A rather unusual article this one, as it seems to highlight a little discussed positive aspect of Nazism.
Nazis picking up on older concerns
The Nazis were not unique in their concern for producing healthier people.
Rather, consideration about the impacts of health on society arose with industrialisation, which brought with it health challenges, Dr Davis says.
“[The Nazis] picked up on concerns that were much older in society, going back to before the first world war, that urban society was polluted and unhealthy,” he says.
“It was leading to people living in cramped and horrible conditions.
“They were eating bad foods, they were consuming alcohol and tobacco, and this was actually resulting in physical damage to their bodies.”
He says this led to fears of “racial degeneration” — the idea that generations to come were being impacted by people’s poor health.
“There is a broader public health movement and concern with public health — so it’s less about the health of the individual and more about the health of the individual as a member of society, producing future generations of the society,” he says.
“That’s something that emerges in the early 1900s.”
In this period, he says, promotion of healthy eating isn’t restricted to Germany and isn’t always “a strongly racial idea”.
“Sometimes it’s much more about public health,” he says, something many doctors in different countries were concerned about.
There was “very big” concern in in Germany and central Europe, but also in the UK, Sweden and America, Dr Davis says.
“[It was] tied to the ideas of eugenics more generally, that you can make healthier people.”
Well. Who would have thought it, hey? Eat healthy and live longer and produce better offspring.
Did you know that already 30 years ago 1 in 3 Americans would die of cancer? And that statistic was related to environmental factors. A Japanese moving to America, after 5 years living there and eating American food, had statistically the same 1 in 3 chance; which he did not have living and eating as a Japanese in Japan.
Grow your own, wherever possible. And not with Monsanto Genetically Modified seeds.
The vegetarian propaganda is strong with this article. As it was with the NSDAP, as far as I know. It’s not actually healthier, it’s just a more sustainable situation when you have to import meat. Countries like the US have plenty of meat to go around, and they should be eating it as unprocessed and unvaccinated as they can get a hold of it.
Vegetarianism is certainly not healthy, you’re right. And right on the meat too.