A though for the older people here

With my 20-20 hindsight, I agree with jb94083. But before looking at some of the Comments I would have thought Greg’s post reasonable, if a little out of his lane. The pig ignorant comments from Rik and maya media disabused me of that notion in a hurry.

I understand what Greg is talking about here…BUT…I don’t even want to know why a guy who does a OUTSTANDING job of explaining the differences in 145 octane avgas vs German avgas has a need to go into the whole NAZI nightmare.

rik, I'm 88 and our president is no Nazi!

great. well, I just joined, and I'm going to cancel. greg buddy, I'm older than you, and the global right and the republicans and the pedophile,rapist moron president, and his masked thugs are nazis. don't pull the age bullshit to excuse your fascist inclinations.

Lost me at “Greg is really smart, but I think he is likely a conservative”.

I'm 76 and my dad fought the NAZIs in Europe from D-Day on to the end and then some. He never talked about any of it and tried to dissuade me from Joining the Army in '67, but I joined the ASA behind his back and told him and my Mom that I could not sit on my hands and let the Commies win after everything dad and her twelve Bros and sisters did in the wars! (1, 2 and Korea) It just runs too deep in both sides of my family. South-east Asia and Ethiopia/Central Africa just proved to me I did the right thing!

I’m 66, and I have a very good idea who the Nazis were. There have always been people who are attracted to that. It’s nice to think that the act of being born to a certain class of people confers some sort of superiority with no other action required. This is not an American ideal. We are not perfect, but we try to be a society that values merit over birth.

By the way, your essay on the decline of Boeing was excellent. It was concise, but thorough, and it took no prisoners in the pursuit of truth, just like your analysis of the Bomber Mafia. Excellent. I showed it to all my friends, but cautioned them. "Greg is really smart, but I think he's likely a conservative. Yes, his video is the perfect Marxist analysis of why Boeing grew, then prospered, then was destroyed by greedy fools. But I don't think he'd take it as a complement that he was describing everything Marx described. I think it might make him mad." No, I'm not a liberal. I despise the Democrats & the Republicans. I'm not a Tankie (and any time someone calls me that I just ask them to define the word, then smile as they squirm for 5 minutes.) When I was 11, the teachers told me I was the smart kid, and I've just had a thirst for facts and truth all my life. What's actually happening? The AI bosses are so stupid that they think that we can all be replaced by AI & bots. They actually are so out of touch and arrogant that they actually believe it. The good news is, they're destroying this empire. The bad news is, they will take time to do so, and will take so many innocents with them. Also, every MAGA should know, nope, they're not just gonna grab the nonwhite people. They hate you too, unless you're a billionaire. They're smashing capitalism and trying to create New Feudalism. I'm sure you think I'm crazy, but I just keep predicting correctly. Best of luck, have a great day. I'm out to protect my friends against fascist thugs.

The first thing Hitler did was arrest all the Communists, trade unionists - the left. Why? Cuz he was part of the right. But MAGA guzzles gallons of Copium to avoid noticing this. The closest thing to a best friend he ever had was his mentor, Mussolini. His 1939 pact with the Soviets shocked the world, cuz he HATED commies, and said so in Mein Kampf. Indeed, he tried very hard to not go to war with western Europe - he wanted to expand East, and to destroy the Soviet Union. That's why so many western corporations helped him. Steve Bannon did a Nazi salute at CPAC. Why? Cuz he's a Nazi. Elon Musk did the Nazi salute TWICE at CPAC. Why? Cuz he's a Nazi. Facing reality is hard for everyone, but especially hard for MAGA. My ancestry is half-Mexican, so I'm sure you hate me. I'm pretty poor, but thought I'd give you money cuz your work is good. But I guess you're telling me Military Aviation History deserves is more, since you'd be happy to have the goons attack me.

I think it's awesome that we all agree that politicians would NEVER lie about who they are in order to gain clout or to co-opt movements. It could never happen! Yes, East Germany, with its infamous Stasi secret police was officially, the "German Democratic Republic". Of course, they would never lie, so we know they were a republic. Now, let's all move to North Korea! It's called, "Democratic People's Republic of Korea", and those politicians would never lie! So, we know it's a republic. Genius. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t89acwYU4gc

https://nypost.com/2025/10/15/us-news/young-republicans-vile-group-chat-praising-hitler-joking-about-rape-exposed-fat-stinky-jew/

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/14/private-chat-among-young-gop-club-members-00592146

“Older people”, yes Greg a resource to engage when they have lived through history. A lesson I learned well when taking a series of night college courses to obtain my B.S. (yes :-) back in 1982. The most relevant was “Modern History” which covered the 1920’s-1950’s in which most of the other students were retired folks using their retirement years adding to their personal education. Their lived experiences really fleshed out the facts of those times.

