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A comment on 'Hitler Tamed by Prison' (1924). Parent comment

Re:'Hitler Tamed by Prison' (1924) by wavefunction on Monday April 03, 2017 @03:32PM (#14026279)
I judge Presidents by their policy outcomes combined with original intent, with intent mattering very little.

You can't feed your family off intentions.

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Re:'Hitler Tamed by Prison' (1924) by Touche on Monday April 03, 2017 @03:34PM (#14026297)
Judging policy as good/bad is different from saying "did objectively terrible things". The latter is saying that they had bad intentions.
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Re:'Hitler Tamed by Prison' (1924) by freeflight on Monday April 03, 2017 @04:51PM (#14027021)
>The latter is saying that they had bad intentions.

Does it really? Sometimes good intentions can end up with objectively terrible outcomes because nobody can see into the future. The proverb "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" comes to mind.

I think there's a lot of truth to that proverb because the vast majority of people don't think of themselves, or the reasons they do things, as "evil" or bad. In their internal logic most people act for "good reasons", but "good" can be a rather subjective thing, so the internal reasoning doesn't always translate properly to the outcomes in external reality.

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