Brown-baiting
 Brown-baiting(ad hominem, enemy image)   | |
|---|---|
| Harassing an individual or group by making claims of associations with National Socialism and fascism, often as a form of guilt by association and/or ad hominem, no matter how far-fetched. |
Brown-baiting (compare with red-baiting) is harassing an individual or group by making claims of associations with National Socialism and fascism, often as a form of guilt by association and/or ad hominem.
Brown-baiting also attempts to shut down debate and dissent on specific issues, by defining certain opinions as "Nazi. This also works by creating guilt by association, by focusing heavily on how some actual, but usually minuscule, Nazi individuals or group - mostly unwanted - tries to join events or causes[1].
Antecedents
During the Cold War, people who were interested in a number of issues were red-baited, smeared as agents of the Kremlin or in best case "useful idiots", with an intention to discredit the validity of the political opponent and the opponent's logical argument by accusing, denouncing, attacking, or persecuting the target individual or group.[2] The issues at the time could range to socialist beliefs, to things such as civil rights, peace activism or seeking to nuance one-sided corporate media presentations.[3]
It is also used in foreign policy, where every leader targeted for regime change is routinely compared to Hitler.
Godwin's law
Brown-baiting can be seen as a more coercive variation of Godwin's law, an Internet adage asserting that as an online discussion grows longer (regardless of topic or scope), the probability of a comparison to Nazis or Adolf Hitler approaches 100%.[4]
Examples
In May 2021, the CIA-close Daily Kos wrote that RFK Jr. was "cavorting with Nazis" by speaking at a 2021 Berlin rally against lockdowns and other coercive measures [5], thus attempting to undermine his civil rights arguments with guilt by association.
As part of Russiagate, corporate media seemingly every day compared Donald Trump to Hitler.
References
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/20/victoria-to-ban-nazi-salute-after-anti-trans-protest-melbourne-australia
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20100221204126/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/red-baiting
- ↑ https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/educational-resources/age-of-eisenhower/mcarthyism-red-scare
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120829094739/http://w2.eff.org/Net_culture/Folklore/Humor/godwins.law
- ↑ https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/5/25/2031959/-RFK-Jr-cavorts-with-Nazis-and-suing-Daily-Kos-won-t-make-that-any-less-true
