Beyond his totalitarian rages and murderous anti-Semitism, Hitler was apparently an unpleasant guy to be around. As MoreIntelligentLife.com reports,

“Medical historians are unanimous that Adolf was the victim of uncontrollable flatulence…his private physician, Dr. Theo Morell, recorded in his diary that after Hitler downed a typical vegetable platter, “constipation and colossal flatulence occurred on a scale I have seldom encountered before.”

His digestive problems were a lifelong problem, worsening as he aged, but they also may have represented an instance where the cure was worse than the disease. The article states that his physician prescribed pills for the disorder containing strychnine and atropine, compounds contributing to vicious mood swings. He also administered daily amphetamine injections, cocaine eyedrops and pills derived from ground bull testicles.

German intelligence went as far as to wonder whether the doctor was a spy, but the historical record seems to support the notion that he was just an idiot. It’s hard to think of a more fitting victim for malpractice.

At the same time, it’s also tempting to wonder how much of the madness at the end of World War II was inspired by a raving, drug-fueled mania, as opposed to the alternative, a monstrous, sober mania. Some combination of the two is probably where the truth lies.

The New York Times has an interesting article on new ideas for aiding the developing world, focusing on economist Lant Prichett, who argues for increasing opportunities for workers in developing nations to work in wealthy countries. By freeing labor from the boundaries that have largely been lifted from the flow of goods, we can have a huge impact on alleviating global poverty.

The argument raises some caveats; it’s uncertain how the logistics of moving and housing vast amounts of people would be overcome. Also, I remain skeptical that guest worker programs wouldn’t be conduits to exploitation—look at how laborers in “Right to Work” states compare to the unionized counterparts.

The article provides a welcome counterpoint to the nastiness illuminating much of the current “debate” about immigration in the United States, though. After all, Americans aren’t more worthy for having been born here; those born in developing nations didn’t choose their suffering. Why someone should starve to respect the sanctity of our borders is beyond me.

Buffalo humor magazine The Beast has a comprehensive listing of the 50 Most Loathsome People in America, 2007. It largely deals with the political landscape—although media figures aren’t exempt—with a sharp, angry humor that’s surprisingly well-informed.

The top two figures are unsurprising, particularly given that the leftward-lean of the list, but the punishments conjured up for each listee provide some schadenfreude in the midst of all the bad behavior. The thought of Dick Cheney being “raped by the sun” is strangely satisfying.

Harper’s Magazine has a reprint of an article written by anti-Nazi activist Dorothy Thompson in August 1941. The piece, titled “Who Goes Nazi?”, provides an armchair analysis of an imaginary dinner party, with Thompson pointing out the tendencies that separate potential fascists from their more resistant peers. Opportunism, excessive self-regard and lingering frustration are key traits, she argues, even as a good sense of humor and a deflated sense of self-importance serve as inoculations.

In the end, she sums up by saying:

“Kind, good, happy, gentlemanly, secure people never go Nazi. They may be the gentle philosopher whose name is in the Blue Book, or Bill from City College to whom democracy gave a chance to design airplanes–you’ll never make Nazis out of them. But the frustrated and humiliated intellectual, the rich and scared speculator, the spoiled son, the labor tyrant, the fellow who has achieved success by smelling out the wind of success–they would all go Nazi in a crisis.”

Today’s dinner parties are fortunately free of the taint of Nazism, but they can inspire similar thought experiments about the potential choices of our companions. Everyone has wondered whether they would collaborate, stay silent or speak out in the face of unrelenting repression. Thompson’s article provides a provocative guide to the appeals of authoritarianism. During a time when our government is seeking to expand its authority to wiretap our conversations, monitor our e-mails and even torture and indefinitely detain citizens, her words seem alarmingly relevant.

Following up on my post last week about the increasing–and alarming–tendency of police officers to reach for their tasers even in instances of relatively minor disputes, John Cole’s Balloon Juice has drawn my attention to another head-slapping instance of a person being shocked for the crime of being in his own home.

As KWCH Kansas reports:

Donnell Williams had just gotten out of the bath tub, wearing only a towel around his waist, when he turned the corner to see guns pointing right at him.

“I ain’t never been so scared,” says Williams.

Police forced entry into Williams home while responding to a shooting, but it turned out to be a false call. They had no idea at the time the call wasn’t real and that Williams is hearing impaired. Without his hearing aid he is basically deaf.

“I kept going to my ear yelling that I was scared. I can’t hear! I can’t hear!”

Officers were worried about their own safety because at the time it appeared Williams was refusing to obey their commands to show his hands. That’s when they shot him with a Taser.

Continue reading More Taser Trauma →