Re: Shaming Redux (was Re: [Fwd: Culture and Technology (was Re: Abortion, Killing etc)]

[Doug Henwood <dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx>]

Andrew Wayne Austin wrote:

> On Mon, 30 Aug 1999, Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> >I know you're a big Goldhagen fan, Andy, but just why were the
> >Germans such anti-Semites, and why didn't other European countries
> >get the idea of gassing Jews?
>
> You are wrong about this, Doug. Anti-Semitism was widespread throughout
> Europe, not just in Germany, and it had been for centuries.

That was precisely my point. Why did the idea of anti-Semitism lead
to such a disastrous outcome in Germany, but nowhere else? The
images, taunts, discriminations were no worse in Germany, were they?
Why did Germans act on what others merely thought?

> Observers
> are typically puzzled how, without orders or coercion, millions of people
> can be slaughtered. Researchers like Goldhagen provide an important
> element to the explanation, one that has been particularly neglected by
> Marxists.

Hardly neglected; a Marxist I know, Norman Finkelstein, says
Goldhagen is all wet. But we've been here already.

Doug