“Every time an INFJ is born, the gods flip a coin, and the world holds its breath.”

[Krypton]

A Paper you might find interesting on this . Some atrocities are motivated by the logic of power too.

 

[meowzician]

A Paper you might find interesting on this . Some atrocities are motivated by the logic of power too.

Oh absolutely! No one in history killed more people than Stalin, and he was very a much a logic of power classic tyrant.

 

[TomasM]

A Paper you might find interesting on this . Some atrocities are motivated by the logic of power too.

Do you think you could put your finger on the true origin of distress/duress within Rwanda leading up to the genocidal activity? I would be interested in hearing your opinion on this.

 

[Akar]

Do you think you could put your finger on the true origin of distress/duress within Rwanda leading up to the genocidal activity? I would be interested in hearing your opinion on this.

I think Mao Zedong can also be linked with Stalin or Hitler or Mussolini or Franco or Ceausescu or other terrorists condemned by the Hague Court for disrespecting international rights. There have been so many dictators, and there are still some who kill poor innocent people in the name of a justice that only they understand. Personal opinion.
I mean when people kill kids, they are all on the same level for me.

-G

 

[meowzician]

Do you think you could put your finger on the true origin of distress/duress within Rwanda leading up to the genocidal activity? I would be interested in hearing your opinion on this.

I'm gonna try to do this from memory because I don't have the time today to research. I'm not saying this is the for sure reason. It is something I hold in my mind as a possibility.

I believe it is called the "Middleman Minority Theory."

What is a Middleman? A Middleman is someone whose career does not involve producing something. A farmer is not a Middleman. A carpenter is not a Middleman. The guy on the auto assembly line is not a Middleman. Rather a Middleman would be the one who makes loans, or a trader who ships products from one place to another.

When Middleman industries become dominated by an ethnic minority, that minority becomes vulnerable to vicious conspiracy theories, and the society seeks to get rid of them in some way or other, either by rendering them completely powerless politically. exiling them, or killing them. For example, Idi Amin expelled all the South Asians (whom he referred to as brown Jews) from Uganda. Other examples include the anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia, the Armenian genocide, and sheesh I just can't remember others, it was a very long very extensive list. I stumbled across this in one of my many efforts to try to get a handle on antisemitism.

Anyhow, the Rwandan genocide was one of the genocides listed that fit the Middleman Minority pattern.

 

[Akar]

I'm gonna try to do this from memory because I don't have the time today to research. I'm not saying this is the for sure reason. It is something I hold in my mind as a possibility.

I believe it is called the "Middleman Minority Theory."

What is a Middleman? A Middleman is someone whose career does not involve producing something. A farmer is not a Middleman. A carpenter is not a Middleman. The guy on the auto assembly line is not a Middleman. Rather a Middleman would be the one who makes loans, or a trader who ships products from one place to another.

When Middleman industries become dominated by an ethnic minority, that minority becomes vulnerable to vicious conspiracy theories, and the society seeks to get rid of them in some way or other, either by rendering them completely powerless politically. exiling them, or killing them. For example, Idi Amin expelled all the South Asians (whom he referred to as brown Jews) from Uganda. Other examples include the anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia, the Armenian genocide, and sheesh I just can't remember others, it was a very long very extensive list. I stumbled across this in one of my many efforts to try to get a handle on antisemitism.

Anyhow, the Rwandan genocide was one of the genocides listed that fit the Middleman Minority pattern.

Lol same topic.

For all the infjs reading, put this text in a.i.

Look at the results correlated to her previous posts

Rofl

Cheers

-Giammarco

 

[Akar]

Just to be cristal clear, for all the folks reading this forum from outside.

She is just playing a game. There are normal people here that don't follow her patterns.

If you're a NF you'll see the patterns. Overflowing the forum with a political agenda that has nothing to do with psychology or mbti

Prove me wrong @meowzician

Always same topics.

