Indian Students Learning Business from Hitler

by eastvanray | May 9, 2009 at 02:05 pm

391 views | 58 Recommendations | 13 comments

WTF is going on with students in India? Hitler as a role model? Jeez, what's next the Stalin School of Agriculture and the Pol Pot School of population control?

Adolf Hitler is seen as a management guru by business students who are lapping up the Nazi dictator's autobiography 'Mein Kampf' for inspiration, a news report has said.

The Nazi leader's autobiography is flying off the shelves at Indian book stores as some students regard the former dictator as a business strategy role model, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Booksellers told the British daily that while it is looked upon in most countries as a 'Nazi Bible', in India it is considered a management guide in the mould of Spencer Johnson's "Who Moved My Cheese".

Sales of the book over the last six months topped 10,000 in the Indian capital alone, according to leading stores, who said it appeared to be becoming more popular with every year, the report said.

According to some book sellers, the surge in sales was from students who see it as a self-improvement and management strategy guide for aspiring business leaders, and who were happy to cite it as an inspiration.

"Students are increasingly coming in asking for it and we're happy to sell it to them," said Sohin Lakhani, owner of Mumbai-based Embassy books who reprints Mein Kampf every quarter and shrugs off any moral issues in publishing the book.

"They see it as a kind of success story where one man can have a vision, work out a plan on how to implement it and then successfully complete it," Lakhani was quoted as saying in the report.

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amyjudd

at 14:34 on May 9th, 2009

Wow, how morbid, using his plan to eradicate a race of people as the basis for a business plan - I find this so odd.

israeli.agent

at 16:09 on May 9th, 2009

Well, if replace the "race of people" with either "competition" or "employees", we will get an idea...!

.Agent.

ACE PRESTON

at 16:20 on May 9th, 2009

I read "Mein Kampf" when I was 12 years old. I didn't really understand it back then. I also read "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli. There was nothing interesting in that either but it is interesting to see young students expanding their minds by not limiting themselves to the norm. Maybe they should also read "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu. It seemed to have helped out Michael Douglas' character in the movie "Wall Street".
Pol Pot claims to have read "Mein.." in the ruins of Angkor Wat.
“But that was just the beginning. When people start by burning books, they end by burning people.”
--Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) The quote was not written about the Holocaust. Written in 1820 about the Spanish Inquisition.
... interesting article... thanks..

eastvanray

at 16:34 on May 9th, 2009

I would suggest re-reading The Prince. It is a very practical guide to survival in business, politics and life in general. The Art of War is good for business.

ACE PRESTON

at 16:57 on May 9th, 2009

I already did back in college. It's amazing when you re-read things throughout the years your interpretation differs. I prefer the mind of a child to that of an adult. Children actually see things for the better. They are more interested in toys than in currency.

sara star

at 19:16 on May 9th, 2009

Isn't our own current school system based on the system from Prussia, heavily influenced by the Germans, where we are still taught to be workers even at the university level? As opposed to thinkers.

"Prussian virtues"... perfect organization, discipline, sacrifice, rule of law, obedience to authority, reliability, honesty, frugality, punctuality, modesty, and diligence.

Paschen

at 20:42 on May 9th, 2009

Sara. Organization, Discipline and sacrifice as well as rules and law and even obedience are all needed even with in the intellectual world and no matter the level of education. With out it we have what has happened to our economy today chaos and greed as well as corruption and this not in the ranks of the workers but rather in the ranks of the elite.

There for the Prussian model still alive in Japan is well to be implemented and I for one do not think much of individualism or the ever abused notion of freedom, what matters most is the community and society over all as well as Nature and good management.

This being said Freedom of speech needs to be maintained, however it has to follow certain rules as well.

There is nothing Wrong with hard work, discipline and sacrifice for the good of society at large.

sara star

at 09:46 on May 11th, 2009

Thank you for your opinion. I don't think the leaders are worthy of our hard work sometimes because I don't think they have our best interest at heart, only the interest of the pocket book, and what is in it for them. We have to be able to think individually in order to see the corruption when it happens. Otherwise if we just work blindly for the good of all, it is no better than joining a cult. On the other hand, once we are given the chance to think individually, we will naturally want to help others because it will bring us joy. It shouldn't be forced on us, by manipulation of guilt, shame and fear and that is what the Prussian system is about.

Paschen

at 20:43 on May 9th, 2009

There is nothing wrong with reading books even those that may be controversial, I always recommend to Students to read a balance of Books with Ideas they may agree with as well as those that they oppose. "Mein Kampf" is a must read, since it did affect history rather profoundly and one should know what has broth us t this point and why.

I read it an can not understand what model of business their is to follow if any thing it shows the many contradiction and lack of over all understanding Hitler had for Politics and business alike. However some of his Ideas or rather power slogans where repeated by JFK and other politician at various times and in many Nations.

Such as each Family should be allowed a Car and House as well as have a decent employment...

Those are some of Hitler's slogans that can still be heard today.

The Way he attacked the Jew is no different then the way some in the West attack the Muslims today.

I can see his ideas and politics still alive to some extend today in the West and in the Africa and well as Asia.

Maybe if more people would read more and be more analytical we would not have the problem reoccurring as we do still today, causing, Hate, racism, oppression...!

steffanileman

at 21:32 on May 9th, 2009

He didn't follow his own advice, and that was fortunate for the world.

TheCameraObscura

at 22:16 on May 9th, 2009

I've never had a relationship that lasted longer than the one between Hitler and Eva Braun.

Ravi Kiran

at 22:50 on May 9th, 2009

I am currently reading 'Seduced by Hitler' which is more of a behavioral analysis of a nation that Hitler apparently convinced very well to support him in what he did. I cant say it's an education in anything, but it still makes a fascinating story of how dogma can be sold to millions who are in need of dogma. It is also a lesson in how so much is similar between the great men and women we deify and those we vilify, although many will shudder and take affront if I take the names of those people together in the same sentence.

I just hope when young people in India read Mein Kampf, they recognise the viscious side of Hitler as much as they take lessons in vision, purpose, resolve and the power of persuasion.