The Human Condition: The freedom of speech

By DR. DANIEL SCHNEE on November 17, 2021.

While living in Japan, I read a fascinating book: a study of how a man can go from love of country to all out narcissism and insanity. Evil had always been buried within him, ready for action, but how this man thoughtfully and efficiently nurtured it was informative. Such works are a valuable resource for students of psychology, war and history alike… that book was Mein Kampf (My Struggle) by Adolf Hitler.

What I say about it next will either be innocuous or damning, depending on your relationship with the word “good.’ Was it a good book? It was certainly a very informative book. But calling anything connected to Adolf Hitler “good” is considered very bad. The word ‘good’ has many nuances: to be approved of or desired, of favorable character, reliable, etc. To be skilled at an activity is the intended meaning here, but there are too many related positives in such a word for many people’s comfort.

To say Mein Kampf was a good book then would seem to imply its contents are something to be approved of and thus, by a transitive property, Hitler himself was approvable. That is absolutely not what I am saying. I would never approve of that sick piece of human garbage my own family died fighting against. But we must study his strengths and weaknesses to keep someone else from rising up and repeating his legacy. If we do not then white supremacists will, and we must not let them be more informed on such things than we are.

There are exceptions though, like the following: “If a video details war atrocities committed by the Nazis, does it also point out that before World War II, German government policies substantially strengthened the country’s economy?” This line was recently discovered in Guidelines for Recognizing Diversity and Promoting Respect, first printed in a 1980s Alberta Education document. Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said she will have it removed immediately, which is clearly the right thing to do as it tries to “balance” war crimes with a favorable economy.

To include it in Alberta guidelines promoting “respect” is immensely stupid: admiring the Nazis’ economic achievements while they prepared to both conquer and murder most Albertans. Study? Yes. Respect? Yikes!

But we must also remember that this kind of stupidity is what my relatives died in battle protecting. Freedom means protecting both nuanced and offensive words. Not hate speech but offensive words, as offense is subjective. Our feelings must never be the measurement of others’ freedom, as tastes and opinions change. We then must also protect a lot of nuanced and accurate words too in order to deal with the often uncomfortable world of reality. Nuanced discussions of Hitler are not tacit approval of the man, for I literally hate Hitler because he was “good” at what he did. Language must never become a safe space.

There is a cenotaph in Ontario honoring Ukrainian Nazi soldiers that fought against Stalin, whom Canada was allied with at the time. Police also investigated its recent vandalism as a hate crime. How do we discuss Nazis that saved life from enemies Canada supported? I am not exactly sure, but at the end of the day we must never forbid free speech, especially about those who forbade free speech themselves.

Dr. Daniel Schnee is an anthropologist who studies Japanese creative culture