Di Canio new Sunderland Manager

[Leicester Ram]

Has Di Canio openly backed mass genocide and stated a hatred of Jews?

[Duracell]

Has Di Canio openly backed mass genocide and stated a hatred of Jews?

No, he never has. He's an Italian Fascist, which isn't quite the same thing as Nazism. Read up about it if you want, Mussolini's views on the Jewish community weren't like Hitler's. But that's not the point.

 

What matters is that he is an open Fascist and has performed a Fascist salute before. He's willing to associate himself with a political movement responsible for some of the worst thing that have ever happened. By anyone's definition, and I mean anyone with a moral compass, what he has aligned himself with is something of pure evil.

 

He shouldn't be allowed to manage Sunderland. I wouldn't expect to get any job if I revealed in an interview that I was a Fascist. But he gets away with it because he's a "character".

[AndyinLiverpool]

Has Di Canio openly backed mass genocide and stated a hatred of Jews?

Mussolini's fascists were never antisemitic in the way the Nazis were.

I wonder, however, about the prevailing view of the fans Di Canio salutes.

[eddie]

I feel a little uncomfortable supporting Di Canio here, because he is most definitely a person I would not want at Derby, purely because of his politics. However, in football management he can think what the hell he wants to think. Holding fascist views is not illegal, but acting upon them could be - obviously going out and annexing Newcastle as a historical part of Sunderland would be a no-no, but a fascist salute to supporters a few years ago is not exactly kristallnacht.

 

Thought-crime currently only exists in books - well, one book. 

[Duracell]

I feel a little uncomfortable supporting Di Canio here, because he is most definitely a person I would not want at Derby, purely because of his politics. However, in football management he can think what the hell he wants to think. Holding fascist views is not illegal, but acting upon them could be - obviously going out and annexing Newcastle as a historical part of Sunderland would be a no-no, but a fascist salute to supporters a few years ago is not exactly kristallnacht.

 

Thought-crime currently only exists in books - well, one book. 

It's not illegal to have his views but remember, he is now a public figure holding a significant position in the community. That's just not on in my book.

 

As for acting upon his views, well, I think his management style is a reflection of them. Heavy-handed leadership, discipline, and all this he takes to the nth degree, which of course can be extremely beneficial to a sports team - though it will be interesting to see if this will work on Premier League players. He won't be able to sub goalkeepers off, drag players off the pitch, and indeed say anything like what he said about his Swindon players at Sunderland.

 

When he made his hollow offer to pay for transfers out of his own pocket, that's when it really came out for me. He clearly fancies himself as a strong leader and wants to elevate himself to a cult status, and he knows how to do it - because he's clever.

 

That's part of the issue for me. The man's bright, and he can't claim he knew better when he did that salute.

[Day]

Was there this much media interest when he took the Swindon job?

[blackNwhites]

No, he never has. He's an Italian Fascist, which isn't quite the same thing as Nazism. Read up about it if you want, Mussolini's views on the Jewish community weren't like Hitler's. But that's not the point.

 

What matters is that he is an open Fascist and has performed a Fascist salute before. He's willing to associate himself with a political movement responsible for some of the worst thing that have ever happened. By anyone's definition, and I mean anyone with a moral compass, what he has aligned himself with is something of pure evil.

 

He shouldn't be allowed to manage Sunderland. I wouldn't expect to get any job if I revealed in an interview that I was a Fascist. But he gets away with it because he's a "character".

You wouldn't want to out fascist a fascist though, would you.

[Duracell]

You wouldn't want to out fascist a fascist though, would you.

I'm missing the point here I think, what do you mean?

[blackNwhites]

I'm missing the point here I think, what do you mean?

Not allowing certain people into certain positions because of their beliefs.

[Duracell]

Not allowing certain people into certain positions because of their beliefs.

How is that even remotely fascist?

 

These people caused some of the greatest atrocities in history. Why should they be allowed in public positions? He is the face of the community, and for some people that's deeply offensive.

 

Would you actually ever employ somebody openly racist? Would you have someone at the tills who would make racist remarks at customers?

 

I'm not saying his beliefs should be made illegal, even, but do you not agree that Fascism is an evil that should have died by now? And appointing Fascists to positions of considerable power and responsibility is not going to help that.

 

You don't kill a belief by making it illegal, you make people realise that it's wrong and that it's not ok. To have a position like that with such open beliefs sends out the wrong message.

 

Why should I apologise for thinking it's right to fight Fascism?

[blackNwhites]

How is that even remotely fascist?

 

These people caused some of the greatest atrocities in history. Why should they be allowed in public positions? He is the face of the community, and for some people that's deeply offensive.

 

Would you actually ever employ somebody openly racist? Would you have someone at the tills who would make racist remarks at customers?

 

I'm not saying his beliefs should be made illegal, even, but do you not agree that Fascism is an evil that should have died by now? And appointing Fascists to positions of considerable power and responsibility is not going to help that.

 

You don't kill a belief by making it illegal, you make people realise that it's wrong and that it's not ok. To have a position like that with such open beliefs sends out the wrong message.

 

Why should I apologise for thinking it's right to fight Fascism?

I'm not asking you to apologise, just highlighting a point.

 

I think you're thinking about it far too narrowly. It's a big ass world out there and the fascists are asking the same as you, shouldn't everybody be a fascist and socialism, liberalism, marxism etc.. should have been forgotten about.

 

That is a political war that will probably go on for a few more centuries, millennia, yet.

 

Would I employ somebody openly racist? Who said fascists are racist? 

