Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler, should be read by everyone in the world who are interested in a world of peace, social responsibility, and worldwide cooperation. This evil book presents a dark vision of how to go about creating tyranny in a democratic society so that one, similar to Russia, is created.
A reader may be lead to believe by the text that it is not just the bible for white supremacists, alt+right groups, etc., nationally and internationally, but it is also Putin's blueprint for the "deconstruction" of democracies worldwide.
Putin is brilliant. He is unable to beat the USA and NATO in battle, but he can destroy our democracies--from within. We see this idea at work in Eastern Europe, France, Germany, Brexit, and now, America.
Reading this book, you realize that, in such a society, there is one rule: "Profit over People" (Noam Chomsky), meaning corporate greed, along with the creation of need. Then, add religion to the mix.
Hitler spoke at length about the education of youth in a society or rather the miseducation of youth. Under the administration, American education is currently being undermined in just the ways that Hitler and Putin agree. In Hitler's compelling narrative, his ideas on science are morbid but necessary to the blueprint. Essentially, in Hitler's society and in today's America, we see the death of "truth" and history being rewritten. However, American journalists and reporters will not allow truth to die or history to be rewritten. It will be over their dead bodies and many patriotic citizens who affirm an American free press and free speech guaranteed by the Constitution.
President Donald Trump said, during the 2016 campaign: "I am a Russian asset." However, he is not the only one in his administration. Bannon is the brains of the network. It will be proven that they are all involved in this particular Russian network--if an independent commission is permitted to form and investigate fairly.
Mein Kampf, looking through the lens of our country, at least since the Reagan administration, shows that Putin was and is working through once-secret American organizations like ALEC, alt+right, KKK, Citizens United, Exxon, some Republicans, mega churches, etc.
Scapegoats, such as Jews, peoples of color, non-white and non-Christian immigrants, are required for the blueprint to work efficiently. War is another prime ingredient in Hitler's and Putin's blueprint. Currently, in the USA, more troops are being transported to the Middle East, but the numbers are not being announced to the public. Trump-Bannon-Pence desire a return of the draft. In America's future, we are in preparation for a large-scale war. It is a requirement in Hitler's blueprint.
Decades of Putin's work has born fruit. The Trump-Bannon-Pence administration is the product of a Russian network that extends into Congress down through the grassroots level in our society, and it branches out into most sectors of our society that are considered important, i.e., banking.
Bannon controls the black bloc; Hitler controlled the Storm Troopers. Their purpose is and was to break skulls by inflicting violence on peaceful protesters. The Trump administration is generally press-free. In fact, there is openly expressed hatred of the "free press" as an "enemy" of America by the Trump administration. American institutions, hundreds of years old, must be denigrated and trashed by the Russian network that controls the White House.
President Trump has bragged that he has forces that will perform his will, although he did not call them by name. We saw them in operation when a peaceful march in Washington, D.C., turned violent before his inauguration, and again, at Berkley (California) when a peaceful student protest turned violent by men with baseball bats and large sticks wearing black masks to hide their faces.
Hitler is specific about the tools to use to destroy a social democracy: Naturally, the use of propaganda, gerrymandering to create a rigged voting system, legal and illegal voter suppression, suspension of civil rights and liberties, the creation of media empires that tell lies over and over again, the isolation of a country, "fake news," fake ads," etc. Most importantly, to Hitler, the free press is the "enemy" of an authoritarian society; therefore, it must be crushed and sent into hiding--if it cannot be completely destroyed.
However, according to Hitler, to create an authoritarian society similar to Russia's, secret groups, at first, begin with hate and use it to create fear. About hate in a society, Hitler says well: "Here again it is not seldom a question of overcoming prejudices which are not based on reason, but, for the most part unconsciously, are supported only by sentiment. To overcome this barrier of instinctive aversion, of emotional hatred of prejudiced rejection, is a thousand times harder than to correct a faulty or erroneous scientific opinion. False concepts and poor knowledge can be eliminated by instruction, the resistance of the emotions NEVER."
