KangAnon wrote on Jan 30
th, 2025 at 2:24pm:
Musk says his intention was not to do a Nazi Salute. We have to take his word for this.
But he still made the gesture which is identical to a Nazi Salute. You need to be told it wasn't to know that it wasn't.
He still did a Nazi Salute, even if the meaning was different.
It's just like the Swastika. It can be used in the context of Buddhism, but it's still a Swastika.
Musk was giving his heart to us, but he did so via a Nazi Salute. It may not have been his intention, but it's exactly what he DID.
Just as an aside, the German word you're looking for in the context of Nazis is Hakenkreuz, not Swastika - that is a Sanskrit word for a similar, not the same, symbol. Google both symbols.
The angle of the Hakenkreuz, in Nazi symbolism, denoted progress forward.
Something else to mull over... the number of human gestures possible or practical is extremely limited... The raised arm(s), raised fist(s), or raised arm(s) with finger gestures are about all we have to signal triumph, victory, elation or authority.
They have been used for thousands of years and possibly were used by non-sapiens humans as well... who knows, maybe chimps raising their arms after battle indicates the gestures have been with primates for millions of years...
The idea that one gesture will forever be unusable to all humanity is not only ridiculous, it's not even true across most of Asia and Africa today.