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by PhasmaFelis 3035 days ago
She says repeatedly that Nazism is not genetic but is potentially rooted in the earliest upbringing. When she talks about "young D," "the only born Nazi in the room," she says a lot about his upbringing and nothing whatsoever about his heritage. That's what "born" means to Dorothy Thompson.

The word "born" is clearly an awkward choice--perhaps it worked better in the idiom of 1941--but you're not doing any good by ignoring context and stubbornly insisting on a literal dictionary reading.

1 comments

Actually, there is not a single mention of genes or "genetic" in that article. What are you referring to?

Your interpretation of the word "born" is bizarre. She is repeatedly describing someone's Nazism to be directly caused by biological breeding and processes (such as feeding, physical training, or Neanderthal brains).

Hang on, what are you actually arguing for? I thought blaming politics on genetics was what you were upset about in the first place.

Are you actually saying it's immoral to say that the circumstances of a person's upbringing can affect their adult behavior? Because that goes way beyond just misinterpreting the article.

You wrote: "She says repeatedly that Nazism is not genetic."

I'm asking you to provide evidence for that claim.

Would you please stop? This is a pointless flamewar and now it's going in circles.