Hitler's discussion of propaganda is equally a brilliant and a specific observation of general humanity: " The victory of an idea will be possible the sooner, the more comprehensively propaganda has PREPARED people as a whole and the more exclusive, rigid, and firm the organization which carries out the fight in practice." An American Example: The Birthism Movement, created by President Trump about former President Barack Obama, was to sow hate and prejudice, thereby causing the disruption of Obama's ability to perform his job fully as "the leader of the free world." Today, some American citizens still believe that Obama was born in Kenya.
Hitler was not a madman as portrayed by much of literature and in movies and on television. He was a genius--although an evil one.
When you start reading this book, you will be unable to put it down as you slowly realize that Putin, NOW the most powerful man in the world, may be using this particular book as a blueprint for creating Russia satellite nations by smashing social democracies around the world; this includes American democracy.
The parallels between what is occurring in America, since Reagan, are frightening. You will read all 667 pages--non-stop since this book, no longer expresses German ideology for a specific historic time period, but it is American, and even, world ideology in today's world. Also, Hitler is an excellent writer; he is not a rambling madman writing disconnected ideas and expressing a confusing methodology. His text is easy reading, and it is a world classic that is a must read.
If Putin is now the most powerful man in the world, then President Trump, Steve Bannon, Trump's brain, as well as Vice President Pence, a Christian Evangelical Catholic, are the most dangerous men in the world.
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Poor quality printing!
This review is not about the content of the book itself but the quality of this edition from Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin Co. Since I needed this for a recurring course on fascism, I ordered both a hardcover and a paperback version of Mein Kampf in order to select the best quality one (I need one that can last many years), and because the hardcover version as of now (4/10/21) is listed as missing one chapter. I can confirm that both copies have the same number of chapters as the original in German, and it's not clear to me that there are any pages or sections missing from either version, so that doesn't seem to be a problem.The big issue, though, is that the printing of this book is of incredibly low quality. Both the hardcover and paperback are printed on cheap recycled paper, meaning that annotating (important for scholars, academics, and students) will be virtually impossible and nearly worthless. Because of recycled paper's dark gray quality, any highlighting will be difficult to see and fade quickly; writing with a pencil or even pen will be faint as well. In addition, highlighting and the printed text in general will rapidly fade due to the chemical interaction of recycled paper with normal sunlight, and the rough texture of the pages will make writing and underlining more difficult than necessary.Overall, then, the quality of both the paperback and hardcover versions of this book is no better than a regular mass market paperback edition (i.e. cheap!). This would be perfectly acceptable except that the listing does not mention the mass market quality, and especially that the price is currently $22+ for the paperback and $36-38+ for the hardcover!!! Absolutely unacceptable prices for such poor quality! It's not entirely clear to me what the explanation for this is (perhaps the shoddy printing of his book is a symbolic middle finger to Hitler, a reason that I could fully agree with ethically). I understand possibly charging this much for the book as a way to deter more casual people (who might be more susceptible to Mein Kampf's messages) from purchasing it, therefore making sure that only those who are in serious need of a copy (scholars of fascism/Modern Germany/genocide, etc) would do so. However, if this were indeed the reason, the publisher should at least produce a book of sufficient quality to justify the high price. Even the option to acquire a better quality version through a university (to guarantee the legitimate purpose of the purchase) would be a better alternative than the model the publisher is using now.Additionally, if you're still thinking about buying one of these primarily because there is no other option, know that the hardcover is the EXACT same printing as the paperback (see images for comparison). The book was presumably printed in one format, then the stacks simply divided into one pile for glueing to a hardcover and another for glueing to a softcover. The hardcover feels like cheap cardboard, so at nearly $40, it's an even worse deal than the paperback.I will keep the paperback, as there is unfortunately no other option to get a better quality printing of this translation. I truly hope that my money does go to good organizations helping any still living Holocaust survivors and related educational organizations.
Top reviews from other countries
Kommineni venkatesh
Great insights about anlysing the situation
Reviewed in India on September 24, 2021José Macaya
Libro histórico. Larguísimo y poco sorprendente
Reviewed in Spain on March 25, 2020JONO5K1
Insightful & professionally Written
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 17, 2019