Btw, I have the screenshots, your behavior was predicted in March, a 2014 account started posting after being silent for over 12 years .

Please explain rofl




-Giammarco

 

[regrat]

Pope	Number	Date of Service	MBTI Type
Pope Leo XIV	267	2025–present	INFJ
Pope Francis	266	2013–2025	ESFJ / INFJ
Pope Benedict XVI	265	2005–2013	ISTJ / INFJ
Pope St. John Paul II	264	1978–2005	ENFJ
Pope John Paul I	263	1978 (33 days)	ISFJ
Pope Paul VI	262	1963–1978	INTP
Pope John XXIII	261	1958–1963	ENFP
Pope Pius XII	260	1939–1958	ISTJ
Pope Pius XI	259	1922–1939	ESTJ
Pope Benedict XV	258	1914–1922	ESFJ
Pope St. Pius X	257	1903–1914	ISTJ
Pope Leo XIII	256	1878–1903	INTP
Pope Pius IX	255	1846–1878	ISTJ
Pope Gregory XVI	254	1831–1846	ISTJ
Pope Pius VIII	253	1829–1830	—
Pope Leo XII	252	1823–1829	—
Pope Pius VII	251	1800–1823	INFP

If am very doubtful of labeling MBTI types to the people who didn't take the test.
For example, here we read that the Pope Pius X is INTJ- logician. But he was strongly against the science and put the pressure on the priests to stop the modernization.
And dictators named before- my understanding of INFJ people is that we are empaths, will never attack, but will use all power to protect people we love (INFJ- your best friend, your worst enemy )
I could only agree that Jesus was INFJ.

 

[Michi]

Interesting thread. I am quite idealistic myself and I can imagine that you could easily be idealistic about the wrong thing, e.g. killing Jews (like Hitler). I can imagine that Hitler was an INFJ who did the wrong thing because he believed he is doing the right thing. The same argument holds for people like Stalin. Jesus was idealistic about loving your neighbor (I hope this is correct, I am not a native English speaker), Martin Luther King about equal rights for black people and Hitler about killing Jews. There is obviously a difference, the first two are considered heroes by society while the last one is probably considered the worst criminal of all time (I am from Germany and I am not proud at all being from the same country where Hitler made these atrocities), but I do think that all three probably thought they are doing the right thing.

 

[meowzician]

Interesting thread. I am quite idealistic myself and I can imagine that you could easily be idealistic about the wrong thing, e.g. killing Jews (like Hitler). I can imagine that Hitler was an INFJ who did the wrong thing because he believed he is doing the right thing. The same argument holds for people like Stalin. Jesus was idealistic about loving your neighbor (I hope this is correct, I am not a native English speaker), Martin Luther King about equal rights for black people and Hitler about killing Jews. There is obviously a difference, the first two are considered heroes by society while the last one is probably considered the worst criminal of all time (I am from Germany and I am not proud at all being from the same country where Hitler made these atrocities), but I do think that all three probably thought they are doing the right thing.

Yes, exactly. And as Jew I want you to know that while I understand the German collective guilt (and maybe it's even necessary in order to avoid a repeat) I certainly hold you in no way responsible. I judge every individual by what they do, not by what their ancestors did. You'z good.

Ich spreche nur ein bisschen Deutsch. Es ist dem Jiddischen ähnlich. Sind hier auch andere sprachen als Englisch erlaubt? (I speak just a small bit of German. It is similar to Yiddish. Are languages other than English allowed in here?)

 

[Michi]

Yes, exactly. And as Jew I want you to know that while I understand the German collective guilt (and maybe it's even necessary in order to avoid a repeat) I certainly hold you in no way responsible. I judge every individual by what they do, not by what their ancestors did. You'z good.

Ich spreche nur ein bisschen Deutsch. Es ist dem Jiddischen ähnlich. Sind hier auch andere sprachen als Englisch erlaubt? (I speak just a small bit of German. It is similar to Yiddish. Are languages other than English allowed in here?)

