Talk:Little Eichmann

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I posted the present stub, defining "little Eichmann" as "Pejorative; a comparison to Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann. This term may be used to describe a zealous member of an immoral or evil entity." But I'm not sure my definition is accurate. Does anyone differ with it? One person suggested to me that denying, ignoring, or disclaiming responsibility for the larger entity's immorality should be part of the definition, but I believe applied usage may be less narrowly constrained than that.

Also, did Ward Churchill coin the term, or did the controversy surrounding his use of it simply bring increased awareness to it? And does his inclusion under "See also" make it appear as though Churchill is being provided as an example of a "little Eichmann?"

Finally, haven't "little Hitler" and "little Caesar" been used to mean similar things? There don't appear to be relevant entries for those terms on Wikipedia, though. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.56.142.157 (talk • contribs).

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Also, if you register, you can keep track of all the pages you edit. I have 205 pages that wikipedia keeps track for me. In addition, for some reason, some wikipedians give more weight to users contributions than anon contributions.

Anon wrote:

Also, did Ward Churchill coin the term, or did the controversy surrounding his use of it simply bring increased awareness to it?

I don't know.

And does his inclusion under "See also" make it appear as though Churchill is being provided as an example of a "little Eichmann?"

Anyone who reads the Churchill page will quickly realize that he said the term, but you can quantify the "see also" by saying:

Ward Churchill (who used the term in his Justice of Roosting Chickens paper)

Nice work on the wikipage. Welcome to wikipedia. Travb 13:21, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks! Is there a page with instructions for using the talk feature?

Also, I found out more about the etymology of "little Eichmann" and added relevant links to the page. I'm still not certain of the definition. Is there an established way of denoting "this isn't certain" in Wikipedia? 71.56.142.157 05:31, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

I have been using wikipedia for over a year, and on both questions, I have to answer "I don't know". Everything I learned about wikipedia I learned from continued use, and looking at other people's examples, from how to solve disputes to how to built templates and graphs. Welcome to wikipedia! Again, it maybe in your best interest to register, it takes less than a minute of your time. Type in template:Policylist, which may help.Travb 13:21, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

The definition of Little Eichmann here is incorrect. It is not a zealous devotion to evil that is denoted but rather quite the contrary -- a banal reproduction of evil by people who don't recognize that what they are doing is participating in an evil system. It is a reference to Hannah Arendt's notion of "banality of evil." From the Eichmann page: "In Eichmann in Jerusalem, a book formed by this reporting, Arendt concluded that, aside from a desire for improving his career, Eichmann showed no trace of anti-Semitism or psychological damage. She called him the embodiment of the "banality of evil," as he appeared at his trial to have an ordinary and common personality, displaying neither guilt nor hatred. She suggested that this most strikingly discredits the idea that the Nazi criminals were manifestly psychopathic and different from ordinary people."--csloat 10:20, 11 August 2006 (UTC)