Eaglesnest's Law
It is a virtual certainty that whenever Hitler or Nazism are mentioned on an internet discussion board, someone will INSTANTLY respond with an invocation of "Godwin's 'Law' "--which will, as Elmer Fudd would often remark about Bugs Bunny, "seem vewy cwever" to the person making said response.
(It's along the same lines of the person who is in a restaurant when a waiter drops and breaks some dishes, glasses, etc. and instantly bellows "MAZELTOV!" What a thigh-slapping, chortle-inducing, original witticism!)
Quote: EaglesnestGiven that Hitler and Nazism had such a major impact on the entire world, it is inevitable that many discussions of otherwise unrelated topics will contain a reference to, comparison to, or metaphor using Hitler/Nazism. Despite the commonplace nature of this phenomenon, and despite the fact that even remarking on it is silly, an internet meme called "Godwin's Law" has slithered onto the scene. It is hyperbole at best and rank stupidity at worst (the vast majority of discussions, on the web and off, do not ever touch on Hitler/Nazism). Because it is stupid, however, it is ubiquitous (the internet is a vast cesspool of clichéd and reflexive thinking), leading to Eaglesnest's Law:
It is a virtual certainty that whenever Hitler or Nazism are mentioned on an internet discussion board, someone will INSTANTLY respond with an invocation of "Godwin's 'Law' "--which will, as Elmer Fudd would often remark about Bugs Bunny, "seem vewy cwever" to the person making said response.
(It's along the same lines of the person who is in a restaurant when a waiter drops and breaks some dishes, glasses, etc. and instantly bellows "MAZELTOV!" What a thigh-slapping, chortle-inducing, original witticism!)
I agree, there are a lot of idiots that whenever they disagree with you will throw the Nazi slur at you. It does not happen so much on this board. But I have had one joker message me some time ago (after defending a casino in some scenerio) that I "would be the type of sheep that would support the Nazis too" or something along those lines. Oh well, there are not so politically astute people on every forum...
If somebody makes ridiculous accusations it's best just to ignore them.... People throwing out the race card and other slurs is very much the same concept... the best remedy is just to ignore those type of people, they can't win an argument so they just make extremist accusations...
Quote: onenickelmiracleCan you explain your law in English?
He's proposing a rebuttal to anytime somebody posts "you sound like a Nazi".
Too wordy and unnecessary.Quote: GandlerHe's proposing a rebuttal to anytime somebody posts "you sound like a Nazi".
History always gets repeated, can't do anything to stop it for the long run. Not by human beings anyways. Things can look fine line by line, then when you read the whole book, you see the problem.
Which of course is just what Francisco Franco would do. Is he still dead?
Last I heard his condition is grave.Quote: DrawingDeadjust what Francisco Franco would do. Is he still dead?
And why is this thread not in DT?
And warning to all. There is to be diversity....... so for every anti nazi slur there must be a pro nazi slur posted.
The thing is, although Hitler truly did shape our collective psyche, bringing him into a conversation brings everything he did into a conversation, when very, very rarely is the person you're talking to all that likely to attempt ethnic cleansing or world conquest. It's an attempt to short-circuit reason and push emotional buttons; there are few cases indeed where there's actually a coherent point being made, other than "vaguely reminiscent of Hitler if you squint, therefore bad." In those few cases, I think you'll find people don't bring up Godwin's Law.
