Mein Kampf, Ford Translation, from Pages 155 – 158……
I love this accurate description of how the “press” controls most peoples minds. From Mein Kampf, Volume 1 – An Accounting, Chapter 10 – Causes of the Collapse:
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One of the worst signs of this corruption was the growing cowardice. No one wanted to face responsibility for anything and the resulting weakness and indifference in dealing with the problems that resulted only accelerated the downfall.
The source of this epidemic is primarily in the parliamentary institution, where irresponsibility is positively cultivated and nurtured. Unfortunately, the disease slowly spreads to all life outside the Monarchy, especially to governmental life. Everywhere, people started to dodge responsibility. To avoid any responsibility, they resorted to insufficient, ineffective, halfway measures that reduced their personal responsibility to a minimum.
We only have to consider the attitude of the individual governments toward a series of damaging occurrences in our public life, and we will easily recognize the dreadful impact of this universal half-heartedness and fear of responsibility.
I will cite only a few cases from the enormous number of examples known to me: Journalistic circles are particularly fond of describing the press as a “great power” in the State. Indeed, its importance is truly enormous. It simply cannot be overestimated. It continues the education of adults which is important.
Readers can be divided into three groups: Those who believe everything they read; those who no longer believe anything they read; and those minds which critically examine what they read and then form their own judgments about the accuracy of the information.
The first group who believes everything they read is the largest and strongest because they are composed of the broad masses of the population.
These great masses of the people represent the most simple-minded part of the nation. It cannot, however, be divided by occupation, only by general degrees of intelligence. This group includes those who have not been born with the gift of, or trained for independent thinking and who believe anything which is printed in black and white. This is partly because of inability and partly through incompetence. This group also encompasses a class of lazy people who could think for themselves, but who gratefully accept anything someone else has already put any thinking-effort into on the humble assumption that he worked hard for his opinion so it must be right. All these groups represent the great mass of the people and the influence of the press on them will be enormous. Since they are unable or unwilling to weigh what is offered to them and evaluate it for themselves, their approach to every daily problem is totally determined by how they are influenced by others. This may be an advantage if their understanding is fed by serious and truth-loving persons, but it will be disastrous if they are led by scoundrels and liars.
In number, the second group who does not believe anything they read is considerably smaller. It is partially made up of those who once belonged to the first group of total-believers. Then, after continued disappointments, they have switched to the opposite extreme and now believe nothing in print. They hate all newspapers and either do not read them at all, or fly into a rage over the contents which they believe to be nothing but lies and deceptions. These people are very hard to deal with because they will always be suspicious, even of the truth. They are useless when it comes to accomplishing any positive work.
The third group who reads and evaluates for themselves is by far the smallest. It consists of those really fine minds, which have been educated and through training or maybe are naturally capable of independent thinking. They try to form their own judgments on everything and they subject everything they read to a repeated, thorough scrutiny and further develop the implications and meaning for themselves. They never look at a newspaper without mentally taking part in the writing and then Mr. Writer’s task is no easy one. Journalists have a reserved, perhaps limited appreciation for such readers.
To the members of this third group, the nonsense which a newspaper may choose to scribble is not dangerous or even significant. They have usually become accustomed in the course of a lifetime to regard every journalist as a rogue who happens to sometimes tell the truth. Unfortunately, the importance of these splendid figures is only in their intelligence and not in their number. There are too few of them to have a significant impact. It is unfortunate that during this age wisdom means nothing and majority means everything! Today, when the voting ballots of the masses are final, the deciding factor is the highest number——that is the largest group and this is the first group I discussed. This is the crowd of the simple-minded or most gullible citizens.
The State has a prime interest in preventing these people from falling into the hands of bad, ignorant, or evil-intentioned gurus. It is, therefore, the State’s duty to supervise their education and prevent any mischief from being performed. In doing so, the State must keep a particularly sharp eye on the press. The press’ influence on such people is by far the strongest and most penetrating because it is exerted continuously and not just momentarily. It is the continuous, consistent repetition of this educational instruction that makes it enormously important. The State must also remember that all means must point towards the same end. It must not be misled by chatter about so-called “freedom of the press” into neglecting its duty. The State must never deprive or allow others to deprive the nation of the nourishment it needs and can thrive on—the nourishment that is good and can accomplish good. The State must use ruthless determination to keep control of this instrument of popular education and make certain it is placed in the service of the State and the Nation.
What was it that the German press fed people before the war? Wasn’t it the most virulent poison imaginable? Wasn’t the heart of our people injected with acute pacifism at a time when the rest of the world was preparing slowly but surely to pounce on Germany? Even in peace time, didn’t the German press fill the minds of the people with doubts about the just cause of its own State which reduced the choice of weapons the State could select for defense from the very beginning? Wasn’t it the German press which succeeded in offering the nonsense of “Western Democracy” in an appetizing way to our people, until at last, captured by all the enthusiastic fluff, the people believed it could entrust its future to a League of Nations? (The League of Nations resulted from the Treaty of Versailles after the First World War and was meant to maintain peace.) Didn’t it help bring a state of moral degradation upon our people? Didn’t it portray morality and decency as ridiculous, calling them old-fashioned and narrow-minded, until at last our people renounced them to become “modern?” Didn’t the continuous assault by the press undermine the foundations of government authority until one push was enough to collapse the institution? Didn’t the press oppose at every turn the movement to give to the State that authority which is the State’s, and degrade the army by constant criticism, sabotage the universal military draft, and urge the refusal of military funding increases until eventually the campaign of the press was assured to be a success? The liberal press’ activity dug the grave of the German people and the German Empire. This does not even include the small Marxist lie-sheets which were handed out. They cannot live without lying any more than a cat can live without catching mice. Their primary goal is to break the national backbone of the people in order to prepare it for the burden of international financiers and their master, the Jew.
What did the State do against this mass poisoning of the nation? Nothing, nothing at all. A few ridiculous rules, a few sentences about not being too violent, not being too evil, and that was all. They took no serious action because they hoped to win the favor of this pest by flattery, by recognizing the “value” of the press, its “importance”, its “educational mission”, and other such nonsense. All of this the Jews accepted with a sly smile, giving devious thanks in return.
Continues Page 158……………………………………………………………………………………
Hitler certainly was right!!!!
– BDL1983