The Influence of Hitler’s Mein Kampf

Most Nazis had a copy of Mein Kampf in their home, but very few people had actually read the thing, they just took each other’s word for what was in the thing. It doesn’t take much inspection to find many contradictions Hitler makes in his book, so why was Mein Kampf so influential? Why did Hitler’s leadership last so long?

     Hitler preached an ideology, he didn’t actually come up with much of anything. Just like when Dylan Mulvaney uses a high pitched voice, and talks with his hands, Hitler was clumping together as many cliches that he liked together and romanticizing them. Ideology has the illusion of truth, a collection of facts built on each other seems solid, but its really a house of cards.

     Let’s play the what if game, what if Hitler didn’t get involved with what ended up becoming WWII. The mainstream cliches in Germany and through Russia had been placed there for a long time. Hitler was wrong, but if you are one of those people who says you would never have followed Hitler, you’re probably wrong. If you follow word of mouth, it is likely you would’ve been behind the things Hitler romanticized, because he was getting it all from the culture.

     Today's culture has a less lethal version of the same problem. Every feminist who feels men have a right to dress up like women in a big performance and invade female private spaces. Every Christian who says God created you how you are so trans kids have a right to be operated on at the age of twelve. It’s the same deal, because ideologies start with culture and word of mouth, someone is always there to romanticize the cliche.