Viswanathan K's Thoughts

I was thinking of the entire sequence of events that was set off when Hamas invaded and kidnapped those 100+ Israelis in October, ’23. Since then, in response, Israel has practically wiped out Hamas, bombed Gaza to the ground, attacked Lebanon, weakened Hezbollah enormously, and most recently, attacked Iran’s military leaders and its nuclear sites. A righteous war taken too far? ~~   All this reminded me of a point the standup comedian, Trevor Noah, makes in  his autobiography, Born a Crime . The Holocaust was a terrible and evil act, no doubt. But there have been plenty of other terrible and evil acts through history, many of which are not even disputed. Why is it that the Holocaust gets so much disproportional attention?   A key point, he says, is that the Nazis maintained meticulous records of the numbers and methods they used to exterminate Jews. When the perpetrator maintains records, well, the data cannot be disputed. No such luck for the Africans of Congo...

In his autobiography, Born a Crime , the comedian Trevor Noah talks about the names of black South Africans. Since the whites could not pronounce African names, the natives would have to (also) take on a name for whites to use, the so-called English name. This English name was chosen at random – “plucked from the Bible or taken from a Hollywood celebrity or a famous politician in the news”. Thus, names like Napoleon, Mussolini and even Hitler.   Such names offend whites, but Noah is unapologetic. The whites came, invaded, occupied, treated the natives like crap, did not educate them, and then act offended by the fact that the blacks don’t know history (of whites) and pick names like Mussolini and even Hitler. Whereas, as Noah says: “Many black people in South Africa don’t really know who Hitler was.” Noah’s own grandfather thought Hitler was a tank since all the news said it was crashing through Europe! Many South Africans considered Hitler good because he had white Europe...

Why did Hitler attack his ally at the time, the Soviet Union? When did the Nazis make the decision to kill Jews en mass ? Your answers were probably: (1) Because of Hitler’s megalomania; and (2) Pretty much from the beginning. Wrong, writes Peter Frankopan in his bestseller, The Silk Roads . Believe it or not, the common thread to both decisions was… food. Or rather, Germany not having enough food. From the 1930’s, Hitler was concerned about Germany’s “inadequacy of domestic agriculture”. So he wanted control of Ukraine and its fertile soil. That was one of the key drivers for the Nazi pact with Stalin: to secure food (via Ukraine). Sure, securing oil from Russia and ensuring Russia did not attack Germany too mattered. Right after the agreement, Hitler attacked Poland (an event that set off World War II). Why Poland? To have a “direct” line from Germany to Ukraine. As the Soviet Union proved to be unreliable in its supplies to Germany, Hitler began to wonder whether it m...

Godwin’s Law is a very famous adage of the Internet. It asserts that : “If an online discussion (regardless of topic or scope) goes on long enough, sooner or later someone will compare someone or something to Hitler.” When it comes to using such (or similar) terms about politicians, most people in democracies go overboard. People tend to forget what the blogger Regie said : “There’s a difference between an abrasive leader who makes you uncomfortable …and a despot.” Critics would do well to remember that line the next time they criticize a politician they dislike. And what if a real despot was doing it for the best of reasons, says Regie: “The American president who could’ve actually been likened to Hitler (before Hitler) in some of his methods was …wait for it …Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln broke more constitutional law than any other president in U.S history. He imprisoned political opponents without due process. He suspended habeas corpus. He was personally responsible f...