69 million page views

Should people even want to be normal?

Reader comment on item: Erdoğan's Self-Indulgence
in response to reader comment: NO psychoanalysis of any SS and War criminal but outdated psychiatrical stubborn concepts of diagnosis

Submitted by Michael S (United States), Jun 15, 2016 at 05:25

Hi, Borek. You said,

"But do YOU consider an Industrialist like H.Ford as a "normal man" when reading his performances in politics and antisemitic delirium?"

I don't think most thinking people would think of Henry Ford Sr. as a "normal" person. He was exceptional in so many ways; his thousands of workers could be considered "normal", but definitely not him.

This brings up the question, of whether we should really want people to be normal. Which would you rather have, after all? A country full of Henry Fords? Or a country full of his workers. In the first case, you would have a land full of exceedingly talented people, possessed of inflated egos; in the second, you would have a country full of potentially hard-working people who would unfortunately be out of work.

On a Jewish website, or in Jewish company, it's very hard to talk about Nazis, or about Nazi sympathizers, in less than monstrous terms. Considering another not-too-dissimilar group, it's really counter-productive to talk to a Vietnam vet about the merits and demerits of the Vietnam War. In both cases, a group-shared post-traumatic stress has happened. Even today, there are possibly some Jewish people who have been so wounded by the Holocaust, they cannot properly function.

I don't doubt that Henry Ford considered himself not only "normal", but the very poster child of what "normality" should be. But he was a peculiar fellow. He changed the very world he lived in so much, that he felt a forgotten stranger in it. He longed for an America with the rustic, pioneering values of the American farmer he and his family once were. He spent his free time cutting hay with a scythe, while his factories replaced millions of horses with machines. He was also idolized by the masses, and visited by Presidents. Would it even be possible for such a person to be "normal"?

I think it's foolish, for people to try to become, much less make others become, "normal". It is far, far more profitable to all, to learn what is Godly; and to pray to become that.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Submit a comment on this item

Reader comments (16) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
What timing on this article [9 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Tipper SnoreAug 18, 2016 11:11231483
Questions regarding NATO and Turkey [52 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Stu FaginMay 28, 2016 19:10229713
2Daniel Pipes, and the anti-Israel Trans-national movement [731 words]Michael SMay 22, 2016 16:21229584
States of Pre-Mental-illness largely represented amongst general population but mostly ignored [228 words]BorekMay 22, 2016 08:18229577
Narcisists, Megalomaniacs and other Demoniacs [166 words]Michael SJun 7, 2016 16:10229577
NO psychoanalysis of any SS and War criminal but outdated psychiatrical stubborn concepts of diagnosis [164 words]BorekJun 12, 2016 17:55229577
Should people even want to be normal? [350 words]Michael SJun 15, 2016 05:25229577
Michael you are right, but [170 words]jakeJun 18, 2016 02:51229577
1There is hope [1163 words]Michael SJun 19, 2016 22:24229577
Wishfull thinking Blablabla [81 words]jakeJun 23, 2016 01:59229577
Maigret and the Bible [133 words]Michael SJun 26, 2016 05:37229577
Whatever Happened To Turkey's Military? [60 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
DaveMay 20, 2016 20:04229550
Israel should wake up to the danger of a Turkish attack [457 words]Michael SMay 23, 2016 17:05229550
Have More Confidence In The Turkish Military [108 words]DaveMay 26, 2016 10:14229550
Morsi, Erdogan, Antiochus and Gog [607 words]Michael SMay 31, 2016 16:52229550
What is happening to Turkey's Military [36 words]Michael SJun 5, 2016 06:29229550

Comment on this item

Mark my comment as a response to Should people even want to be normal? by Michael S

Email me if someone replies to my comment

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

See recent outstanding comments.

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)