
World Ice Theory and the Supernatural Imaginary of the Third Reich - Vigier
http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/song-ice-and-fire
======
cirgue
>By providing all the necessary clues to convince his audience that what they
saw was truly “scientific,” Hörbiger’s doctrine “produced sensations of
authenticity that made the distinction between ‘serious’ scientific work,
committed to objectivity and rationality, and mere dramatic banter about it
almost impossible, at least for the broader public,”

Did 'sensation of authenticity' leap off the page to anyone else? That is the
exact phrase I would use to describe most enterprise sales decks.

~~~
eronhp
And a lot of TED talks too.

------
clock_tower
Someone had remarked that the SS is what you'd get if the Pentagon hired the
Church of Happyology to create a new branch of the military. I thought this
was hilariously on-point; but then I refreshed the page to see more
discussion, and the comment was gone. Are the clam spirits angry today?

------
api
Interestingly the modern alt-right, which is largely a 21st century post-
social-media rebranding of Nazi ideology, has its own very strange occultism:

[https://pepethefrogfaith.wordpress.com](https://pepethefrogfaith.wordpress.com)

[https://pepethefrogfaith.wordpress.com/smug-pepe-sure-
makes-...](https://pepethefrogfaith.wordpress.com/smug-pepe-sure-makes-a-lot-
of-sense-now-that-trump-has-won/)

There's a lot more. The rabbit hole goes deep and gets _extremely_ bizarre.

There's also a strong affinity between the alt-right and some of the more
bizarre currents of conspiracy theory: the flat Earth movement, Apollo hoax
conspiracies, weird alternative theories of history like ancient alien wars,
and the absolute wackiest 9/11 conspiracy theories (e.g. controlled demolition
with energy weapons from space). You can see this very clearly if you look at
overlapping participation and moderation of various Reddit forums and at the
similarity of jargon and propaganda.

Historically it seems like totalitarian movements usually employ what we might
term "radically anti-rational bullshit" as signaling. The Soviets did it too
with Lysenkoism and statistical/mathematical quackery designed to bolster
Lenin's theories.

It seems to serve both for social signaling within the movement and as a
straightforward ideological stance on the profound and radical rejection of
reason.

~~~
rch
The left is just as bizarre. Here in Boulder people seem to be graduating from
yoga to astrology to drinking 'structured water' from bottles charged with
'orgone energy' at a surprising rate.

It seems like overkill to use modern marketing techniques to twist people's
cognitive facilities, ultimately just to sell more stretchy pants.

~~~
api
I wasn't excluding the left-- hence my comment about Soviet ideology. I was
making a general point about the affinity that exists between totalitarianism
and irrationalist ideas in other areas and how totalitarianism often adopts
these ideas for propaganda and signaling purposes.

That being said I do find the alt-right more alarming than typical run of the
mill left-leaning woo woo. The latter isn't advocating abolition of the
constitution and violence against (((minorities))) (Jews, blacks, etc.).

~~~
mikeash
I think the main difference between the extreme left and the extreme right in
the US at the moment is that the extreme left is marginalized and holds no
power beyond occasionally NIMBYing new cell towers and such, whereas the
extreme right holds the Presidency, much of the legislature, and many other
powerful positions.

There's nothing inherent about the two which means it has to be this way. It
could easily be flipped if circumstances were different. But here and now, the
extreme right is much more worrisome.

~~~
alacombe
The extreme left, marginalized ? Come on, they were able to push near
resignation on of their own (ie. a hardcode Sanders support) at Evergreen
College and in Canada, they were able to pass what essentially boils down to
"compelled speech" law.

They are nowhere near "marginalized", quite the contrary...

~~~
bbctol
"Marginalized"? Nonsense, they have absolute control even over an institution
as important and famous as Evergreen College... everyone knows that's the
stepping stone to world domination

~~~
alacombe
As a Canadian who refuses to comply with Bill C-16, the fringe left made me a
thought criminal.

~~~
mikeash
This Bill C-16?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Act_to_amend_the_Canadian_H...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Act_to_amend_the_Canadian_Human_Rights_Act_and_the_Criminal_Code)

What's so bad about it?

~~~
d0lph
> the amendment also makes it a criminal offence to incite or promote hatred
> because of gender identity or gender expression

Seems vague, what counts as promoting hatred? If someone makes fun of the
1000+ genders and counting, do they go to jail?

And from the bill:

(2) Every one who, by communicating statements, other than in private
conversation, wilfully promotes hatred against any identifiable group is
guilty of

(a) an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding two years; or

(b) an offence punishable on summary conviction. [0]

[0] [http://laws-
lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/section-319.htm...](http://laws-
lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/section-319.html#h-93)

~~~
mikeash
So, what _does_ actually count as promoting hatred, legally speaking?

~~~
alacombe
As per C-16, calling someone "Sir" instead of "Xir" if the person addressed
wants to be called "Xir".

The incident between Ben Shapiro and Zoey Tur could have qualified if it had
happened in Canada under the rule of the Human Rights Tribunal.

Also, recently, a landlord got convicted by that so called "human right
tribunal" for not having removed his shoes in a muslim tenant's apartment.

~~~
api
Yes, this is insane. I just object to the idea that this insanity validates
other kinds of insanity like neo-Nazi ideology. It's all bullshit.

~~~
alacombe
I have no idea where I mentioned to validates the Nazi/neo-Nazi ideology.
Nazism is a national __socialism __which, much like fascism, has nothing to do
with conservativism, quite the opposite. That being said, this completely
ignore the fact that Nazi 's mass murder were preceded _and_ followed by
Communist mass murder, not just in the USSR (including the Gulag and purges
dating back to the October Revolution), but also China, Cambodia, Cuba, etc.
Mao's regime alone is responsible for twice the death toll of WWII.

The leading ideological cause of death in the 20th century is not fascism,
it's communism.

That being said, I challenge you to find any pro-Nazi argument in the
discourse of either Milo Yiannopoulos, Lauren Southern, Ben Shapiro or even
(on the Canadian side) Jordan Peterson.

~~~
mikeash
I find it rather odd that you deny validating Naziism and then spend most of
your comment defending it by saying communism was worse.

