George Orwell’s review of Mein Kampf

Orwell realized that Hitler understood something about man’s psyche that most are unwilling to admit:

Also he has grasped the falsity of the hedonistic attitude to life. Nearly all Western thought since the last war, certainly all “progressive” though, has assumed tacitly that human beings desire nothing beyond ease, security and avoidance of pain. In such a view of life there is no room, for instance, for patriotism and the military virtues. The Socialist who finds his children playing with soldiers is usually upset, but he is never able to think of a substitute for the tin soldiers; tin pacifists somehow won’t do. Hitler, because in his own joyless mind he feels it with exceptional strength, knows that human beings don’t only want comfort, safety, short working hours, hygiene, birth control, and, in general, common sense; they also, at least intermittently, want struggle and self-sacrifice, not to mention drums, flags and loyalty parades…

Something to think about with respect to the rise of ISIS as well.

H/t: The National Review.