If Hitler Didn’t Exist, Who Would You Use to Insult Your Nemesis?
(First in a series of four parts.)
One thing that has become tiresome to me, dear reader, is the exclusive use of Adolf Hitler as the lazy, go-to epithet* when comparing an adversary to the most evil person who ever lived. I’m afraid this tactic is not going away anytime soon. In fact, in my book, Immortality is Really Forever, it takes about 2,500 years (until around 4444 C.E.) before another candidate replaces Hitler as the eponymous icon of pure evil. So, I suppose for the time being, we have a reliable way to insult our opponents when they get on our nerves.
But what if this were a century ago? In 1926, Hitler was only beginning his journey toward his appointment with infamy. Although his abhorrent ideas were well-developed by 1920, he and his followers were simply dismissed as a nuisance. To the contemporary, rational political observer in 1926, the suggestion that the NSDAP would dominate the European continent within a decade would have seemed patently absurd. The Nazi Party was universally regarded by the political mainstream as a fringe collection of crackpots, extremists, and violent malcontents posing no serious threat to the state. When Hitler was released from jail in 1924 after serving time for his failed coup, The New York Times offered this summation:
"[Adolf Hitler] was a much sadder and wiser man today than he was when he entered the fortress last April. His behavior during his imprisonment convinced the authorities that, like his organization, the Völkischer, he was no longer to be feared. It is believed he will retire to private life and return to Austria, the country of his birth." — The New York Times, December 20, 1924
So, what is someone living in 1926 to do without Hitler as the ultimate insult? How else can one bathe in the heady waters of sanctimony? The good news is that evil has been with us for millennia; combined with the unending genius of human creativity, we can surely find other names to hurl at our adversaries. The only barrier is trying to reconstruct the zeitgeist of 1926.
Clearly, the most striking difference was that mass communication bore little resemblance to the modern landscape. While newspapers were widespread and radio was just emerging, the era paled in comparison to the "media bath" we are subjected to today. Additionally, formal education rates were radically different. In 1920, only 3% of the population had college degrees, compared to about 40% today; high school graduation rates were around 20%, versus 90% today.
There is an old saying that history is written by the victors. More obviously, history is written by the historians. So, when we look at data from that era, is it skewed to represent the views of the "degreed," thereby ignoring the rest of the population? Conversely, no man is an island, even if he lives in an ivory tower. Humans are creatures of passion, and no matter where you fit in as an educated person, the soul constantly absorbs the spirit of the age. Perhaps what we read from these sources does capture the zeitgeist and accurately resembles what a public opinion poll would show, had they existed then as they do today.
In the following three essays, written from the point of view of an individual living in 1926, I will list the top 10 "evil" people you would use to insult your foes. The scale ranges from 10 ("pretty darn evil") to 1 ("an evil black hole devouring all that is good in the world"). Naturally, this is an arbitrary ranking calibrated to enhance a spirited discussion. I, for one, am not committed to this specific order, nor am I particularly attached to the choice of villains.
My main reason for this exercise is to demonstrate how each era has its own zeitgeist and how much can change in a century, even within the same civilization (in this case, the Anglosphere). Most of the names are well-known today, but their specific infamy is no longer on our radar. In 1926, however, the individuals on the following list were at the forefront of public concern, a focus I hope to emphasize here.
*There are actually other evil people…