Thank you very much for your reply and your kind words. I understand what many Jews feel about Germans. Even if most of the people that live in Germany today weren't born when Hitler killed Jews, it was still Germans who did these atrocities and I think Germans (and other countries as well) should always remember that and we have the responsibility that this never happens again. Interestingly after World War 2 people wanted to understand how it was possible that people did these evil things and they did some (now famous or infamous) psychological experiments, for example the Milgram experiment or the Stanford Prison Experiment. Unfortunately they found that people are quite susceptible to listen to authorities and do all kinds of atrocities if someone tells them to do so.

I did not know that Yiddish is so similar to German. I am really bad at learning languages, but I am no longer in high school and nobody cares how long I need to learn a language. Actually I think learning the basics of Yiddish would be a good idea and I guess it isn't too hard for someone speaking German.

I also have never been to Israel, but my grandparents have been to Jerusalem. Some of my favorite people come from Jewish families, like Einstein or Richard Feynman. My personal hero is Viktor Frankl who is also from a Jewish familiy (and people think he is an INFJ as well). He wrote Man's search for meaning, which is my favorite book. I think it is actually a good idea to spend some time in Jerusalem and see the historic sites there. I also like seeing historic sites, thus it would be really interesting for me to go there.

 

[meowzician]

I did not know that Yiddish is so similar to German.

Yiddish is Old German mixed with Hebrew. It’s because of the migration of the Ashkenazim. When they first left Judea, they settled a while in northern Italy. From there they went to what today is Germany, where they picked up Old German. The Hebrew name for that territory was Ashkenaz, and Ashkenazi basically means a Jew from Germany. From there they went to Eastern Europe, and of course the pogroms led to the mass emigration. Most ended up at Ellis Island and that's why so many Yiddish words have been adopted into English.

German: danke schön
Yiddish: a sheynem dank
German: eins zwei drei
Yiddish: eyns tsvey dray
German: Ich gehe morgen mit meinem guten Freund in die große Stadt, weil ich dort ein schönes Konzert hören will.
Yiddish:
Yiddish: Ikh gey morgn mit mayn gutn fraynd in di groyse shtot, vayl ikh dort a sheynem koncert hern vil.

I am really bad at learning languages, but I am no longer in high school and nobody cares how long I need to learn a language. Actually I think learning the basics of Yiddish would be a good idea and I guess it isn't too hard for someone speaking German.

Learning languages is not my forte either. I’ve been Jewish for 15 year, and let me tell you I have tried and tried to take classes and my Hebrew is still very bad. In the end, it is choir where I’ve learned my Hebrew. I’m singing a solo for Yom Kippur afternoon called Sim Shalom, and yesterday I realized for the first time, Hey, I know about half the specific words, not just a general idea.

I also have never been to Israel, but my grandparents have been to Jerusalem. ... I think it is actually a good idea to spend some time in Jerusalem and see the historic sites there. I also like seeing historic sites, thus it would be really interesting for me to go there.

You have no idea how much I long to go to Israel. I have savings which are for my old age, but I’ve decided the next trip Rabbi plans, I’m going.

Some of my favorite people come from Jewish families, like Einstein or Richard Feynman. My personal hero is Viktor Frankl who is also from a Jewish familiy (and people think he is an INFJ as well). He wrote Man's search for meaning, which is my favorite book.

May I share with you how Viktor Frankl personally impacted my life?

Because of my bipolar disorder, I’ve had therapy most of my life. My first therapist was Jewish, although I didn’t realize it at the time.

One day I asked him if he thought music would help with my depression (we didn’t realize at that time just how true that intuition was). He said yes, but stick with Baroque and Classical because they are the most structured. I protested that I had to have the Romantics, had to have Tchaikovsky. I went into this long INFJ spiel about the good and true and beautiful and some things being worth dying for.

