One Week Down, Five to Go

And the best yet to come I might add.

So far have been impressed with the thoughtfulness expressed by students. Indeed, when I think about the young people with whom I’m in contact—both my own children and my students—I have hope for the future. My cynical side notes that intelligent people are often in the minority—look at American elections as an example—and that lazy people often prefer to have someone else to do the thinking for them. So I talk to the young people I know and am comforted that my future is in good hands. Then I read the newspaper or listen to the news and want to crawl under the nearest rock!

We watched Triumph of the Will on Thursday, something that everyone should do at least once in a lifetime. One student remarked that we can no longer take Hitler seriously since his ranting seems to be such a joke. Several others commented on the redundancy of the film—watching all those military and paramilitary groups marching through Nuremberg. Of course, that’s the point: seeing the sheer numbers makes it appear that everyone adored Hitler.

Of course watching the film today, we know where all this was going, know that those beautiful apple-cheeked children would ultimately be sent to the front, know of the suffering and deprivation that Germany suffered—not to mention the suffering that it caused for everyone else! And, oh, yes, why is so hard for people to recognize demagoguery when they see it—today even?

We watched a brief excerpt from The Great Dictator to cleanse our palates. By 1940 at least some people knew exactly what Hitler was up to.