Debunking “Godwin’s Law”

There is a stupid maxim (named “Godwin’s Law of Nazi Analogies”) by a guy named Mike Godwin that goes like this:

“As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.”

The stated goal of this “law” is to try to prevent commentators from making this sort of comparison.

First, it must be absolutely noted that the self-anointed status of this saying as a “law” is hubris of the highest order — it is no such thing, at most only a hypothesis or theory.  This is really just lowest-level sociological guesswork.  But beyond that, the essential characteristic of this viewpoint is that it is nothing but an assertion of political liberalism.  No more, no less.

Liberalism tends to disavow political difference, and instead asserts that political disagreements about injustices are merely the product of misunderstanding.  In other words, it is ideology at its purest, which is to say that is denies that it is ideology at all.  The liberal position is presupposed to be the correct and neutral position — all others are confused applications of other ideologies that distort the “true facts”.  This takes us to the position Carl Schmitt described in Politische Theologie. Vier Kapitel zur Lehre von der Souveränität (1922), “The essence of liberalism is negotiation, a cautious half measure, in the hope that the definitive dispute, the decisive bloody battle, can be transformed into a parliamentary debate and permit the decision to be suspended forever in an everlasting discussion.”

The usage of “Godwin’s law”, also called “playing the Hitler card,” as applied to Internet commentary runs from two basic assumptions: (1) that fascistic sentiments are not common in expression on the Internet; and (2) it is at present universally acknowledged that Hitler and Nazism are evil, perhaps some of the supreme evils.

Leo Strauss made a much more humorous comment about reductio ad Hitlerum, a play on the term reductio ad absurdum.  Wikipedia has a useful section of a web page (as of December 2015) discussing the limits of the supposed fallacy of comparisons to Hitler and Nazism.  Attempts to delineate this spectrum of political views include Theodor Adorno‘s F-Scale and the Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) scale.  These scales really speak to point (1), are authoritarian positions common (on the Internet)?

Point (2) runs from the idea that these arguments are about comparisons that associate someone with the worst elements of history, and therefore are attempts to assign guilt by association, or that these rebuttals are simply used at a frequency that much exceeds the actual presence of fascistic sentiments.  This is where things get a little trickier.  Things like the F-Scale or RWA scale might help here, but this really becomes the domain of reasoned argument.  Invoking “Godwin’s Law” or accusing someone of “playing the Hitler card” is meant to silence debate, labeling the argument/comparison as unworthy of response.  The problem is that often this is the very thing that the person accused of “playing the Hitler card” has supposedly done!  This often begs the question, and implies a pre-judgment as to which ideologies are acceptable — something of a disavowed yet central tenet of liberalism.  But more importantly, going back to Schmitt’s famous comment — and glossing past the issue of Schmitt being a Nazi sympathizer — the liberal-normative aspect of “Godwin’s Law” seeks to eliminate arguments/tactics that terminate debates, to keep the “decisive bloody battle” at bay “and permit the decision to be suspended forever in an everlasting discussion.”

The Swan Silvertones – It’s a Miracle

It's a Miracle

The Swan Silvertones – It’s a Miracle HOB HBX-2123 (1970)

The sound of the The Swan Silvertones continued to change with It’s a Miracle.  Longtime member Paul Owens had left the group, and that represented a major loss.  Owens was a truly great gospel singer, and a real innovator — being responsible for introducing elements of modern vocal jazz into the vocabulary of gospel singing.  Carl Davis, a lead singer who typically imitated departed group founder Claude Jeter, seems to also have quit the group.  This left Louis Johnson as the only great singer left, and left almost all the lead vocal duties to him.

Nonetheless, the group’s long-serving manager and arranger John Myles makes this album a success.  He wrote all the songs on side one, and arranged everything on side two.  Like Duke Ellington, he could match the group’s material to the individual strengths of the performers.  So he turns a song like the opener “I Can Dream” into a magnificent vehicle for Louis Johnson’s vocals, cradling the nostalgic lyrics in a loping beat perfect for Johnson’s sing/speak crooning.  Setting the pattern for the group’s next few albums, there is a mix of up-tempo numbers like “What Ya Gonna Do” and mellower fare, giving time to all the facets of Johnson’s vocal abilities.

In the final analysis, It’s a Miracle is among the group’s best albums for HOB Records.  It’s not quite as good as Great Camp Meeting or even Walk With Me Lord, but is very comparable to Only Believe.  This might not match the very best of the group’s recordings, but it’s among their most successful and even-handed album-length statements conceived in a rock/soul style.

As an aside, by my count this was The Swan Silvertones’ ninth or tenth full-length album, but the first to feature a photograph of the band on the album jacket.  The only other photos of the group members were compilations that tended to recycle two promotional photos from the 1950s (sometimes even slapped on recordings made by completely different lineups than pictured).

[This album was, confusingly, reissued on CD in its entirety, with song titles changed and two bonus tracks added, as The Very Best of The Swan Silvertones: Do You Believe, though the CD reissue seems to have remixed or remastered the sound in such a way that the original vinyl sounds quite different.]

The Swan Silvertones – The Very Best of The Swan Silvertones: Do You Believe

The Very Best of The Swan Silvertones: Do You Believe

The Swan Silvertones – The Very Best of The Swan Silvertones: Do You Believe Collectables 6111 (1998)

An inappropriately titled collection, given that this is by no means even meant to be a selection of the “very best” material recorded by The Swan Silvertones.  It actually is a reissue of It’s a Miracle (tracks 1-10) with two bonus tracks (11 and 12) from another (live) album added.  In that sense, people unfamiliar with the group looking for an broad introduction should steer clear of this.  Though there is no indication in the liner notes as to where any of this material originated, so naturally approaching this properly would be confusing.  Most confusingly, songs are renamed here compared to their original names, for no good reason.  The liner notes provide a history of the group, discussing the great Claude Jeter while failing to mention that he’s not featured here at all.  As for the music itself, things lean toward soul and even blues-rock in sound at times.  The last two tracks are live recordings from Walk With Me Lord.  Of those live tracks, “I Gave My Heart to the Lord” (better known to Swan Silvertones fans as “What About You”) is a bit too muddy in the recording to get excited about it, while “Walk With Jesus” is interesting in how its crazy, out of step guitar and piano pull you in and push you away at the same time.

The Swan Silvertones – Let Us All Go Back to the Old Landmark

Let Us All Go Back to the Old Landmark

The Swan Silvertones – Let Us All Go Back to the Old Landmark Savoy SL-14524 (1979)

An album with a funky R&B sound.  To my ears, some of this is reminiscent of Luther Vandross or other popular R&B and contemporary gospel of the day.  Some decent songs on side one, particularly “God Has Smiled on Me”, “Trying to Get Home” and the title track, but generally nothing else too memorable.  On the whole, unessential, but relatively speaking one of the group’s better albums for Savoy.

The Swan Silvertones – At the Cross

At the Cross

The Swan Silvertones – At the Cross Savoy 14440 (1977)

The Swan Silvertones’ debut album for Savoy Records At the Cross marked a transition to their autumn years.  The music carries forward elements of the sound of their tenure on HOB Records from a few years earlier, but also pushes to modernize the group’s sound at the same time.  This makes the group’s style troublesome, often tending toward the cartoonish.  It’s all too obvious they are trying hard to sound relevant to contemporary tastes, rather than just following their own muse.  One of the lesser Swan Silvertones albums.