Text 21186, 96 rader
Skriven 2008-09-21 14:59:00 av Lee Lofaso (3:800/432.0)
  Kommentar till text 21174 av Jeff Smith (1:14/5)
Ärende: Duty Honor Count
========================
Hello Jeff,

>RB>All depends on the circumstances. After 1934, German solders
>RB>swore their oath of allegiance directly to Adolf Hitler, not to
>RB>the constitution or to Germany.

>JS>Part of the problem is when one swears an oath of allegiance
>JS>to a person or individual instead of to a document or office of
>JS>leadership.

That is why the oath of enlistment for a US soldier is for an ideal,
rather than to a politician and/or political party.

>JS>I would think that even limiting a oath of allegiance
>JS>to a single office of leadership could pose problems.

Nazi Germany was built around a cult of personality, that of
Adolf Hitler.  Soviet Russia was built around a cult of personality,
that of Josef Stalin.  Fascist Italy was built around a cult of
personality, that of Benito Mussolini.  Imperial Japan was built
around a cult of personality, that of Emperor Hirohito.  Red China
was built around a cult of personality, that of Chairman Mao.

However, America was not built around a personality cult, but rather
for an ideal, that ideal exemplified by the Declaration of Independence
and the U.S. Constitution.

>JS>My point being that the more focused one's oath is toward a
>JS>single person or office the bigger the chance for that allegiance
>JS>to be led astray.

Which is why the oath of enlistment for a US soldier is not to
any politician and/or political party, but for an ideal.

>RB>How true. Wikepedia states:

>RB>Some of them broke that oath when they later attempted to
>RB>assassinate Hitler. Were they traitors or patriots, a disgrace or
>RB>an honor to their uniform? Even now you can still get some
>RB>disagreements on this point.

JS>I would guess they felt more patriotism toward their country than
JS>their leader. I couldn't really blame them.

Patriotism?  What is patriotism?  For most Germans, it was not
Germany which was the aggressor, but other countries which chose
to attack Germany.  To them, Hitler was just a politician.  Not
some evil madman.  And he was their leader.  Germans, like all
other peoples, will fight to protect themselves and their loved
ones.  Much more so than for any "leader", or even "country".

JS>I get close to feeling that way here sometimes too. <g>

Politicians are just that.  Politicians.  No politician is
an ideal.  No political party is an ideal.  However, when a
politician becomes the center of a personality cult, that
politician can become extremely dangerous, both for his
own people and the rest of the world.

>JS>Did they break their oath to Hitler or to Germany?

>RB>Good question. See the oath above.

Those who acted against Hitler did so for reasons of their own.
Whatever their reasons, they had an ideal.  Even if that ideal was
to replace Hitler by putting themselves in charge.

>RB>P.S. The translations are by me and may not be 1000% accurate.
>RB>The German is original.

JS>1000%? Hell... I'm usually happy if I can keep anything
JS>around %100. <g>

JS>Hoestly I think sometimes my english is a work in progress. In school
JS>I started to take German as second language. But seeing as I was never
JS>that interested in english. I figured I should work on english first.

Basic English was developed to be an easy to learn version of
English.  George Orwell poked a bit of fun at this in his novel,
"1984".  Although it might seem that Basic English was a flop,
peoples around the world have learned "pidgin english" based on
the concept of Basic English.

Nazi Germany took the idea of Basic English and tried to develop
Basic German, intended to be an easy to learn version of German.
However, that idea never really caught on.  It might have, had
Hitler been successful in taking over the world.  But such was
not to be...

--Lee


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