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Is Hitler Enough?

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Clarissa

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Over the weekend, I translated a text from the drug trials of a new medication for bladder cancer. One of the test animals died as a result of the trial. The rest survived and the overwhelming majority showed notable improvement. The trial will now proceed to human subjects.

The entire drug wasn’t ditched because it caused one spotted pig to die. The potential benefits of the medication outweighed that one case.

Similarly, I don’t think that we need to ditch the entire nation-state model because in one case it led to Hitler. In all the other cases, it didn’t. To the contrary, it led to many wonderful things we all enjoy. This worldwide trial demonstrated that nation-states don’t inevitably lead to Hitler. Moreover, alternative systems also sometimes lead in the direction of Hitler. The only conclusion I can draw is that we shouldn’t get rid of the nation-state on the off chance it might produce Hitler.

3 responses to “Is Hitler Enough?”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    There is a case to be made that a “Hitler” was inevitable among the Germanic tribes.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      That’s an important comment. There are many factors that went into the rise of Hitler, and absolutely, the specific trajectory of Germanic tribes is a large part of it.

      Who can name a reason why specifically Spain, Germany and Italy fell into the lure of fascism?

      Here’s a hint: it has nothing to do with them being successful nation-states. It was the result of the exact opposite.

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      1. gloriousb192eeae96 Avatar
        gloriousb192eeae96

        Well, Italy was Rome, and Spain had its Golden Era. So, in a sense, they both experienced a sort of Empire-Nation. The purpose behind those two was almost always economic: Rome conquered– and kept! — places where they could grow olives and wheat. Spain was mining for spices, then gold. Glory was a byproduct of the expansion, not the goal. Although 20th-century circumstances were different, mixing those two with Germany doesn’t seem to be fair.

        For millennia, there was no Germany. Just an unorganized group of quarrelling warlords with a common language(s). The very idea of nation, or empire, came to be with the Catholic Church’s expansion. And still, no German identity was formed in those days. The warlord culture continued, yet the pragmatic goal was lacking. It was all about discovering what being German was, and what stood in the way of their perceived greatness.

        Give it some time, and Hitler shows up for supper.

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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