No, but if you say something like “if we would have just shot all those communists like hitler after world war 1 things would have been a lot better” people arent going to listen to anything else you have to say.
It is worth being conversant and properly educated about the things that are important to you if you want to engage meaningfully with people who disagree. That means knowing the vocab, syntax, and lingo.
So I will ask again in a different way- why do you need to be familiar with Mein Kampf or even a single Hitler speech to have an engagement with someone defending Hitler? Isn’t “he murdered millions of innocent people” enough? What more needs to be said there? What nuance is necessary?
Here was your example:
For example, if you hate manga / anime / Japanese character retardation like I do, it’s worth knowing the difference to tell people it’s stupid on their own terms.
Why? Why is it worth it? Why isn’t “I hate what I’ve seen, I think it’s terrible and I don’t want to watch anymore” enough? Do you actually watch all anime to know why you don’t like anime?
No, but you ought to know what some of the ideas were; conversant does not mean expert. It’s only really necessary to use the right vocabulary if you want to change any minds, but it’s STILL better not to use words that are actively incorrect (and are also painfully simple and germain to the discussion).
If the point is just to be loud and obnoxious for people who already superficially agree with you, by all means, throw all this out: you can just be really mad about Hitler’s treatment of Jews in focus camps while he was the leader of Poland.
So I have to read Mein Kampf to tell people Hitler’s ideas were terrible?
No, but if you say something like “if we would have just shot all those communists like hitler after world war 1 things would have been a lot better” people arent going to listen to anything else you have to say.
That wasn’t the claim. The claim was:
So I will ask again in a different way- why do you need to be familiar with Mein Kampf or even a single Hitler speech to have an engagement with someone defending Hitler? Isn’t “he murdered millions of innocent people” enough? What more needs to be said there? What nuance is necessary?
Here was your example:
Why? Why is it worth it? Why isn’t “I hate what I’ve seen, I think it’s terrible and I don’t want to watch anymore” enough? Do you actually watch all anime to know why you don’t like anime?
Also, don’t be ableist.
do you want to engage meaningfully with hitler?
No, but you ought to know what some of the ideas were; conversant does not mean expert. It’s only really necessary to use the right vocabulary if you want to change any minds, but it’s STILL better not to use words that are actively incorrect (and are also painfully simple and germain to the discussion).
If the point is just to be loud and obnoxious for people who already superficially agree with you, by all means, throw all this out: you can just be really mad about Hitler’s treatment of Jews in focus camps while he was the leader of Poland.