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me_irl
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this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2026
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me_irl
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There was so much propaganda surrounding Hitler and the man himself was aware that he was a cult of personality, that I don't think it's safe to assume anything he said or wrote about himself were his genuine beliefs about himself rather than based on a belief he could make others believe he was bigger than he really was if he said it enough.
If thats true im sure he felt it was the right thing to do, and he was justified in doing it...
The burden of proof is on you to prove that claim, and to prove he didnt think he was doing good with his actions which seems to be the historical consensus and is well supported from tons of primary sources. Hitler thought he was doing good.
I didn't make a provable claim; my stance is there's no way to know what Hitler really thought of himself and that his writings only necessarily show what he wanted others to think about what he thought and could have been a part of the cult of personality he built around himself rather than his genuine beliefs. Not saying that he did or didn't actually believe any of that, just that he's the only one who truly knew and that thought was forever erased by the hot lead he shot through his head in his bunker.
My suspicion was that he didn't really care that much about good or evil and only spoke about them because it was a means to manipulate others into giving him power, but I wouldn't bother betting money on that because there's no way to resolve such a bet.
It's clear he thought he was doing good for himself, at the very least. Often that is motivation enough, especially for small men who crave great power.
Yes i agree there... my original point is nobody thinks they're the villain in their own story. Even Hitler felt he was justified in doing what he considered to be right.
Its a pattern you see repeated everywhere.
I would wager that a lot of the worst people don't even consider their position in their own story. They're the centre of it, anything else is an afterthought.
The pattern I see repeated is people do what they think is best for themselves, if that benefits others or not is inconsequential. Sometimes what's beneficial to you is giving someone some money to make them trust you, sometimes it's stealing money from their pocket and convincing then otherwise. Being a "villain" is irrelevant to the overall goal.
But they certainly don't think they're wrong or evil for doing it