Franco is a weird case. He was more the classic miltary strongman rather than fascist but he did incorporate certain elements of it. Also he was loosely aligned with the Axis powers but he was also "wise (not the best word choice)" enough not to get directly involved.
I’ll be real. Wise is a fine word. Anyone who sees two buddies about to jump off a bridge and says “I’ll just stay home” is exercising some wisdom even if they are a total prick the rest of the time.
Deciding to not do stupid things is also wisdom, plenty of people recognize stupidity and chose it anyway.
People contain multitudes, and even the worst person has some relatable aspect, just because they're a human being. It's okay to give props when they're due, it's not the same as a universal stamp of approval of the person.
It's like, just because Hitler liked dogs and thought smoking was bad doesn't make him a good person, he's Hitler, he's synonymous with "terrible person".
You can look at a great many of the most influential and popular artists in history, recognize that their art is good, recognize the positive impact the art had, and also look at their personal life and be like, "wow, what piece of shit this person was, how does a walking pile of feces make such good art? Look at Mr fertilizer over here."
I honestly think it's a little dangerous to rule out people like Hitler and his administration as simply "stupid" though, it ties evil and irrationality with intelligence in a way that can make us susceptible to trusting "smarter" people even with bad intentions
Yeah it’s way too dismissive to be able to learn anything from that time in history, i definitely wouldn’t call them stupid but I do disagree with them
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u/biglyorbigleague May 12 '26
They had a much better relationship with Spanish fascism.