Originally posted by miko2d
Syzygyone,
I am not trying to say what Hitler intended to do was "good".
Hitler was evil incarnate and the only thing you can do with evil is kill it, as quickly as possible, every time it rears its ugly head.
Have to recognise it first - preferably before it is strong enough. So you have to study it.
miko
Like I said, I am not suggesting that you defended Hitler or what he did but you don't detect evil by looking at the traits it might share with non-evil.
I agree that you have to study history in order to avoid repeating it. You have to figure out the warning signs, yes? That he was very rational, capable, talented and intelligent gives you no insight into how he turned into the scourge that he became. Hopefully people in positions of leadership position will have many if not all of those attribute. But, you don't look at those attributes to find out if he is going to be a evil dictator. You study his actions. What he did. The evidence of his megolomania. You look at his dark side. You look at what he did different to give you a clue in the future that someone is moving in the same direction. You don't look at what terrorists have in common with ordinary people to detect terrorists. You look at their aberrations from the norm.
To try a simple example: Carbon Dioxide is three molecules. Carbon Monoxide is two molecules. Dioxide is mostly harmless to people. Monoxide is deadly in sufficient quantity. Yet, they are identical in 2/3 of their elements. So, you don't look for that which they share in common, you look for the difference which makes it stand out, that extra moledule.
