There are a lot of topics that we could discuss from the first four chapters in American Swastika, but since our time is limited, I’d like to focus on how the three different families are described in Chapter 3. Each shows its own version of “loving” their children, and it seems somewhat paradoxical to me that for them, “love” is “hate.” In other words, the three families described here “love” their children by teaching them hate.
Why do you think this is? What do you suppose are the psychological and/or sociological mechanisms at play when a parent decides that the most important way to raise his or her child is to teach the child that being “pure,” different, and superior to others is the foundation of the child’s entire life? Perhaps you’ve heard the expression, “Our Parents, Ourselves,” which implies that children are destined to be like their parents. Are there other factors at play?