 

Hitler was Hitler, it would be wrong to compare other fascists to him. 

 

What you deem wrong is okay by others.

 

My personal opinion is, fascists (and racists) out.

[Srg]

This will be funny, if nothing else.

[Badlands]

Not overly sure what the fuss is here, as long as he doesn't mix his political beliefs with his job then there should be no issue. Can't remember this level of fuss when that McLean lad came out with his pro IRA comments. 

 

Should be a entertaining few weeks though, i think he will be good enough to keep them in the league. 

[sage]

Mussolini's fascists were never antisemitic in the way the Nazis were.

I wonder, however, about the prevailing view of the fans Di Canio salutes.

 

Whilst I agree Mussolini was less anti-semetic than Hitler and refused to send Jews to the concentration camps, he did issue the 'Manifesto of Race' which stripped Jews of their Italian citizenship and banned them from any government or civil service jobs. He also approved the ethnic cleansing in Slovenia which saw over 25,000 Slovenes deported to Italian concentration camps.

He also used his 'limited' anti-semetic policies and theories to try to woo support from Arabic Muslims against British and French influences in this area.

 

Di Canio is a fan of Mussolini.

[eddie]

I believe that his first task will be to introduce boncentration bamps...

 

[-JW-]

This will solve their right wing problem anyway.

[Derbiean]

How is that even remotely fascist?

 

These people caused some of the greatest atrocities in history. Why should they be allowed in public positions? He is the face of the community, and for some people that's deeply offensive.

 

Would you actually ever employ somebody openly racist? Would you have someone at the tills who would make racist remarks at customers?

 

I'm not saying his beliefs should be made illegal, even, but do you not agree that Fascism is an evil that should have died by now? And appointing Fascists to positions of considerable power and responsibility is not going to help that.

 

You don't kill a belief by making it illegal, you make people realise that it's wrong and that it's not ok. To have a position like that with such open beliefs sends out the wrong message.

 

Why should I apologise for thinking it's right to fight Fascism?

Just out of curiosity do you also think its right to fight against the likes of Christianity and other beliefs where the people who follow them have caused (and in fact still cause harm and evil)?  

[uttoxram75]

I feel a little uncomfortable supporting Di Canio here, because he is most definitely a person I would not want at Derby, purely because of his politics. However, in football management he can think what the hell he wants to think. Holding fascist views is not illegal, but acting upon them could be - obviously going out and annexing Newcastle as a historical part of Sunderland would be a no-no, but a fascist salute to supporters a few years ago is not exactly kristallnacht.

 

Thought-crime currently only exists in books - well, one book. 

 

Thought-crime eh?

 

After 9-11 the US security services visited people who had borrowed certain books from their local libraries. Bear in mind that US libraries don't stock "how to kill the president" books, it makes you wonder which ones they had on their dangerous list.

 

Basically, it turned out to be anything that questioned the political view of the Bush family.

[Duracell]

I'm not asking you to apologise, just highlighting a point.

 

I think you're thinking about it far too narrowly. It's a big ass world out there and the fascists are asking the same as you, shouldn't everybody be a fascist and socialism, liberalism, marxism etc.. should have been forgotten about.

 

That is a political war that will probably go on for a few more centuries, millennia, yet.

 

Would I employ somebody openly racist? Who said fascists are racist? 

 

Hitler was Hitler, it would be wrong to compare other fascists to him. 

 

What you deem wrong is okay by others.

 

My personal opinion is, fascists (and racists) out.

My point is he is willingly linking himself to a movement which is racist, and almost has to be by definition. I'm not saying he'd necessarily be racist, but instantly, he's made a connection.

 

Of course the war with these ideologies will rage on for years upon years, but that doesn't mean it should be accepted. 

 

Fascism is okay to some. It's not to others. That is true.

 

But maybe you should look at things narrowly, if by that you mean everyone's views and opinions are equal, then I don't think that's a good way to look at the world. Some people are just wrong. Fascism is wrong. Wrong enough, in my book, that I wouldn't vote for one and nor do I think that they should hold public positions.

[Duracell]

Just out of curiosity do you also think its right to fight against the likes of Christianity and other beliefs where the people who follow them have caused (and in fact still cause harm and evil)?  

Christianity is not compatible with Fascism. It is militaristic, ultranationalistic, and totalitarian. Yes, Christians, Muslims, people of all faiths cause harm and evil in the name of religion, but people fight in the name of anything, because humans do bad things.

 

Christianity, Islam or in fact any mainstream religion can live in peace and indeed most of them have peace at the centre of their values, and it is down to interpretation as to how people of these religions understand what their various sources say on moral matters. Don't confuse what Christians have done with what Christianity is about. Of course, their is a point at which you do have to fight these matters. I'm probably not alone in thinking it's not a good idea for an Islamic fundamentalist to run the secret services, or an ignorant and uneducated Christian to become President of the United States (who wouldn't take someone's personal beliefs into account when voting!?)

 

Secularism never hurt anyone, right? Wrong. Pretty much every viewpoint ever has probably killed or seriously injured someone, so I'm not sure what your point says at all. Fascism extreme, violent and incompatible with a peaceful world.

 

Going back to the main point, this man is now a significant public figure. He is the face of the community to this country and much of the world. Therefore he is a role model, and actually, what he believes is important, just like how he acts professionally and privately. You shouldn't make it illegal to be a fascist, or even illegal to appoint one as the manager of your football team - but you should expect considerable outrage and a backlash when you do so, and you should be reminded why it's a bad thing.