Eliminationism

Eliminationism is the belief that one's political opponents are "a cancer on the body politic that must be excised — either by separation from the public at large, through censorship or by outright extermination — in order to protect the purity of the nation".^[1]

Etymology

The term eliminationism was coined by American political scientist Daniel Goldhagen in his 1996 book Hitler's Willing Executioners in which he posits that ordinary Germans not only knew about, but also supported, the Holocaust because of a unique and virulent "eliminationist antisemitism" in the German identity, which had developed in the preceding centuries.^[1]

Effects

In his 2009 book Worse Than War: Genocide, Eliminationism, and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity, Goldhagen argues that eliminationism is the root cause of every mass murder perpetrated in the 20th and 21st centuries, including:^[2]

• War rape in Darfur (2003–2010)
• Suicide attacks by Islamic terrorists
• Rwandan Genocide (1994)
• Ethnic cleansing and genocide during the Yugoslav Wars (1991–1999)
• Cambodian Genocide (1975–1979)
• Operation Condor in Latin America (1973-1985)
• Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945)
• Death marches from the Auschwitz concentration camp (1944–1945)
• British concentration camps for the Mau Mau following their uprising in Kenya (1952–1960), and during the Boer Wars (1880–1881, 1899–1902)

American journalist David Neiwert argues that eliminationist rhetoric is becoming increasingly mainstream within the American right wing, fueled in large part by the extremist discourse found on conservative blogs and talk radio, which may provoke a resurgence of lone wolf terrorism.^[3]

American professor of law Phyllis E. Bernard argues that interventions in Rwanda and Nigeria, which adapted American dispute prevention and resolution methods to African media and dispute resolution traditions, may provide a better fit and forum for America to address eliminationist media messages and their impact on society.^[1]

Historical eliminationism

An infamous eliminationist, Theodore N. Kaufman, self-published Germany Must Perish! in the United States in 1941. In the 104-page book, Kaufman advocated genocide through forced sterilization of all Germans and the territorial disassociation of Germany. The obscure book received very little attention in the US, but was eventually cited by the Nazi regime as proof of a vast Jewish conspiracy to annihilate Germany and Germans (Kaufman was a Jew). The Nazis published quotes from the book in wartime propaganda, pretending that the book was indicative of the views of the Allied Powers. The book's call for the elimination of Germans helped galvanize the German people against Jews, which led to the Holocaust.

References