Everyone has heard of the Grammar Nazi. A Grammar Nazi is a person who has taken the rules of grammar deeply to heart, and who then uses those rules mercilessly when other people fail to obey. The following videos make the point, humorously but perhaps a little too strongly (contain blood): Grammar Nazis and Grammar Nazis

The problem with Grammar Nazis is that, in the grand scheme of things, minor grammar errors are meaningless. If an immigrant comes to America, makes his best effort to learn English and occasionally stumbles on the finer points of grammar, does it matter? Of course not. Everyone can still understand his intent, and we give him credit for doing his best.

We see the same sort of mindset in the people who go ballistic over profanity. According to this HowStuffWorks article on profanity:

In the Western, English-speaking world, people from every race, class and level of education swear. In America, 72 percent of men and 58 percent of women swear in public.

That is the percentage that swears in public. As you can see, the vast majority of people use profanity. But a minority of people have managed to create a rule that declares profanity to be “bad”. Profanity Nazis then apply their rule mercilessly, and can even threaten loss of employment over something as insignificant as a mistyping of the word “duck” (look at the relative location of the letters D and F on the keyboard and you can see why that is so easy a mistake to make) or forgetting to put an asterisk in a word when directly quoting someone.

The situation with marijuana use in the United States is, for many, another example of Rule Nazism. Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol health-wise (ref) and has fewer problems with addiction (ref). Given that marijuana has been shown to cause less harm compared to alcohol and tobacco, a prohibition against marijuana, while alcohol and tobacco are legal, seems unwarranted and unjustifiable.

Nonetheless, marijuana is currently illegal, and that illegality is used as a blunt tool against users in certain jurisdictions. A person’s life can be completely ruined by Marijuana Nazis. These lives are ruined over something that, in the grand scheme of things, is meaningless.

There is a special class of Nazis who make up rules specifically so they can enforce them and make life unpleasant for others. This variety of Nazi often pops up in a homeowner associations and the workplace. It is sometimes also seen in consumer-facing companies, often leading to an eventual downfall. Blockbuster Video became a company filled with Late Fee Nazis, so everyone switched to Netflix. Apple may soon go so far with its many rules that it attracts the Nazi label.

Where does this sort of Nazi behavior come from? Officially it is a mental disorder known as Obsessive-compulsive Personality Disorder. The definition:

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder is a condition characterized by a chronic preoccupation with rules, orderliness, and control.

Consideration must also be given to sadism. According to this HowStuffWorks article: “The sadist in the sadomasochistic pair is the person who inflicts the pain or punishment.” And the dictionary describes a sadist as: “any enjoyment in being cruel” and “the gaining of pleasure or sexual gratification from the infliction of pain and mental suffering on another person”. This characterization seems to be true of Profanity Nazis, Homeowner Association Nazis, Workplace Nazis, etc. They can cause real-world pain to people in terms of housing, finances, employment, etc., and many Nazis seem to derive pleasure from the pain and mental suffering they cause.

What is your favorite kind of Nazi?