Who has the oldest MB on the forum?

[t walgamuth]

my father was a deeply moral man.

i inherited an english copy of "mein kampf" from my MIL when my FIL passed. it is a copy that he redeived as a gift in 1937. i suppose in 37 hitler was just another dictator to most folks.

i showed it to my dad and suggested it was probably valuable. he just said "if it were mine, i would destroy it". he didn't like even having it around because of the poison in it. and he didn't like the idea that i would make money from selling it. blood money.

i still have it though. i probably will never sell it though.

thanks for sharing your thoughts on naziism.

tom w

[michaeld]

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

thanks for sharing your thoughts on naziism.
tom w

T walgamuth,
I appreciate your comment. I'm glad at least one person was interested to read it, as opposed to thinking, "Why is this jerk spouting off like that on a car forum?"

I understand your father's impulse, but I agree with you: DO NOT DESTROY THAT BOOK!

Ideas have consequences. That is what we learn from the Nazi experiment. It didn't just happen because Hitler was an evil lunatic; an entire nation embraced him. And you would be flabbergasted to learn that a huge chunk of the world's intelligentsia at the time were in favor of the fascist agenda (men like Martin Heidegger, Ezra Pound, Paul De Man, D.H Lawrence, W.B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, T.S. Elliot, and figures from psychology such as Carl Jung. And of course, Margaret Sanger, the beloved founder of Planned Parenthood). A ton of the avant-garde intellectuals admired the fascists in the 1930s.

Now many (but not all!) of these people repudiated Nazism when they saw the horror that came out of it. They simply had no clue that when one throws out all of Judeo-Christianity and it's accompanying Western Civ, that the thing that replaced it might go bad.

What most people don't realize today is that the tenants of postmodernism - which dominate our universities today - are INDENTICAL to the tenants of fascism. The liberal postmodernists don't want to unleash the horrors of Nazism all over again, but just don't get the fact that the basis of their unexamined moral assumptions are demolished by their postmodernism.

The fascists took those assumptions and simply ran with them to their logical conclusions. If individual autonomy is simply an illusion, then everyone should find their indentity in the communal state. If society shapes the individual, then let it fully do so, and replace personal liberty with propaganda and societal controls. If power underlies all social institutions, then let it completely exercise its power without pretenses. If race and ethnicity are determining values, then ideas should be evaluated on the basis of racial and ethnic terms. If societies are intrinsically racist, with one group oppressing the others by means of their will to power, then let society pursue a racist agenda in order to protect "our" ethnic group in this power struggle by oppressing the others.

Every one of the "Ifs" I began with is a tenant of the postmodernism embraced by the intelligentsia of today. I'm not worried about the current thought, but with what will follow. Once the postmodernists have successfully discredited objectivity, freedom, and morality, what will follow?

The Nazis had a slogan, "Lebens und vertes leben," i.e. "A life not worthy to be lived," that resulted in the deaths of millions and millions of human beings. Let me just say one word: abortion.

That slogan didn't materialize with Hitler, but in the universities. Men like Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Julius Wellhausen, Sigmund Freud - and the entire German intellectual movement - shaped it and refined it until its natural implications were free to explode in a sadistic orgy of violence. None of those guys wanted mass murder, but it came as a direct result of their view of the world gaining ascendancy in one powerful nation.

In order to destroy an idea, we must understand it and know WHY it is wrong. We must understand the presuppositions that shaped it and gave it credibility.

Hitler told us what he would do, and then he went out and did it. The world needs that record. Whether you sell your copy of Mein Kamph (and hope that some library or scholar rather than some Neo-Nazi buys it) or hold on to it, it is a historic record of an idea that today needs to be confronted all over again.

Few people realize it, but the source of much of the world's history of thought was protected from destruction by the Church. The Church protected volumes containing ideas that it detested, simply so it could argue against those ideas and prevail in the world of thought.

I'm sorry. I'm on a MBz forum. I keep forgetting I'm not in a lecture hall! I guess that's why I've got a soapbox instead of a lectern!

