commiepinkofag: Language of Absolution & Complicity in War The language we use to discuss so

commiepinkofag: Language of Absolution & Complicity in War The language we use to discuss social issues is multi-layered, imbued with history and contexts beyond the present. The headline pictured above, from Look’s November 1967 cover, has intrigued me for some time just in its wording. Picking out the use of each word is a lesson for an English class. But I briefly want to focus specifically on two words used in this headline: Nazi and indifference.  Top [Original]:How US Indifference Aided Nazi Murder of Six Million JewsLook, 14 November 19672nd, [Word ‘Nazi’ Removed]:How US Indifference Aided Murder of Six Million Jews A Nazi ObsessionAfter WWII, people wanted greatly to understand how the Holocaust could have been allowed to occur, how Hitler rose to power. If you look at more recent iterations of this analysis, you can find all sorts of wild conspiracy theories and media, that could easily be interpreted as glorification of Hitler and the Reich — tools of recruitment and propaganda.  These newer films, attempt to frown upon the atrocities of the Holocaust, while seemingly praise the techniques and ‘ingenuity’ of the Nazis. Looking for new means to market programming, media outlets run films like ‘Hitler & the Nazis’ which comes across as some hip new band promotion; and is quite a disturbing trend in popularizing/normalizing abhorrent behavior and mindset.  Nixing the NaziComparison of current political figures with Hitler occurs with unbound swiftness. To call out, oppose, squelch, and defeat totalitarianism and hate is necessary.  But in the context of the headline above, what purpose does the word Nazi serve? Aside from justly aligning the murders of six million Jews, its inclusion here allows for a subtle absolution of guilt from the indifference that the article means to highlight. In simply removing the word Nazi from the headline, the complicity of American people in the Holocaust comes across more strongly. The narrative that ‘we didn’t know’ is much more palatable for the conscience — to deny, to ignore, to go about our day-to-day.  A more shocking revelation should be that, as a nation, we continue to be complicit in the murder of millions.  25 years from now, what will the headlines read?The original headline could certainly become a template for a horrific new MadLib — fill in the blank with a different country, ethnic group, minority. How US Indifference Aided Murder of Millions of Afghani, Iraqi, Yemeni, Syrians, Libyans, Migrants… How US Indifference Aided Murder of Millions -- source link

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