Ninety-four years ago to the day, 24 February 1920, the German Workers' Party was dissolved & reformed as the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), A.K.A. the "Nazi Party," & the twenty-five-point National Socialist Program was unveiled. The "25-point Program" served as the basic framework of Nazi belief through the insurrectionary & electoral struggles of 1920-1933 & the twelve-year nightmare of the "Thousand-Year Reich," from 1933-1945. The Nazi Party was founded, & its National Socialist Program unveiled, ninety-four years ago today.
It is a intriguing coincidence that on this baleful anniversary I began reading Liberal Fascism, which reprints the 25-point Program as an appendix. That is a spooky bit of happenstance, I'd say. Or, in the words of "plain, simple Garak," "I believe in coincidence. Coincidences happen every day. But I don't trust coincidence."
Kith & Kin
Over the weekend, a kinswoman posted a grammatical error to her FaceSpace page, using the possessive "Wilson's" when context made it clear she meant the plural "Wilsons." I pointed out her error, owing a duty to fight the dumbing down of our public discourse, but did so in a respectful manner. She deleted my correction, & allowed her error to stand. A week or two earlier, The Guy had committed a similar error, typing the possessive "Manhattan's" when he clearly meant the plural "Manhattans." His error had been facilitated by those same plural Manhattans. I brought the error to his attention, in an almost identically respectful manner. He accepted my correction with good cheer, because he too knows that when our use of language grows lazy & fuzzy, so too grows our very ability to think. I do not condemn her for the initial mistake—typographical errors bedevil us all—but I shake my head at her refusal to fix the error, & her deletion of my comment pointing out the error. George Costanza's indictment of "the delicate genius" springs to mind.
It is worth noting that the kinswoman who defends "Wilson's" as the correct plural of "Wilson" is a public school teacher, & a vehement supporter of her own & the national teachers' unions. Forgive me if I enjoy this episode as a revealing commentary on the quality of the education that unionized public school teachers are interested in & capable of providing. Or perhaps I'm wrong & the plural of teacher really isn't "teachers" but "teacher's"?
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