfamiliar, and the unfamiliar familiar.

I also am of the opinion that this is a good exercise in critical thinking about some of the abhorrent issues that Nazis were about. Ugly assignment yes, but serious discussion on that ideology would give students some good information and insight on not only Nazis, but what brings people to believe in such a hideous ideology.

[derspiess]

Don't slide back, it's a ridiculous exercise. No need to ask college students to prove Jews are evil either.

I think it's a useful way to learn about Nazi ideology.  Know your enemy & all that.

So tell me more about yourself Spicy.

I am a friend to Mexicans. Even to the wanna-bes

Your turn on SongPop, btw.

[katmai]

I am a friend to Mexicans. Even to the wanna-bes

Your turn on SongPop, btw.

I saw that

And I can't help it if they call me Pocho!

[merithyn]

It is a terrific exercise.  It forces the students to actually read the rationales that the Nazis actually created here in the real world, instead of just making shit up on their own.  It makes the familiar unfamiliar, and the unfamiliar familiar.

Most people don't like to think, and so they don't like exercises like this that require thinking.   You sound like you just don't want people writing about Nazis because they are "so icky."

I agree that it's a good exercise in general. I disagree that it's a good exercise regarding the topic. There are a myriad of other positions that can offer the same lesson in critical thinking without subjecting a group of people to "see the side" of people who could conceivably have killed members of their family. I mean, my  grandmother came from Germany in 1947. That's a little too close to home, from my perspective. Especially when there are a multitude of other scenarios that offer the same exercise without the potential concerns that this one does.

It's just not necessary to go there, imo, and can still cause more harm than good. Why do it?

[garbon]

It is a terrific exercise.  It forces the students to actually read the rationales that the Nazis actually created here in the real world, instead of just making shit up on their own.  It makes the familiar unfamiliar, and the unfamiliar familiar.

Most people don't like to think, and so they don't like exercises like this that require thinking.   You sound like you just don't want people writing about Nazis because they are "so icky."

I agree that it's a good exercise in general. I disagree that it's a good exercise regarding the topic. There are a myriad of other positions that can offer the same lesson in critical thinking without subjecting a group of people to "see the side" of people who could conceivably have killed members of their family. I mean, my  grandmother came from Germany in 1947. That's a little too close to home, from my perspective. Especially when there are a multitude of other scenarios that offer the same exercise without the potential concerns that this one does.

It's just not necessary to go there, imo, and can still cause more harm than good. Why do it?

Because apparently it is what they do at good schools.

[dps]

It is a terrific exercise.  It forces the students to actually read the rationales that the Nazis actually created here in the real world, instead of just making shit up on their own.  It makes the familiar unfamiliar, and the unfamiliar familiar.

Most people don't like to think, and so they don't like exercises like this that require thinking.   You sound like you just don't want people writing about Nazis because they are "so icky."

I agree that it's a good exercise in general. I disagree that it's a good exercise regarding the topic. There are a myriad of other positions that can offer the same lesson in critical thinking without subjecting a group of people to "see the side" of people who could conceivably have killed members of their family. I mean, my  grandmother came from Germany in 1947. That's a little too close to home, from my perspective. Especially when there are a multitude of other scenarios that offer the same exercise without the potential concerns that this one does.

It's just not necessary to go there, imo, and can still cause more harm than good. Why do it?

If it's a good exercise to learn how to defend opinions that you actually find wrongheaded, distasteful, or even abhorent, then what better topic to pick than the Nazi's? 

[The Minsky Moment]

The Nazis are a terrible example to use for this kind of exercise.  Their ideology was notoriously shoddy in terms of logical thinking. Same is really true for any racist ideology - the argument depend on assuming obviously false premises and thus there is little value in such an exercise.

A better example would be something like Aristotle's theory of natural slavery (which also has the "virtue" of not being explicitly racialist).  Or Filmer's patriacha.  And yes I understand that this is ostensibly part of unit on modern history but the assignment doesn't seem particularly well designed to teaching the actual history either.

[CountDeMoney]

If it's a good exercise to learn how to defend opinions that you actually find wrongheaded, distasteful, or even abhorent, then what better topic to pick than the Nazi's?

Think about high school morons for a moment:  how many of them are angry and confused young boys that get enamored with Nazis and don't find them wrongheaded, distasteful or abhorrent?

I can think of two everybody knows real quick:

[Razgovory]

So I guess Grumbler already ran this exercise.

[11B4V]

If it's a good exercise to learn how to defend opinions that you actually find wrongheaded, distasteful, or even abhorent, then what better topic to pick than the Nazi's?

Think about high school morons for a moment:  how many of them are angry and confused young boys that get enamored with Nazis and don't find them wrongheaded, distasteful or abhorrent?

That's why the Waffen-SS are more professional..