In the examples you are listing, the activists are using force to change the world into something they want, as opposed to using free speech to try to convince others. A while ago, I read the book Hitler - Memoirs of a Confidant by Otto Wagener. It really surprised me. From this book, I get the impression that Hitler was an idealist who really wanted to create a better world (at least for the Germans who he saw as being totally unfairly treated by France etc. after WW1).
It can still be fascism, even if you see yourself as doing good. Actually, I think well-meaning idealists are sometimes some of the worst people out there. They see themselves as good and being correct, and they get really nasty and intolerant towards people who see things differently.
There's the old saying "the road to hell is paved with good intentions", but I often get the impression that many people don't really grasp this.
While many historians do consider them significant, take Wagener's memoir with a pinch of salt, the author was writing the hagiography of a man he was infatuated with:
"Hitler turned his large, unfathomable eyes on me; once again, as they had in Nuremberg, they impressed me with their deep and infinite goodness, as if they constantly wanted to give something without saying anything."
Even Hitler never painted as rose-coloured a view of himself as Wagener does.
Comments
In the examples you are listing, the activists are using force to change the world into something they want, as opposed to using free speech to try to convince others. A while ago, I read the book Hitler - Memoirs of a Confidant by Otto Wagener. It really surprised me. From this book, I get the impression that Hitler was an idealist who really wanted to create a better world (at least for the Germans who he saw as being totally unfairly treated by France etc. after WW1).
It can still be fascism, even if you see yourself as doing good. Actually, I think well-meaning idealists are sometimes some of the worst people out there. They see themselves as good and being correct, and they get really nasty and intolerant towards people who see things differently.
There's the old saying "the road to hell is paved with good intentions", but I often get the impression that many people don't really grasp this.
While many historians do consider them significant, take Wagener's memoir with a pinch of salt, the author was writing the hagiography of a man he was infatuated with:
"Hitler turned his large, unfathomable eyes on me; once again, as they had in Nuremberg, they impressed me with their deep and infinite goodness, as if they constantly wanted to give something without saying anything."
Even Hitler never painted as rose-coloured a view of himself as Wagener does.