You know you are right and on the higher ground when the only response to your argument is to be called a "name". If you disagree with the plan, show me a better plan. Don't try to b.s. me with word play like "change" or name calling. Don't frame plans for your change by calling for more laws, what will you do to enforce the laws we have and strike down laws that take away the freedoms of the citizens, don't use buzzwords and useless knee-jerk reactions to current events. Think critically and deeper than the 1st layer of a "5 Why" analysis.

I am only stating the facts as I understand them and not bringing my political viewpoints to the discussion: It seems that one of the biggest misunderstandings that people have is failing to understand just how big the German NAZI Police State was. The pograms instituted, the identity & heritage research documents, the running of political programs, and so much more, required a massive government infrastructure manned by a huge government employee base. This is without including the military or the SS (which was not part of the German Army but was more of a political army that was also an army). So if a nation's leaders are embarking on a mission to drastically cut the size of that nation's government, it becomes obvious that the 2 could not be further apart, especially considering that one murdered millions based on religion. The other thing I have found is that their understanding of the Left-Right Political Spectrum is a fallacy. It mostly works within our Representative Republic, but Nazis were only "right-wing" compared to Communists as both were Socialist and therefore on the left side of that spectrum.

If it talks like a fascist and acts like a fascist I'm calling it a fascist. Especially if the self described fascists agree with you, it should give you pause. Remember there is an active and growing neo Nazi movement in the US. Patriot Front especially. The right has swung hard to the right. The days of centrist republicanism are gone. Now they are repeating great replacement theory, declaring anti-fascism as terrorism, sending the military into cities, trying to suspend habeous corpus... Yes we don't have death camps yet, but we are rapidly running in that direction. Nazism didn't become fascism when they opened the camps, they were still fascist in the decade leading up to it. We're in the decade leading up to it.

Technically you are correct although your point seems a bit esoteric. What those throwing around the term NAZI are objecting to are individuals who support what is perceived to be an authoritative governmental regime moving towards alignment with fascist ideology. Historians agree that the NAZIs were fascists and while it is indeed incorrect to label someone a NAZI when to actually be a NAZI would require membership in the NAZI party (a distinction I have pointed out on many occasions), taking issue with those who confuse being a NAZI with being a fascist is a somewhat pointless esoteric exercise. I agree that using the term NAZI is counterproductive in its extreme negativity when the term fascist is more accurate (and a bit less inflammatory). That said, it is understandable that many would use the terms interchangeably when, broadly speaking and in the current vernacular, they generally express the same sentiment. In addition, and with respect, I would be carefully defining individuals who use such terms as an overreaction to what I infer you describe as a simple disagreement. Alarm over liberal democracies drifting into authoritative rule (remember, Hitler was elected) has higher ramifications than individuals who simply disagree over policy matters. Finally, I feel your message would have had been much more effective if you had struck an impartial tone by "calling out" those who use the term "socialist or communist" as a derisive term for "someone they disagree with". The partisan divide we are currently experiencing could be the worse since the Civil War (although only time will tell us whether it is as bad as it seems). If it is, however, if we are indeed in a very dangerous time in our "Great Democratic Experiment", then appealing to both sides to stop the inflammatory rhetoric (NAZI or communist) is, to me, a far better message than to only address the name calling emanating from one side. Again, with respect, D

Quite so. Call everyone you disapprove of a Nazi or a fascist you've got no words left over for the genuine article.

This is my favorite Opposite Day posting of all time.

The same is true for the word: communist. Having been born in a communist state I've witnessed it's last stage of rotting and joyful (for us trapped within) end. However remembering the real communist I'm certain that most people who are described as such nowdays, would be sentenced to entertain with polar bears for liberal drift, in the real country behind the curtain. People seem to like polarization thisdays and throwing big things at small problems.

The sad thing is, that despite whatever name or historical reference you pin on it; It unfortunately is a ‘human condition’ called mass psychosis or hysteria. Create fear and chaos, point out an enemy and the people will do the work for you. The only question is, ‘who is pulling the strings apart from those who are in the news?’ This is less likely as it seems.

I find it extremely ironic that Antifa has apparently patterned themselves after the Brown Shirts...

"The word Fascism has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies "something not desirable"..." -- George Orwell. It's a term that's been abused for decades.

53 here and yep

nobody seems to know the definition to either one of those terms anymore, but I can tell you this, the left will accuse the right of whatever it is doing, and fascism seems to be the common accusation today.

