Date: Wed, 03 Apr 2002 14:46:59 -0500
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu>
To: <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Flags, was Re: German policy
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

>ronkean at juno.com wrote:
>> ...  The point I find interesting is that the
>> Germans have chosen to ban Nazi symbols, while their real aim is to
>> surpress Nazism itself.  It's sort of like tyring to suppress smoking =
by
>> banning the advertising of cigarettes.
>
>Not so strange, when you think about it.  Nazism, far more than most
>religious/political philosophies, defines itself by its symbols and
>ceremonies.  The main attraction for a lot of Nazis is to be able to
>dress up in neat costumes and participate in some really impressive
>ceremonies.  Take this away, and the Nazis lose their most effective
>recruiting tool.
>
>True, those who are left are a "hard core" who are much harder to deal
>with, and if somebody has a big demonstration, you can watch it and see
>who shows up.  Banning things is a judgment call; the US is on the
>extreme end of permissiveness by world standards.  Personally, I think
>the Germans go too far.  We need to study things like the Nazi movement
>so that we can recognize things like them at an early stage and keep
>them from getting out of hand.  To do this, of course, requires detailed
>study of what *really* went on -- assuming that everybody went crazy for
>a few years doesn't give us anything useful.
>
>According to what I've read, Nazism was a "hollow" philosophy -- control
>for the leaders, ceremonies for the followers -- and nothing else.  I'm
>not satisfied with this explanation, BTW.
>
>Obsession with symbols instead of realities is not limited to those
>funny ferriners.  See http://www.cfa-inc.org/about/cfafaq.htm for an
>American example.

Wonder how they would define "flag".
If I took a newspaper that had a photograph of the flag and burned it - or =
wrapped dead fish in it - would they get all cranky?

mjw

>
>--
>Steve Smith                                           sgs at aginc.net
>Agincourt Computing                            http://www.aginc.net
>"Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense."
>