The Ham Size of Hitler

When one bites into a ham, a momentary pleasure is experienced. This pleasure is dwarfed by the terror and abuse the pig experienced, but predators tend not to care. An average pig in America produces 160 pounds worth of meat. So that begs an unanswerable question: how much meat did Hitler produce? I am not talking about cannibalism and how many bodies he produced (though up to an estimated 60 million people died). I am talking about how much pleasure Hitler produced through his atrocities. And, while it can't be measured, we can try to list some of the sources of pleasure that WW2 created.

The first pleasure that Hitler created was for the German people. He created a mythos, a propagandized past, and, furthermore, he created an idealized version of the future. Even for Germans who despised Hitler, an exhilaration was created regarding the sense of urgency needed to combat him. Revolutionary planning is a source of pleasure. Fear can also be a source of pleasure; just look at horror media. The news drip regarding Hitler's actions was also a source of pleasure.

Then the pleasure was exported internationally. Hitler's annexations and wars created drama for the world to consume. Boring leaders were transformed into legends. Chamberlain, for example, who might not be well-known without the existence of Hitler, will now forever be known for the mistake of appeasement. Churchill, on the other hand, will be forever known as an esteemed war leader. Hitler's actions cemented these leaders in history.

And that history is still intensely being consumed today. The meat that Hitler produced is still being fed upon. An untold number of books, songs, movies, and games have been created about WW2. And maybe now is the time for the vegan argument; is it ethical to eat the ham of Hitler? Every source of media is the result of spilled blood. Many WW2-themed sources of entertainment trivialize the horrors too. Does it even matter? Is there an expiration date on atrocity? And if it is ethical to eat Hitler's ham, does that mean that Hitler's work as butcher can somehow be justified?

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