I'm 66. I'm also an avid reader of the history of the two World Wars, as well as the pre-war and inter-war periods. There are some great books that describe what constitutes Fascism. When I was a kid, nearly everybody's dad or uncle was a WW2 veteran. Fascism and the World War is very personal to me... my Aunt lost much of her extended family to the Holocaust. Her father's shop was burned down on Kristalnacht, but luckily she and her parents escaped Germany later that year. I lost my uncle during the war, who served in the USAAF.

TikHistory is helpful with this.

I'm nearly 75, born just over 5 years after the end of WW2 As a child I played on the bomb sites in London. We often found pieces of shrapnel. My mum was bombed out of her home twice during the blitz and had civilian family members killed during raids. I now realise that she probably had PTSD. My dad was in India and Burma as an army logistics officer. One of my uncles was on the Atlantic Convoys and another did six years as an engine room technician on destroyers. Many of my Dad's friends had been in combat, one as a Halifax navigator, another was ground crew on Typhoons. They never talked about it, except sometimes reluctantly when I asked. I still often think about what they went through and I think about how they would feel if they were around now to see the dark period of the 1930s being re-enacted in so many ways. I am so shocked that it is people of my own generation, (Trump, Putin, Netanyahu) who grew up in the aftermath and the company of so many heroes, who are imitating the ways of the authoritarians of those days. Surely they should know better. You are right, they are not actually NAZIS, and calling them that disrespects the sufferings of those who went through the horror and destruction that original NAZIS wrought But I do think that those of us who have knowledge of the history should call out their behaviour and point out the similarities of approach that we can easily see. I think that it is entirely appropriate to highlight that they are promoting an awful path that has been trodden before. But it is completely unproductive to promote or revel in violence against them

I'm also 59. And people have been calling those they disagree with, particularly those they think are of an authoritarian bent, nazis for as long as I can remember. Heck, back when we were born a lot of the protesters were using that label on the powers-that-be.

Can we keep the Soup Nazi? Please?

Look, I’m 24 and fly with 60 year-old captains every week, and I’d wager half of them couldn’t tell you who Mussolini is. I don’t think younger people know less, I think social media just amplifies every dumb answer. It just so happens that younger people are the ones on social media.

I am 79 years old, and am very sad to say I will be leaving this world shortly without having made the world a better place for my children. The current situation is Tyranny is on the rise and US Politicians are as guilty as any in the world. You know the Governments (States, Federal, and local) are bent on tyranny when they pass laws punishing the whole population instead of law breakers. Example - someone murders, and the law makers try to ban hardware instead of placing the perpetrator permanently in prison and forcing the perpetrator to work towards replacing the victims loss. Anyone that resorts to violence to get what they want is not someone we should try to rehabilitate since we have ample proof that rehabilitation seldom works. Laws are just too complicated. Many laws about weapons are useless and we need simplification such as this. Do a felony using any sort of weapon should earn incarceration for life. You become the ward of the state involved forever. The State will determine to what use you can be employed, but any value the convicted produces gets rolled into the State coffers to provide victim compensation. There needs to be an additional clause to this simple law. If after the conviction, it is discovered that any of the Law Enforcement, or Judicial Personnel manufactured evidence, then that person or persons will be sentenced to the same incarceration as the original convicted person. Of course the original convicted person is released and compensated for time lost as best as possible.

Very few young people are aware of of National Socialism or Fascism as a political/economic philosophy. Fascism has become a modern buzzword to demonize a political opponent, or, in fact, anyone that disagrees with you. Unfortunately American schools' teachings about history are very wanting. A YouTuber TIKhistory has done a series of posts on both National Socialism, Fascism and Communism/Socialism as political and economic philosophies. Thought not without a degree of bias, highly recommended. Being a bit older, I remember when leftists were anti-war/military and anti-establishment and rightists were pro-military and sought to maintain the then current order, thus "conservative." Things have flipped.

You are spot on Greg. I am hopefully getting through to my own kids, but it is a real effort to educate those around me what that really means. Of course the Fascists can be called Italian Nazi's, and really the War Communism of Lenin, Stalin and such are all together just Totalitarian states of slightly different flavors. The exact opposite of (individual) Liberty and (economic freedom) Capitalism. As others pointed out in the comments, the Leftists have slowly won the war of hearts and minds in education, media, government and now social media. We have a long road back.

The real war we are fighting in America is the war against higher education…and we are losing our youth to the enemy called indoctrination.

Spot on!

