h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

" That they took enormous pride in their families and lineages is indisputable, but Nazi and White Supremacist ideas would have been foreign to them."
I dispute that. You brush over this isue of 'Blood and Soil'- a key Nazi tenet. The supreme duty of a heathen was the survival of the 'clan'. How often have I heard stuff like "I'm proud of my xxxx roots" substitute xxxx by Celtic Germanic etc., as if such a statement was anything but a racist mantra.

It's been quite a while since I checked back on this article, so my apologies for not replying sooner.

It is one thing to be proud of one's lineage, and an entirely different thing to assume that one's lineage is inherently superior to another's. For example, I give reverence to my ancestors, I am strongly connected to the place in which I grew up, and I consider my family and friends incredibly important. None of this translates into racism or disdain for others who do not share my ethnic heritage, my nationality, or my DNA. The very concept is repugnant to me. I believe that the difference between the old concepts of familial and tribal ties and the Nazi/white supremacist worldviews is one of confidence: the older tribal identity provided security and pride, the Nazi/white supremacist attitude has its roots in insecurity and fear of loss of social status.

The Nazis did utilise concepts of family responsibility, ties to the land, and ethnic identity to further their Aryan supremacist fantasies, but I would argue that there is an inherent difference between expressing loyalty and responsibility to one's family group, one's country, and one's ancestors, and the concept that these things give one the right or duty to exterminate those of other lineages.

The Vikings were known to adopt others into their groups. They were known to trade, travel, and work amicably for people outside their ethnic groups. They happily settled in other areas and lived alongside others in the same manner as other tribal peoples. They intermarried with local populations. They lived in a time when national identity was pretty much unknown. Nazis and white supremacists, on the other hand, share a romanticised view of their ancient past, the concept that everything would be better if only they could enforce a bizarre policy of ethnic "purity", and they attempt to enforce these ideas by warping history to conform to their ideas. The situations in which these attitudes arose were entirely different, and the ways in which they were expressed entirely different.

I would never argue that Nazis and white supremacists have not used traditional ideas to further their cause, but I strongly argue that in doing so they warp these ideas beyond recognition.