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A World of Hitlers

I never would have thought Hitler to be an artist, but he was. As I was looking through a book of his art, I was reminded of two people. Rudy Giuliani, the popular New York City mayor who so strongly opposed the Sensation exhibit a while back, and my dad who also found the Sensation exhibit to be "shit".  Both of these men have more in common with Adolf Hitler than they would ever want to admit. The world for the most part sees Hitler as a murderous monster. He ordered millions of people to be killed. That’s as deep as he goes to many. This fact is evident at the Houston Holocaust Museum that I visited that’s filled with horrific pictures of mass chaos that was all ordered by Hitler. However, his art is not the product of a monster's mind. He created idealistic works, paintings of beautiful buildings, flowers, and nice "pretty" pictures that Giuliani and my dad both would proudly display. Given, of course, that they didn't know these were a "monster's" creations. Hitler's artwork is very similar to the pictures hanging in my dad's study. Seeing this made me realize the sad fact that Hitler, my dad, and Giuliani all for the most part are on the same brain wave. The one that discriminates, judges, and at times very unfairly persecutes. Hitler deemed all art that didn't follow his way of thinking unacceptable. Giuliani wanted to cut funding to an art exhibit that he didn't bother to understand. My dad very strongly denounces any and all "shit" that he doesn't agree with or care to learn about. The only real difference in these three men is that Hitler was more successful in his conquests against all that violated his fragile little mind. All three however, are willingly ignorant, prejudiced, closed minded tyrant "wanna-be's."

Unlike Hitler's "pretty" artwork; many of the degenerate artists' work are more of expressionism. You have to think to appreciate or sometimes even understand their art. Hitler's art is incapable of making a person think. Even when he painted the ruins of a building, they were neat and orderly ruins. There was no room for chaos or disorder with Hitler. His artwork shows him to be a much disciplined, extremely structured, and closed off individual. The degenerate artists however showed themselves to be more of the free spirit type. Their worlds weren't made of perfect lines like Hitler's. They went where the spirals took them. Also, not one of these degenerates was likely an anal retentive control freak. Hitler was all about control. His life, his atmosphere, and his own world all had to be perfect. Disturbances could not be tolerated.

Somewhere in Hitler's mind one day he came to the conclusion that people who weren't like him were out of control, barbaric, disturbances. I don't think it ever occurred to him that instead of trying to change the world to think like him, it would be so much easier to think differently. Every single artist Hitler deemed degenerate undoubtedly thought differently. This is why their careers as artists were ruined. Before being deemed degenerates, many of these artists were highly respected, extremely advanced individuals compared to their contemporaries. What Hitler did was comparable to firing every single brain surgeon in a hospital that had graduated anywhere near the top of their class, and replacing all of these brain surgeons with the janitors. As great as the other non degenerate artists probably were, had they been at the level of the degenerates they too would have been cast aside, but they weren't. Just as no matter how intelligent or talented the janitor is, if they were as gifted as a brain surgeon they would be doing lobotomies instead of mopping up unused brain fragments.

I tried countless times to grasp the technicalities of Hitler's fascist philosophies, and many other political philosophies as well. I never could. All I could grasp is that without tolerance, understanding, and freedom, something will always be missing. Governments today are getting closer and closer to being overly controlling of the people that they are meant to protect. Especially in the United States, where citizens have a constitution protecting rights that are more and more infringed upon for the sake of protecting the citizen's rights who have been infringed upon. Wouldn't leaving it alone solve that? The United States is steadily turning into a country where it’s unconstitutional to pledge allegiance to the country that's constitution is the only thing protecting our rights at times. If I haven't confused you yet, you are either a politician or should be one even if in a past life. United States politics today are ever so slowly becoming more like those of Germany's when Hitler was in power. Everyone thinks that they alone are the superior being, and anyone who isn't like them can kiss their ass. If Hitler had ever been an American bumper sticker, it would have been "I rule, You SUCK, up yours ASSHOLE!"

Throughout all the researching, reading, and arguing with my dad about such subjects, I realized one thing; unlike my dad's theory of "Ignorance is Bliss" mine would have to be "Knowledge is the freedom that sets you free." Without the knowledge of our surroundings and the willingness to learn about what we don't understand, we all end up like Hitler in a world of Hitlers.