The language drift started long ago. Grammar nazi, speed nazi are just a couple of examples. I find it somewhat fitting that Adolf's legacy includes grammar pedants and the fast lane squatters. Is that the best legacy for any despot, to be turned petty slang? Dang! I keep forgetting to start a new paragraph with SHIFT+ENTER. Technically, Fascists were Mussolini's party only, and he despised Hitler up until 1935 or so, when the British torqued him off for objecting to his Abyssinian / Ethiopian adventures; hey, he was just doing what the British had already done! And little-c-ommunism was used long before Lenin co-opted it with a Big C for his party name. Those times are long past. Languages evolve, and in these cases has evolved beyond their original usage. Nothing can put those worms back in the cat.

Correct

I'm only in my 40s but my Grandmother being the only member of her family to survive the actual Nazis I am well aware of what real Nazis are. It used to amaze me how many adult aged tantrum throwing children I came across, but after the 900th time being called a Nazi (I'd make a really bad Nazi) I've realized that the collective IQ of the "adults" today is in the shitter and that's just where we are. It's a nice self filtering system that allows me to readily avoid people that resort to that. At this point anyone over 25 with that mentality doesn't warrant even attempting to explain the fallacy, it's honestly easier to reason with my Autistic and barely verbal son than "functioning" adults that can't rationalize that a different point of view does not automagically make one a "Nazi" or whatever other buzzword insult they've decided I am today. I don't wear my religion or heritage on my head or sleeve(my tattoo is covered by my sleeve) but it's still impressive the number of "tolerant" people that feel comfortable expressing their bigotry as though I will somehow agree or understand or think that "I should know" that their brand of bigotry is the "good" brand. I can only raise my kids to be intelligent with a genuine understanding and hope that they do the same for generations to come, because the shit I've had to correct from their "educators" would be funny if this was a comedy show rather than my children's education. Hopefully we can make the necessary correction because this everyone I disagree with is a (insert chosen evil) is not how to build a better cooperative society moving forward. Unfortunately lots of those people that throw out Nazi at anyone they disagree with don't want a cooperative society, they want one bent to their personal brand of morality and world view, while being nose blind to their own bullshit. Here's to hoping though right?

So true Greg, this is badly needed as today’s youth will not learn this in academia. Sadly, it is academia themselves who have replaced education with indoctrination, it is why people keep equivocating “fascism” with the “far right”, because they have been indoctrinated with the false paradigm that “fascism” is some how the polar opposite of communism on the far left. This is an entirely wrong framework, designed purposely to confuse. Communism and fascism sprout from the same branch of leftism called socialism, they are on the same side of the spectrum, the socialist left. As you rightly point out, it is literally in the name of the NAZI party, this cannot be debated, its is self-evident fact. The opposite of these movements, a truly “rightwing” political philosophy would be some form of libertarianism, a system with a small government, and high individual liberty. Even in my own comments here, we have stumbled into another problem; young people don’t understand the conceptional difference between freedom, liberty, and license. You are 100% correct, the term NAZI and fascist is so casually thrown around these days, it has lost its meaning. It has diminished the sense of wholesale disasters for humanity those movements are. The language has been perverted by university, so people cannot understand history. So now it’s now incumbent upon the elders, to hand down true knowledge to their children and grandchildren. You have way more influence than you think, but be sure to introduce this knowledge early, before the later years of grade school, you need to immunize them against the garbage they will be feed by academia. This elder knowledge passed down to me, and good study of older historical scholarship has served me well, I’m early 40s and some of my generation get it, others don’t. There is also this modern trend of reductionism, where everything is suddenly equivocated and expressed as “the same”. Virtually nothing is the same, in a scientific sense, an exact copy. Things are similar and can even be very similar but they are hardly ever “the same”. This seemingly innocuous point becomes quite important as it serves as a bulwark against equivocation, it forces you to think how things are similar rather than equating them as simply “the same”, its lazy. “So and So is Hitler, so and so is a Fascist”, well no actually, they are not related at all. “I’m antifascist!!!” yet, I engage in exactly the type of activities fascist employed against its opponents, the obvious disconnect there is so damn frustrating.

Part of the bigger problem I believe is a general lack of critical thinking and the ability to debate issues openly and disagree without degenerating into name calling. Yet we see this all the time in far too many social dialogs, both public and private. My father was a WWII vet, bless his soul, and he and I disagreed over many things. Often vigorously. Religion. Politics. No matter what the issue, he had facts and logical reasoning to back up his positions and all his perspectives were both well-informed and well considered. However much I found my opinions opposing his, I had to respect his viewpoints because he was always prepared to back up his position, discuss how he arrived at his conclusions, yet was still open to reconsideration. I always loved him for that and miss the chance to debate like that.

