Mein Kampf

Welcome to my Mein Kampf book summary!

I decided to read this book for two reasons. Firstly, I’ve become interested in reading books from the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries (See The Age of Innocence published in the 1920s about New York high society in the 1870s).

Secondly, I like to read the opposite take in line with current hot topics. Given the historical significance of Hilter, how often his name comes up, especially with Trump in the limelight again, and how hated the man is and, thus, how his story may be twisted, I decided to read Mein Kampf.

When men were vilified and toxic masculinity became a thing, I read The Myth of Male Power by Dr. Warren Farrell, a prior board member of the National Organization for Women.

When all of a sudden the USA was deemed the most racist country on the planet after being the opposite of my experince spending my first 29 years there and then traveling the world for five years, I read The Affirmative Action Hoax and the memoirs of Fredreck Douglass (black man enslaved in the USA in the 1800s) and James Riley (white man enslaved in Africa in the 1700s).

Mein Kampf is not an easy book to read, partly due to my limited historical knowledge of that period. Hitler is clearly not crazy. In fact, he seems to have thought deeply about everything he speaks on. He wouldn’t call himself racist, I don’t think, but maybe a culturist. He talks about some supeirod cultures and others infrioers.

“..the best nations, or, even more correctly, the only truly cultured races, the standard-bearers of all human progress, all too frequently resolve in their pacifistic blindness to renounce new acquisitions of soil and content themselves with ‘internal colonization’, while the inferior races know how to secure immense living areas in this world for themselves..” (p. 134)

First interesting thing to note is that Hitler wanted to be an artist, but his father wanted him to study to be a civil servant. Even though Hitler says he vehemently rejected his father’s wishes, I do believe things are imprinted on children and teens at a most profound level, affecting them for life.

One-Sentence-Summary: coming..

I’m currently reading Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler. Current page: 144/694

booboo real-time book rating: ★★★★☆ (percentage of books with this rating: 34%)

“To ‘learn’ history means to seek and find the forces which are the causes leading to those effects which we subsequently perceive as historical events.” (p. 14)

This blog will contain both my summary and review of the book Mein Kampf.

Thoughts on Unions

“The power of the employer concentrated in a single person can only be countered by the mass of employees banded into a single person.” (p. 47)

Thoughts on The Press and Newspapers

“..the newspapers in question did not enjoy an outstanding reputation.., I regarded them more as the products of anger and envy than the results of a principled, though perhaps mistaken, point of view.” (p. 52)

How did newspapers respond to criticism: “..what seemed to me even more praiseworthy, failed to mention them; in other words, simply killed them with silence.” (p. 53)

“..I could not help but be amazed at how short a time it took this great evil power [the press] within the state to create a certain opinion even where it meant totally falsifying profound desires and views which surely existed among the public.” (p. 85)

Hilter attributes the weaponization of the press as a “vile Jewish technique.” (p. 85)

I am often shocked by what I’m reading, and its accuracy and direct connection to how the media has treated President Trump and others in 2024. “..will poke into the most secret family affairs and not rest until his truffle-searching instinct digs up some miserable incident which is calculated to finish off the unfortunate victim. But if, after the most careful sniffing, absolutely nothing is found, either in the man’s public or private life, one of these scoundrels simply seizes on slander..” (p. 86)

World War 1

Why did WWI start? A politician was assassinated. Never, ever shall the people enter war due to any politician.

Terrifyingly interesting hearing the experience in World War 1 from the man who started WW2.

Notably, he was very much fighting for the ‘fatherland’ and was disguated at those who faked injuries or did not have motivation to fight.

Hitler had a dangerous job as a courier (many couriers were killed) and was seriously injured twice.

He was conscious through life and war, always thinking, thinking about the pamphlets and propaganda coming down from the other side. This allowed him to leapfrog his comrades and peers, filling in pieces of how the world worked and didn’t.

Other Quotes

“..the highest aim of human existence is not the preservation of a state, let alone a government, but the preservation of the species. And if the species itself is in danger of being oppressed or utterly eliminated, the question of legality is reduced to a subordinate role.” (p. 96) It seems to be that Hitler thought his German people were at risk or being forgotten and so his aim was to reverse this trend.

“How easy it is for a tyranny to cover itself with the cloak of so-called ‘legality’..” (p. 96) It is overwhelmingly accepted today that Hitler is a bad guy and did bad thing, but I have to be honest with myself: the man has insights. He was not crazy, not at least at the time of publishing this book. This quote is resoundingly true today as it seems to have been then. The government today makes everything illegal so that if/when they want to find you guilty of something, they can do so. Of course, if they can’t find anything, they’ll just make something up (ie Trump’s nonstop legal pursuit over the years from the government as soon as he got into politics) and if you’re on their side they’ll get 50 former intelligence officials to say the laptop if disinformation.

As I read the book, you will find my in-progress Mein Kampf review and book summary notes below.

You might be interested in some other controversial books I’ve read:

A book by a black slave in America.

A book by a white slave in Africa.

A book arguing against affirmative action.

A book on how men are the underprivileged class and not women.

A book about eliminating the income tax with a consumption tax.

The book written by Pablo Escobar’s only son.

A book about women’s sexual fantasies.

A book about picking up girls during the daytime to have sex.

A book for men about mostly psychological sexual techniques.

Some terms never stick in my head. Maxism is one. Let me give it another try. Maxism led to communism. But Marxism is another word for human society. There are always workers and a ruling class. There is always an uneven distribution of societal privilege and wealth. Always. So, what is Marxism? Or, are my assumptions what’s wrong? Send me a note.

You are reading my book review and summary by Adolf Hitler. Be sure to check out my digital bookshelf for 100+ book summaries.

“Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.” (p. 65) See, Religion is the Great Invention.

How many copies of Mein Kampf were sold when it was published?

About 10,000 books in 1924.

Did you know I’m an author? I wrote four books on real estate investing, travel, and language learning.

Thanks for visiting and thanks to Adolf Hitler for writing Mein Kampf!

Date Started: Monday, November 11, 2024

Date Finished: