• Bubs12@lemm.ee
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      8 days ago

      The 14 refers to “The Fourteen Words”

      “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children”

      • merc@sh.itjust.works
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        8 days ago

        It’s funny because it’s hardly an inspiring or memorable 14 word sentence. It’s just awkward and clunky.

        Like, why “secure”? Why not “safeguard” or “defend”? IMO those are stronger, more emotionally resonant words.

        And why “existence”? Why not something stronger like “survival” or something more than survival like “prosperity”?

        And just “a future” for white children? Not “a glorious future” or “a triumphant future”?

        And, why “white children”? Not the white race?

        Also, how is “a future for white children” distinct from “the existence of our people”? Are white children distinct from “our people”?

        I could get it if it were framed as: we must defend our survival now so that our children can prosper. In that case you’re saying that the present might be tough but the future will be bright. But they’re not painting the future as bright, just “a future”, which is really the same as an “existence” so it’s basically saying “Our people must survive and so must our children, who are also our people, but smaller.”

        Like, they memorized the first draft of some dumb saying and revere it as “the 14 words”, but it’s just badly written, nevermind all the racism.

        • Juniper (she/her) 🫐@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          8 days ago

          “Secure” also has the meaning of taking something with great difficulty, not simply defending. It’s a threat. All the rest is just using catastrophic/severe language to lure in followers to their cause.

          • TheDoozer@lemmy.world
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            8 days ago

            This reminds me of an anecdote talking about language differences between the US armed services:

            If you told a Marine to secure a building, they would kick the door in and take control of the building.

            If you told a soldier in the Army to secure a building, they would set up a fence around it and establish a sentry.

            If you told a Navy sailor to secure a building, they’d turn off all the lights and close and lock the door on their way out.

            If you told an Airforce airman to secure a building, they would write up a purchasing contract.

        • Excrubulent@slrpnk.net
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          8 days ago

          “Secure” doesn’t just mean “defend” or “safeguard”. “Secure” also means “capture”, so it implies you need to go out and get it, like with invasions or something maybe, idk. It’s a lot less passive.

          “Existence” means both “survival” and “prosperity”. It implies that both their existence is under threat, while creating the idea that they might be able to make it better. Maybe they could, idk, make america great again, trying to return to some mythical prelapsarian era by beating back the eternal threat.

          “A future” does this too, implying they may not have a future at all.

          And talking about the “children” brings up the concept of making new people, evoking the idea that non-white races are out-breeding them. It also includes the common “think of the children” idea.

          And finally the fact that it’s short and boring comes from the fact that nazis are uninspiring and uninspired, and they need a simple, to the point slogan to repeat without thinking about it too hard. They certainly know how to make a message concise, even at the cost of saying almost nothing of meaning when you think too hard about it.

          All of this is classic fascism.