He looked at me like he was seeing me for the first time and said, “Try Rachmaninov Piano Concerto #2.” (That’s now my all time favorite.) After that he completely changed the type of therapy he did with me. He had me read Martin Buber and Elie Wiesel and we even read Viktor Frankl together. He was doing what is called Logotherapy with me, the very therapy that Viktor Frankl designed.

I'm so deeply indebted to them both. They gave me the tools to turn my pain into something beautiful.

 

[Michi]

Thanks for your answer!

German: danke schön
Yiddish: a sheynem dank
German: eins zwei drei
Yiddish: eyns tsvey dray
German: Ich gehe morgen mit meinem guten Freund in die große Stadt, weil ich dort ein schönes Konzert hören will.
Yiddish: Ikh gey morgn mit mayn gutn fraynd in di groyse shtot, vayl ikh dort a sheynem koncert hern vil.

Interesting. I don't speak any Yiddish but I can grasp the meaning of it by reading it. It is not German, but it is kind of similar.

You have no idea how much I long to go to Israel. I have savings which are for my old age, but I’ve decided the next trip Rabbi plans, I’m going.

If you would go to Jerusalem, what would you like to see? Where are you living now?

May I share with you how Viktor Frankl personally impacted my life?

Because of my bipolar disorder, I’ve had therapy mot of my life. My first therapist was Jewish, although I didn’t realize it at the time.

One day I asked him if he thought music would help with my depression (we didn’t realize at that time just how true that intuition was). He said yes, but stick with Baroque and Classical because they are the most structured. I protested that I had to have the Romantics, had to have Tchaikovsky. I went into this long INFJ spiel abut the good and true and beautiful and some things being worth dying for.

He looked at me like he was seeing my for the first time and said, “Try Rachmaninov Piano Concerto #2.” (That’s now my all time favorite.) After that he completely changed the type of therapy he did with me. He had me read Martin Buber and Elle Wiesel. We read Viktor Frankl together. He was doing what is called Logotherapy with me, the very therapy that Viktor Frankl designed.

So deeply indebted to them both. They gave me the tools to turn my pain into something beautiful.

The German version of Man's Search For Meaning has a chapter about Logotherapy in the appendix. I never read it, but maybe I should. What do you like about Logotherapy?

I heard about Martin Buber and Ellie Wiesel and wanted to read their books (unfortunately I forgot about it). I just saw that Bubers "I and Thou" has 120 pages and Wiesels The Night has 192 pages, it is not unrealistic to read these books. Maybe I should. Have you read these books?

My favorite classical piece is Beethoven's 5. piano concert (do you know that?), but I do know and like Rachmaninov.

 

[meowzician]

If you would go to Jerusalem, what would you like to see? Where are you living now?

Oh, my gosh, you realize there are too many to list, and that's just Jerusalem.

Top of the list--the Kotel. For those who are unfamiliar with this word, it refers to the Western Wall--only portion of the Second Temple that was not destroyed. It is arguably the most holy site in the world for Jews. People pray there using prayer books and inserting small pieces of paper with their prayers into the cracks of the wall. Although I've never been there, my brother used to go every summer and I would write my prayers for him to leave there.

Next--definitely the Temple Mount. This is where the inside of the Second Temple was located, including the Holy of Holies, and is deeply sacred to us. I know it is controversial, but I would definitely try to pray there even if I got into trouble. I think it's absolutely nuts that Jews are forbidden to pray there--that's gotta change. A lot of Jews threw caution to the wind and prayed there anyhow on Tisha B'av (the day that recalls the destruction of both Temples).

Still close in great importance would be Yad Vashem. This is the Holocaust memorial for all the victims as well as for the righteous Gentiles who risked their lives to save Jews. It would definitely include seeing the commemorations for Anne Frank and Oskar Schindler.

There is just no way I would ever visit Jerusalem without spending Shabbat there. I would most likely go to the Great Synagogue.

