At a meeting of Wise Guys on July 10, Roger
drew attention to an excerpt from Mein Kampf,
wherein Hitler discussed the effectiveness of propaganda as when directed at
the masses. With profound disrespect for the common man, Hitler claimed that
the intellectual level of propaganda must be adjusted to those with the most
limited intelligence among them. As a consequence, he suggested that effective
propaganda must be limited to a very few points and must harp on these slogans
until the last member of the public understands. In essence Hitler with his
sense of superiority, detested the masses, and yet was wedded to populism, in
order to achieve dominance and control of his country.
Both Hitler and Trump embraced populism as their
political doctrine. Populism is defined as the political strategy of favoring
and aligning oneself with the common man against the so-called elite. The elite
are better educated and exhibit a broad acceptance of others. It is believed
that the common man frequently lacks education. They fear foreigners and immigrants,
who threaten to rob them of their traditional and expected rights. The embrace
of populism is a cynical move designed to set group against another to gain
political advantage. In so doing, they side with the greater numbers for their
support, whether they are Nazi’s or Trumpists.
The similarities between Hitler and Trump
are numerous. Both ruled by a cult of personality. Both demanded and thrived on
adulation and above all loyalty. Trump
demanded loyalty of Comey, and when he could not be assured of the Attorney General’s
devotion, went on to fire him. Hitler too demanded absolute loyalty demanding
that his troops swear allegiance to him alone, to worship him, and in so doing setting
God aside. The belt buckle of the Wehrmacht
(the army) is inscribed with the words, Gott
Mit Uns, (God is with us) whereas the SS
(Hitler’s personal army) belt buckle exhibits the words, Meine Ehye heibt treure(My honor is loyalty).
In
addition to demanding loyalty, Hitler and Trump were nearly identical in their psychological
features. Malignant narcissism was common to both. Both Hitler and Trump felt themselves
to be superior human beings. As was true of Hitler, Trump claimed that he was
more capable than the generals in leading the armed forces. Similarly, Hitler contended
that he was a better artist and architects that the professionals.
In 1943
Walter Langer wrote a secret psychological report on Hitler for the OSS. In his
book The Mind of Adolph Hitler,
published in 1972, he reported his findings for the general public. First, he
called attention to the fact that Hitler believed that he could never be
mistaken, since what he said was invariably historical. He felt that his actions
were commanded by Providence and that he would always be immortal to the German
people. Finally, he believed that he was the greatest orator of all time and that
his power as a speaker lay in his ability to sense what an audience wanted to
hear and thus thereby arouse the emotions of the crowd. The same could be said
of Trump, who speaks extemporaneously, thus being better able to judge the
temper of the crowd and to interact with the crowd as he spoke.
In order to please the masses, Hitler always
appealed to the dramatic. His annual rallies at Nuremburg were invariably huge,
involving thousands of people. At the 1934 rally 700,000 people attended.
Hitler arrived in Nuremburg by airplane, descending from the sky like a god. He
announced himself by walking in dramatically from the rear, guarded by SA and
SS. One could not avoid the impression
that he was exceptional or even divine. Hitler’s entrance calls to mind the
appearance of Trump at the Republican Party convention, when he appeared
enveloped in a cloud of smoke. Both men sought to lead the country as god-like
figures, honored and admired for their charismatic personalities.
So what are we to make of the similarities and
differences of Trump and Hitler? Hitler was a populists, a narcissists and sociopath.
The same could be said of Trump. The big difference between Trump and Hitler is
the difference between their backgrounds. Hitler had a political background, was
born of a middle class family, and was Non-German. He needed to magnify his
perception of himself and proclaim loudly his adopted Germanic bonafides. It
was only through adulation that he could overcome his ordinary background. Trump
was a businessman and entertainer and was born of a wealthy family. He saw
himself as born superior, with no question of his American credentials. Trump gauged
success by wealth and notoriety and Hitler by support of an adoring public. In
essence we are dealing with nearly identical men, who operated under radically
different systems. Hopefully, the American system will modulate the actions of
Trump, so as not to duplicate Germany under Hitler.
We recall the remark of Jefferson, when referring to slavery, but cannot resist the
urge to apply the same to both Hitler and Trump:
I
tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot
sleep forever.
Posted by Arthur Banner
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