From a Facebook post from a friend.
C: [The men and women who reportedly handcuffed small children and the elderly, separated a child from his mother and held others without food for 20 hours, are undoubtedly "ordinary" people. What I mean by that, is that these are, in normal circumstances, people who likely treat their neighbors and co-workers with kindness and do not intentionally seek to harm others. That is chilling, as it is a reminder that authoritarians have no trouble finding the people they need to carry out their acts of cruelty. They do not need special monsters; they can issue orders to otherwise unexceptional people who will carry them out dutifully.]
Slavery. Trail of Tears. Wounded Knee. Jim Crow laws. The KKK. The Chinese Exclusion Act. Japanese-American Internment. Segregation. Our history is full of examples of how deadly and racist we can become when White Supremacists are in charge. Now we have children being separated from their parents. Detained immigrants dying in our care. And a White Nationalist who would be king. We need to take back our country from White Nationalists. It's 2020 - Vote Blue!
Me: A problem I have discussed quite often. The problem of the so-called Good Germans. The problem was discussed many times after World War II. How could good decent people do horrible, unspeakable, indecent things? How could Good Germans commit atrocities?
There many answers. The most basic ones are fitting social expectations, obeying the law (even if the law itself is horrible and evil), just doing your job, trusting authority, and being afraid to be the one who stands up.
And then there are true believers. Those who are convinced if their own moral righteousness, superiority, and the absolute unquestionable perfection of their beliefs. Always remember what was said by Voltaire: “Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities, Can Make You Commit Atrocities”.
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