Although the next two places are NOT in Jerusalem, they are both extremely important to me: Masada, and the tombs of the Patriarchs.

The German version of Man's Search For Meaning has a chapter about Logotherapy in the appendix. I never read it, but maybe I should. What do you like about Logotherapy?

Although it was emotionally and intellectually intense, it was deeply meaningful. I felt validated because it it treated me as a person rather than a collection of symptoms.

I heard about Martin Buber and Ellie Wiesel and wanted to read their books (unfortunately I forgot about it). I just saw that Bubers "I and Thou" has 120 pages and Wiesels The Night has 192 pages, it is not unrealistic to read these books. Maybe I should. Have you read these books?

Yes, LOL, that's what I was saying in my last post. They are wonderful. In 40 years of therapy every therapist I've had has tried too get me to talk about what happened, and I never have. But this one, my Jewish therapist, he gave me the language to talk about it without talking about it. As we would discuss the books, he knew very well that what I was really talking about was me. No other therapist I ever had was as insightful.

You don't have to have Bipolar Disorder to be moved in a major way by these books. You will never regret reading them.

My favorite classical piece is Beethoven's 5. piano concert (do you know that?), but I do know and like Rachmaninov.

Oh, who DOESN'T know Beethoven's 5th? LOL. Try this one. I think you will love it.

 

[Michi]

Oh, my gosh, you realize there are too many to list, and that's just Jerusalem.

Top of the list--the Kotel. For those who are unfamiliar with this word, it refers to the Western Wall--only portion of the Second Temple that was not destroyed. It is arguably the most holy site in the world for Jews. People pray there using prayer books and inserting small pieces of paper with their prayers into the cracks of the wall. Although I've never been there, my brother used to go every summer and I would write my prayers for him to leave there.

Next--definitely the Temple Mount. This is where the inside of the Second Temple was located, including the Holy of Holies, and is deeply sacred to us. I know it is controversial, but I would definitely try to pray there even if I got into trouble. I think it's absolutely nuts that Jews are forbidden to pray there--that's gotta change. A lot of Jews threw caution to the wind and prayed there anyhow on Tisha B'av (the day that recalls the destruction of both Temples).

Still close in great importance would be Yad Vashem. This is the Holocaust memorial for all the victims as well as for the righteous Gentiles who risked their lives to save Jews. It would definitely include seeing the commemorations for Anne Frank and Oskar Schindler.

There is just no way I would ever visit Jerusalem without spending Shabbat there. I would most likely go to the Great Synagogue.

Although the next two places are NOT in Jerusalem, they are both extremely important to me: Masada, and the tombs of the Patriarchs.



Although it was emotionally and intellectually intense, it was deeply meaningful. I felt validated because it it treated me as a person rather than a collection of symptoms.

Yes, LOL, that's what I was saying in my last post. They are wonderful. In 40 years of therapy every therapist I've had has tried too get me to talk about what happened, and I never have. But this one, my Jewish therapist, he gave me the language to talk about it without talking about it. As we would discuss the books, he knew very well that what I was really talking about was me. No other therapist I ever had was as insightful.

You don't have to have Bipolar Disorder to be moved in a major way by these books. You will never regret reading them.

Oh, who DOESN'T know Beethoven's 5th? LOL. Try this one. I think you will love it.

Thanks for the reply.

My grandparents have been to the Klagemauer (ChatGP tells me the word Klagemauer is not used commonly anymore it is now called westliche Wand / western Wall.

They have also been to the Temple Mount. I used to be Catholic and it is also holy for Christianity. I didn't know that Jews were not allowed to pray there. I read somewhere that the Temple Mount was at some point Islamic (I think it is holy for Islam as well). I am quite spiritual but I think not in a classical religious sense.

