Although the National Socialists themselves have been gone for more than half a century, the term "Nazi" itself has a universal appeal, and a staying power that appears to be immortal. When someone is called a “Nazi” now, those affixing the label don’t mean a literal member of the National Socialist Party. They mean, instead, whatever they want it to mean. It is the slur that fits all sizes; leftists routinely paint anyone who doesn’t believe in 57 genders with it, and conservatives use it almost as freely.
Alex Jones, de-platformed guru of the conspiracy world, talks about Adolf Hitler and the Nazis more than he talks about Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung and every “globalist” in the universe combined. Others on the right resort to it regularly. Donald Trump, Jr. and right-wing author Dinesh D’Souza both compare today’s liberals to actual Nazis. Conservative Jonah Goldberg’s 2008 book Liberal Fascism opined that Hitler and Mussolini merely held more extreme versions of the philosophy of Hillary Clinton and other modern liberal icons.
Since the election of Donald Trump, the disastrous two-party system has become emboldened, as those who irrationally hate or love him dig their heels into partisan Democrat or Republican rhetoric. Alex Jones, Dinesh D’Souza and others have taken to focusing on the old Democratic Party’s ties to slavery and segregation, and pointing out that Hitler and the Nazis were hardly Reaganites advocating small “gubmint.” Today’s Republicans do, however, share Hitler’s affinity for building up the military. Can’t cut that gargantuan defense budget.
The Nazi platform also called for universal health care, which is anathema to “conservatives” who cling to fond memories of doctors making house calls, and a simpler medical system that disappeared with Richard Nixon’s creation of the HMO profit-driven nightmare we enjoy today. Leftists argue that Donald Trump, despite being the most pro-Israel president of all our pro-Israel presidents, is somehow a “Nazi,” too. His campaign rhetoric against bankers, for instance, still holds more significance with them than the fact he has surrounded himself with former employees of Goldman Sachs.
There is a whole school of thought out there that holds that it’s perfectly fine to “punch a Nazi.” The web site canipunchnazis.com boasts, “It is always OK to punch a Nazi.” This violent mantra has become so popular that establishment newspaper The Boston Globe headlined an article, “Why you shouldn’t punch a Nazi.” One Ben Ferrari actually started a kickstarter campaign called “Always Punch Nazis,” to finance a comic book anthology “about our country’s battle against racism.”
Proponents of Nazi- punching invoked super heroes like Captain America, especially noted for his Nazi- punching prowess, and Indiana Jones, another fictional foe of these immortal, deadly Nazis. In Hollywood, Nazis never died. Filmmakers continue to lavish negative attention upon them, resulting in horrific performances like Brad Pitt developing some unknown accent while hissing “Natsi” in Quenton Tarrantino’s violently obscene Inglorious Bastards.
With the invention of “hate speech,” whatever that is, it was inevitable that some views would not be tolerated by our increasingly authoritarian rulers. Flinging “Nazi” at your opponents is fair game, and now apparently punching them is, too. If it’s considered acceptable to just walk up and punch someone because they “offend” you, then we are no longer a civil society. As long as they are “Nazis,” or “racists,” or “neo-Nazis” or “white supremacists,” or “white nationalists,” that is. But don’t shoot a robber- that’s against the law.