On a P.S. to my previous post, I would like to let everyone know that, while I am not Muslim - and would gladly argue theology with any Muslim who wanted to debate with me - I am not attacking Islam. I was commenting on this growing breed of fascistic Islamicists who are increasingly hijacking one of the great religious traditions of the world by means of demagoguery, propaganda, and violence. I would join with any Muslim who would stand up to oppose this incipient and growing hatred, and offer my sincere admiration and appreciation of those few Muslims who are doing so today. They face isolation and even death by speaking their minds, and their courage is magnificent.
Mike

[rmasteller]

Originally Posted by Dan Rotigel

Having an old benz is neat, making it your daily driver is even better.

Who has the oldest daily driver on the board?

I drive my '66 230SL when ever I can. It has nothing to do with Nazis.

Michael, leave Chuck D. and Karl M. out of the 'german intellectual movement.' Besides, most postmodernists that I know can't even dress themselves, must less make the trains run on time. If you continue along this thread, lets take it to the open discussion.

cheers,
dan r.

[michaeld]

Dan,
Your point is well said. There is a time and place for everything. If anyone would like to continue discussing fascism, they may PM me.

We may pick up with rmasteller's statement: these old cars - and our enjoyment of them - have nothing to do with the Nazis.

One the original topic of this threads, let's see some pics of these old Benzes!

T-

It looks like Tomguy has censored all the posts having to do with the attack. Check wikipedia for botnets or bots, I was probably a little loose in my jargon-this attack wasn't as automated as a normal botnet.

Tomguy,

The conversation about bots was innocent and informative. Why the sudden post censoring?

cheers,
Dan R.

[georgel]

I am currently fixing up a 64 pintail. just like the one on the trailer. My sons car is a 190C. We have it running. No mean feat. But it still needs a few things. Windshield wipers A necessity in western Wash. state. . Timing chain sounds loose. A couple of lights. etc. Getting close.

[strelnik]

Originally Posted by Chuckl

I just found this site. Pictures soon of my 38. The car got bounced out a car museum about 5 years ago. Looked good but a lot of the mechanicals failed from poor work over the years. I have rebuilt the engine and brakes and reconditioned the radiator, top mechanism, gas tank and rear end. Not to mention a few thousand other small items! Chuck

You may want to talk to the guys at http://www.170220.com, which is a great specialized forum. Strictly cars and car stuff, though.

[wolf_walker]

It may not sound too impressive in present company, but I for one can't believe I'm driving a 36 year old Mercedes daily, with points, the original ignition box, what I swear are the original hoses, and a carb, in 2009..

Most days I love it.
And talking junk to the Porsche guys that are well into
a second engine and everything else with less mileage is priceless
at work.

[strelnik]

Originally Posted by 300SDog

MB refuses to publicly release the original ownership info too.

I retracted this message to end this thread. I read the middle portion. Nuff said,got my answer.

[chasinthesun]

Revisiting old threads and this one caught my eye .Any new additions to yeh olde car achive.Just wanted to mention a newly aquired car a landscaper friend of mine recently purchased , a nice 1959 220s in clean shape with a red paint job, he paid $9000. for it and asked my if it was a good deal . Any replies would be appriciateed.

[sokoloff]

If your friend's 220S is reasonably rust free and in decent driving shape, $9000 isn't too bad. I suggest he join our ponton discussion group. We've got over 800 owners there with a great deal of knowledge. A link to it is on this page - www.mbzponton.org

[daw_two]

Originally Posted by sokoloff

If your friend's 220S is reasonably rust free and in decent driving shape, $9000 isn't too bad. I suggest he join our ponton discussion group. We've got over 800 owners there with a great deal of knowledge. A link to it is on this page - www.mbzponton.org

You say that now......and now, it motivates me to try to "re-do" that ponton that I found .....that's been in the garage for 20+ years without an engine and transmission.

UGH <--- this is myself having a debate about the ponton .

[Necrosavant]

Originally Posted by daw_two

You say that now......and now, it motivates me to try to "re-do" that ponton that I found .....that's been in the garage for 20+ years without an engine and transmission.

UGH <--- this is myself having a debate about the ponton .

I will take it on

[daw_two]

Originally Posted by Necrosavant

I will take it on

Prehaps we should discuss......would you want to buy it from me if its too much for me to handle? I have a beeline on a suitable engine and transmission donor.