Peter Rhodes on a scramble for bulbs, a new phone pole and the dangers of playing the Nazi card
Star columnist Peter Rhodes discusses the hottest topics from garden bulbs to Hitler's diet
Hitler was a vegetarian. Therefore, vegetarians are Nazis. Agreed? Of course not. The above is an example of what academics call Reductio ad Hitlerum, Latin for "reduction to Hitler," or playing the Nazi card.
Put simply, it means that if, for example, you're discussing modern politics and start dragging the Nazis into the debate, you've probably lost the argument. This was demonstrated by the Attorney General Lord Hermer who said that pressure for Britain to quit the European Court of Human Rights reminded him of 1930s Nazi Germany. To his credit, he quickly apologised.
Playing the Nazi card is a menace because it can diminish the evil of the Third Reich, as seen when people use the term “Nazi” to define anyone in authority they disagree with.
Places have their own adjectives. Soho is “vibrant,” Bath is “elegant,” Skegness is “bracing” and Polperro is “sleepy.” And it's almost impossible to mention Leamington Spa without using the word “genteel.” But there wasn't much gentility to be seen when the council held its first free garden-bulbs giveaway.
The rules were simple: first come, first served and only one bag of bulbs per person. As a parks official put it: “We expected that people will only take an amount that leaves enough for everybody else.” Fat chance. Some folk turned up with extra-large bags or shopping trolleys, some abused the gardens staff and some simply snatched growing bulbs from the soil. Faced with chaos, the council is “reviewing” future events. Which all goes to prove the old adage that if you make anything free, it will be abused.
One could make a case, for example, for charging for some NHS services which are currently free. (But that's just my inner SS stormtrooper speaking).
My conversion to BT's full-fibre broadband is not going quite as smoothly as the ads suggest. After one chap turned up with a too-short cable, another came and is arranging for a new telephone pole. I stressed to him the importance of putting the pole beside our drive, not in the middle of it. Oh, how we laughed. I'll keep you posted.
