What’s your most controversial opinion? **Read OP** **Mod Note in Post #3372**

Sponge25

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122392692#Comment_122392692

Most historians agree that if Hitler had've stopped at the Anschluss and didn't commit the prejudicial crimes against the Jews etc. he would've retained the admiration that most Western statesman had for him. He brought a nation out of the depths of despair and depravity and turned it into the most powerful country in Europe in less than four years. People don't understand just how traumatic WW1 and the Versailles treaty were for Germany. Hitler had huge support in the West until the Munich agreement. He went from an absolute nobody in the World War to restoring a great country to its natural place as a great power in Europe in an extremely short period of time, if that isn't great statesmanship then I don't know what is.

As far what the far left have done to the West, that should be so obvious that i'm not even going to bother discussing it. 'Those with understanding need no explanation, to those without understanding no explanation will suffice' etc. I will just say they have so undermined the traditions, morals and values of the Western world that they pose an existential threat to the continuance of the Western way of life. Universities were once the bastion of free thought, now they're the bastion of lefty thoughtlessness.

eightieschewbaccy: I don't admire Hitler. I love history, especially the periods leading up to the Great War and the end of that series of events in aprox. 1945. I will say though, just because Hitler was evil and commit some of the worst crimes in history that doesn't mean he didn't possess any desirable traits. He had extreme courage under fire and was awarded the Iron Cross. The problem with discussing anything about Hitler is when you point out a single admirable thing about him people accuse you of holding sympathies.

SpoonyMcSpoon

If you stripped away some of the gloss from Ireland and there was a bit of an economic decline (not even on the level of 2009-2013), it would seem that the country has not really developed much over the last 20 years. Close a few businesses, lose a few jobs and all of a sudden people would start to notice that a lot of roads are of poor quality, cycle lanes not really developed, public transport unreliable and dated, architecturally unique buildings not really produced despite the boom of the last 20 years, housing underdeveloped, public amenities lacking and of poor quality, health system terrible etc. Essentially it doesn’t seem like much investment had gone into making the place modern, more liveable and nicer despite the billions upon billions that have flowed into the country.

What I have noticed from going to other European countries is that they are just nicer all round than Ireland is in terms of infrastructure, pedestrianised streets, trams, metros, cleanliness and even with architecture there has been no attempt at developing aspirational and inspirational buildings in the country that you would see in other countries. It all seems to be just under the high house prices and booming corporate tax receipts surface that Ireland is in fact not investing in itself for the modern times and feels very underdeveloped.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122393817#Comment_122393817

1 - Exactly how did he do this? What policies and acts are you talking about here? I'm guessing you're not talking about the fascism, so what's he being admired for?

2 - Best sidestep I've see in a while - you don't answer the question because you CAN'T answer the question.

3 - See question 1. And don't answer it with "everyone knows…." or "it's soooooo obvious, duh….."

Sponge25

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122394047#Comment_122394047

It's not that I can't answer, it's that I can't be arsed answering. I'm not going to spend the next hour formulating a response with evidence that the far left see the family as their biggest threat because if you had any real knowledge of communism or read any far left literature on fundamentals then you would know this. It's for my own sanity really, a simple google search will provide an abundance of evidence as it's a core tenet of Communism (the destruction of the nuclear family).

As for what Hitler accomplished, it's kind of hard to say without sounding like a sympathiser but i'll give it a try.

Hitler was ordered to spy on a party called the Deutsche Arbeiter Partei (DAP). He had just returned from the Great War to a country that was bankrupt both morally and fiscally. People who had worked their entire lives lost their entire lives savings, you LITERALLY needed a wheel barrow to carry the money to buy a single loaf of bread that was worth over a billion reichsmarks. The country was extremely traumatised, they were promised a swift glorious victory and received degradation beyond your worst imagination. Debauchery was everywhere, old women had to sell their bodies to put meagre food into the bellies of their loved ones. I could go on and on but it's well documented so I see no need too. Hitler, an absolute nobody, in short order turned this country into the most powerful country on Earth (atleast militarily). He restored dignity, jobs, happiness and order back to the German nation. He achieved what alot of commentators at the time called a miracle. This coming from a man who didn't come from the political class too. The DAP was a fringe party of about 100 losers, he renamed it the NSDAP and turned it into the most powerful party in Germany and became chancellor in the democratic manner proscribed by law. As I said, if he didn't persecute the jews and others and stopped at the Anschluss he would rightly be considered the greatest statesmen of the 20th century. I could go on, but I don't fancy writing a novel.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122394180#Comment_122394180

1 - My point entirely. You know you don't know, I know you don't know, we leave this one here.

2 - Doesn't answer my question. I'm aware of the effect the reparations had on Germany - my question wasn't about that, it was about the specific policies and reforms he put in place - or are you not "arsed" about answering that either?

Sponge25

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122394186#Comment_122394186

You're the one that obviously doesn't know. It's been an aim of Communism since the beginning to destroy the traditional family and associated values. The most infamous demand of the Communist Manifesto is "Abolition of the family". They see the family as the greatest impediment to Communism… You obviously haven't read it.

Between 1933 (the year of Hitlers rise to power) and 1938 wages rose by 19%, unemployment was practically zero and ordinary workers went to the Italian riviera trough the Strength trough Joy programme. (Something absolutely unheard of for working class people) Their economy improved faster than most other countries coming out of the Great Depression and the populace was happy. I'm not an expert on the specific policies that enabled the growth but it was because of policies Hitler introduced. There was a system of promissory notes but i'm not entirely familiar with how it worked as it's not my area of interest.