I’m also 59 and it’s appalling to see younger people throw this term around so lightly. Especially since the Nazis openly espoused many of the very same socialist ideas (and ideals!) that seem to attract these very same people. It would be amusingly ironic, except for the fact that they can vote and own guns.

Americans have such short memories. So many seem to think that history is bunk and nothing matters. Donald Trump is absolutely following the authoritarian playbook almost to a T. We are reliving the 1930s. The resemblance is not perfect, of course, but the broad outlines match quite well. I have numerous relatives in Europe, particularly in Finland, where memories are considerably longer and sharper.

Please also inform the notable Boomer Vladimir Putin about the definition of the word! 😆

The real problem with misusing the term now, is the future. Real Nazis will arise, and like the townsfolk who grew deaf to false warnings of ‘Wolf!!’, the following generations will not realize that Nazism has arrived until too late.

Could not agree more!

It's similar to how "communist" became a catch-all term for a wide range of things that may more may not meet the definition. Even the CPC isn't really communist, but they're using the label all the same.

I know, and I try to explain that to them , I hope that sound minds will prevail. Too bad the media and their cohorts are suppressing free speech of their opposition. That is out of the facist playbook and all that's unholy playbook.

Most of the people who throw those words around flippantly won't listen to "boomers" (even if they're actually Gen-X'ers)

I’m a 24yr old history and poli-sci student, there is a lot to get into with this

What I find ironic is how communism is being pushed on us when here in Aus we are still in a fascist govt. (Everything is run by corporations even the govt.) Communism and fascism are basically the same thing - tyrany. Only difference is in how it's implemented.

Just so I get this right. Fascism is a cult of personality without an underlying economic theory, except for heightened state control. Nazism is a type of fascism, which also adds on a racist ideology justifying the oppressing and killing of identifiable group based upon white supremacy (an anachronistic phrase, but it fits) with particular animus toward Jews. For example, the Charlotte Protesters shouting “Blood and Soil” were Nazis. Is that what you think? BTW I’m 69, my father and three of my uncles were in WW2. My father enlisted before the war (he needed a job). One of my uncles didn’t come back. My father alone stayed in and retired in’68.

Hi Greg, I love the work you do, your videos are must watches whenever I see a new one is out. At the same time, I think that limiting discussion of contemporary politics would be for the best. I think my personal politics differ from you quite significantly and I'd hate if more frequent/intense political discussion left me feeling excluded or alienated by a community that I previously felt included by. I know that there are other subscribers in my position, but they might not think they can raise their concerns. For me, your channel is a bastion of the objective, one that makes conclusions based on data and primary sources. The intrusion of too much modern politics of any persuasion feels distracting. Of course, this is your space and I respect whatever you choose to do with it. All historical topics, especially when talking about things like warplanes, are inherently political, so it's important to acknowledge that where it is involved in the stories you tell. I've seen other channels that I liked become bogged down in the morass of culture war politics and that was always really disappointing. I don't want that to happen here. I hope you understand this as the constructive feedback I intend it to be. Love the work you're putting out.

Amen!

I'm 54 and you make a good point. My kids know the difference between right and left, but not what delineates Nazism - time to correct that.

I'm 65 & with your help, study a lot of history. The name was propaganda. Politicians lie, you see.

Autocorrect made a hash of “thought”

This is the kind of thing were the best response is no response. Even if you're right, you won't come out of the shit flinging match clean. You're right about a lot of people being blind to fascism, but age isn't a good indicator of someone's ability to recognize it when they run into it in daily life.

"Authoritarian" and/or "Totalitarian" would be a more appropriate term.

I think modern use of the term NAZI is not meant to describe a literal member of the NSDAP. To think so is pretty reductive. It is a shorthand for political movements that are similar to or sympathetic to the characteristics of Naziism, such as neo-Nazis in their various forms. These real political tendencies have evolved for decades. Some in ways that make them very different from the NSDAP, but they are part of that category of political thought. It is therefore expedient and sufficiently correct to label them Nazis.

When you can’t compete in the arena of ideas and debate, name calling is the only tool in the toolbox.

Hi Greg! I am over 60 myself, and my Dad, as well as various Uncles all fought the Nazis in WWII and the Japanese as well, and YES we do know what Nazis were. The Japanese were merciless killers as well, which a lot of people nowadays don't understand either. It just goes to show that either they are not TEACHING history as it was really, or they are afraid, too, in case the parents would get upset. Really tragic, in my opinion. Every one should know history so it doesn't get repeated. That would be SUPER TRAGIC!

As a 29 year old. It disturbs me the mentality of most of my peers. I often wonder how far into this mess the country truly is.

67 here and I agree totally. Not many young folk in my sphere of influence though.