I would like to see Lake Genezareth (I think it is called something else, it is the raw German translation and Nazareth). I just saw that there is a bus and it needs about two hours from Jerusalem, thus it would be quite reasonable to go there.

I never heard about Yad Vashem, but I definitely would like to see it. I have been to the concentration camp memorial site in Dachau several times and I read the Diary of Anne Frank several times and I also saw Schindler's List.

I studied physics and worked as a programmer. Most people were simply not interested in classical music. My parents and brothers were also not interested in classical music. I guess Beethoven is one of the most famous classical composers and he is from Germany. I guess even if you are not much into classical music you know him. It is funny that I grew up close to Salzburg and saw Mozart's birth house as a small kid. I guess they later all moved to Vienna which was kind of the center of classical music (I think).

 

[meowzician]

Thanks for the reply.

My grandparents have been to the Klagemauer (ChatGP tells me the word Klagemauer is not used commonly anymore it is now called westliche Wand / western Wall.

Klagemauer--I suspect the English phrase I used to hear when I was young was "Wailing Wall." Klage means complaint/lament, right?

They have also been to the Temple Mount. I used to be Catholic and it is also holy for Christianity. I didn't know that Jews were not allowed to pray there.

Christians are not allowed to pray there either. The difference is that many Christians simply compose their own spontaneous prayers rather than use a prayer book. So while a Jewish prayer book is easy to spot, moving lips can mean anything. Legally, however, only Muslims are allowed to pray there.

I read somewhere that the Temple Mount was at some point Islamic (I think it is holy for Islam as well). I am quite spiritual but I think not in a classical religious sense.

Jerusalem became Christianized during Constantine's 4th century reign, and then was later conquered by the Muslims in the 7th century CE.

It is controversial for me to say this but based on the GREAT similarity between the Dome of the Rock now there and Byzantine churches (how often do you see an octagonal design and central dome?), a compelling argument is made by a minority of scholars that the Dome of the Rock was originally a Christian church (the rock being placed where the Holy of Holies once was), and that it was simply stolen from Christians during the Muslim invasion.

I would like to see Lake Genezareth (I think it is called something else, it is the raw German translation and Nazareth). I just saw that there is a bus and it needs about two hours from Jerusalem, thus it would be quite reasonable to go there.

The western label is the Sea of Galilee. The town I picked out for my possible relocation to Israel is very near there, only about 20-25 miles away.

I never heard about Yad Vashem, but I definitely would like to see it. I have been to the concentration camp memorial site in Dachau several times and I read the Diary of Anne Frank several times and I also saw Schindler's List.

My congregation has a gifted violinist who plays the theme from Schindler's List every year on Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day).

I studied physics and worked as a programmer. Most people were simply not interested in classical music. My parents and brothers were also not interested in classical music. I guess Beethoven is one of the most famous classical composers and he is from Germany. I guess even if you are not much into classical music you know him. It is funny that I grew up close to Salzburg and saw Mozart's birth house as a small kid. I guess they later all moved to Vienna which was kind of the center of classical music (I think).

I'm jealous that you saw Mozart's boyhood home. He has been the favorite of both my children ever since we watched the movie "Amadeus" back in the nineties. They even named our cat 'Wolfie." It was one of the highlights' of my daughter's life when her choir sang Mozart's Requiem. If you haven't watched that movie, DO!

Germany has quite an extensive list of composers stretching way back. Bach, Beethoven, Wagner, Brahms, Schumann, Mendelssohn (technically Jewish, so wasn't sure whether to include), Strauss... and more. And if you include ethnic Germans living outside Germany, you can include Mozart, Schubert, and Handel.

I would bet money that you DO know ALL of these songs. I think you will be shocked how much you have picked up just from TV commercials and movies.

Bach Toccata and Fugue in Dm (everyone associates it with vampires for some reason)

Wagner Ride of the Valkyries (strong social taboo in Israel)

Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 5 (This was my absolute favorite song when I was seven)

Schumann Träumerei

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto 1st movement, especially the Allegro at the beginning and (can't resist) you must also fast forward to 21:00 for the Allegretto

Strauss The Beautiful Blue Danube (theme starts at 1:20)

Handel Hallelujah Chorus (From the Messiah)

Mozart Eine Kleine Nachtmusic

Schubert's Unfinished Symphony (main theme begins 1:45 in)

 

[Michi]

Klagemauer--I suspect the English phrase I used to hear when I was young was "Wailing Wall." Klage means complaint/lament, right?

Yes, I think wailing wall is right. Yes, I think Klage means complaint / lament, but I think in this context wailling is more appropriate.

Christians are not allowed to pray there either. The difference is that many Christians simply compose their own spontaneous prayers rather than use a prayer book. So while a Jewish prayer book is easy to spot, moving lips can mean anything. Legally, however, only Muslims are allowed to pray there.

This is really sad. I guess Muslims are not gaining anything by not allowing Jews / Christians to pray there.

The western label is the Sea of Galilee. The town I picked out for my possible relocation to Israel is very near there, only about 20-25 miles away.

Yes I think this was what Google Maps was calling it. I think Jesus lived there, I guess it is an important place for Christianity. Like I said I am not religious in a classic sense, but I like historic places and I would definitely like to see it.

I'm jealous that you saw Mozart's boyhood home. He has been the favorite of both my children ever since we watched the movie "Amadeus" back in the nineties. They even named our cat 'Wolfie." It was one of the highlights' of my daughter's life when her choir sang Mozart's Requiem. If you haven't watched that movie, DO!

I guess then I shouldn't tell you that I decided to go to Salzburg on Sunday and to visit Mozarts birthhouse which I hadn't seen for more than 40 years...

I have not seen Amadeus, but I bought it and plan to watch it tonight. I guess it is a good idea to watch it before going to Mozarts birthhouse.

Germany has quite an extensive list of composers stretching way back. Bach, Beethoven, Wagner, Brahms, Schumann, Mendelssohn (technically Jewish, so wasn't sure whether to include), Strauss... and more. And if you include ethnic Germans living outside Germany, you can include Mozart, Schubert, and Handel.

I guess I know most of the composers. Actually I really like Bachs well tempered piano.

Also I heard "An der schönen Donau" before. I think there is also the Kaiserwalzer and the Schneewalzer. Actally the empress Sisi spent her childhood not far from my place. I went there a few months ago, took photos and put them on my blog: https://lichtgezaubert.de/blog/possenhofen/ The castle where she spent her childhood does not exist anymore, thats apartments now, but you can still watch the building. In the video they are even dressed like Sisi and Franz (or what I imagined they were dressed). Here is the German wikipedia page of Sisi: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_von_Österreich I guess the picture is quite similar to what one of the woman is dressed in the video.

I also have seen this one: https://www.schlosslinderhof.de/deutsch/grotte/index.htm It is below the castle Linderhof, I think the king Ludwig was a big fan of Wagner. I am thinking maybe I should go to this one at some point: https://www.bayreuther-festspiele.de/ I think the perform mostly Wager (maybe only Wagner).

I saw the magic flute when I was a kid.

I also have been to Vienna 30 years ago and plan to go there again. I never saw Schönbrunn, I definitely want to see it.

 

[Chemist]

“Every time an INFJ is born, the gods flip a coin, and the world holds its breath.”

When we think about the many dictators in world history, we see a certain pattern. What they desire is power. They desire it so much that they will seize it. Their focus is on keeping or even expanding that power. They often have a paranoia that those close to them are competitors, and they will purge their inner circle a la Stalin. And they have a strong will to survive. Think of how Saddam Hussein was found in that rat hole. I’m going to give this pattern a name—the logic of power.

But not every tyrant falls into the usual pattern. I hear you saying, “Well, of course. I mean, not every dictator is going to follow the pattern on every single point.” But what if there were a monster who was different on EVERY point? That when we view him through the lens of the logic of power, he makes no sense? He seems mad?

Hitler did not come into power through any coup d’etat but was democratically elected. While he did conduct one purge (Night of the Long Knives), it was not out of paranoia or a sense of competition. Rather it was a highly pragmatic decision that enabled him to gain efficient control of the army. The truth is that the same men he worked with in the 1920s, Goebbels, Göring, Hess and others, were still with him right up until his death. And of course, he committed suicide.

The one thing about Hitler that has always baffled historians is that he made really stupid strategic errors. As the tide turned against Germany, instead of diverting resources from the Final Solution to fund the war, he did the very opposite. The trains desperately needed to transport soldiers to the front were monopolized by the SS to transport Jews to the death camps. The worse the war went, the more effort he focused the Final Solution. In the last hours before Germany fell, the slaughter of Jews rose to a frantic, feverish pitch. Why?

It is because Hitler didn’t follow the logic of power. He followed the logic of idealism. Simply put, Hitler’s focus was not Hitler. Hitler’s focus was the MISSION.

Most tyrants will find a scapegoat, a disliked group whose influence he can exaggerate, a convenient “enemy” whose sole purpose it is to help him consolidate power, whether it is Trotskyists or “immigrants from shit countries.” It is so common, that most people simply assume that this is what Hitler was doing.

That would be a mistake. Hitler was a true believer. He was completely convinced of the pseudoscience of race and absolutely believed that the Jews were a dangerous scourge, indeed that Jews were the most dangerous threat on the entire planet.

Unlike most dictators who are narcissists and psychopaths, Hitler was a true idealist. Just as he had compassion for animals (he was a vegetarian), he had enormous compassion for the German people, who had suffered unimaginably under the Weimar republic. In his mind, the only reason Germany lost WW1 was the betrayal of Jews.

For the record, Germany’s Jews were almost completely assimilated. They thought of themselves as Germans first and Jews second, and they were extraordinarily patriotic. A larger percentage of German Jews enlisted during WW1 than the percentage of ethnic Germans who enlisted.

But the antisemitic trope that Jews are disloyal predated the 20th century. Many Germans, including Hitler, couldn’t believe that Germany had lost the war militarily. They couldn’t imagine the German army being defeated on the battlefield. That’s fertile ground for a conspiracy theory. And the Jews? Given their already existing and unearned reputation for being disloyal, the Jews (along with the communists) became the convenient “stab in the back” explanation.

When you take an INFJ, and you destroy their moral compass with something like the Dolchstoßlegende, you create a monster.

As INFJ’s, it is so easy for us to see our connection to Martin Luther King Jr and Mahatma Gandhi, to Jesus and Buddha. It is deeply disturbing to realize than in our ranks are also Osama bin Laden, Robespierre, and… Hitler. And if you think that is hard on you, keep in mind that I am not just INFJ. I’m also a Jew. Use that INFJ empathy to try and imagine the horror I feel. I need you to, because this is just something I’ll never be able to put into words.

Two weeks ago, I sat down with my granddaughter and her father, and we had the antisemitism talk. As conversations tend to meander, ours touched on my idealism. My granddaughter knows who I am. She knows it is my intent to fight back, and she is worried that I may end up hurt, or even dead. I looked at her and said, “I have no intention of dying. I plan to do everything I can to stay alive. But if it comes down to that, Bubbelah, if I’m killed, it’s okay. It’s okay. There are some things worth dying for.”

Now, compare that to a YouTube video I watched yesterday of an informal interview with a Hezbollah terrorist. The most chilling thing about that interview was not that he wanted me (and all Jews) dead, although, yeah, that was hard to handle. The most chilling thing was that he believed his mission was worth dying for.

“Every time an INFJ is born, the gods flip a coin, and the world holds its breath.”

It didn't hold it's breath long enough for my tastes.