Are we all potential Nazi’s??

Sunday, March 1, 2009


We watched a brief film in psychology class on “Milgram’s study of obedience.” This is a brief summary of his findings and my reaction:Stanley Milgram wanted to test the veracity of claims made by perpetrators of war crimes, that they were “just obeying orders”. He set out to test just how far people would be willing to obey an authority figure. Would people be willing to harm another person if instructed by an authority figure, how far would they go? The test was originally done in 1974 and has been replicated may times with the same results. The study revealed that approximately 65% of people will obey, even when they believed great physical harm was being inflicted on the other person, via electrical shock. People would continue to shock the other person, when prompted by the authority figure, despite cries of anguish and the eventual silence which made it appear that the other participant had died or passed out.
This is exceedingly disturbing to me? Is it to you?
Yes, this brings a partial conclusion to a question that has nagged humanity for years. It explains, but does not excuse the “why” of how otherwise “normal” people went along with Hitler’s genocide, why the disregard for virtue during the New Orleans crisis or the violence of the Rodney King Riots? What about the Salem witch trials or the ritualized sacrifice of humans? Humanities long history if infanticide and the slaughter of innocents over the ages? How could the white American frontiersmen brag about shooting little American Indian infants into pieces? Where was the outrage against these atrocities and how pretentious and audacious are we to think we are different? We fool ourselves into thinking that we are above these types of things? Yet, to over come, we must look in the mirror and stare straight in the face of this ugly truth and confront it, otherwise be overcome by it.If the advancement of a race is based on traits like altruism, then the ants have progressed well beyond humans, and perhaps even dogs have as well.
I am not impressed with our advancements in technology, or our trip to the moon. While we mindlessly live or self centered lives without care for humanity, idolizing those in power as if they were dieties. In the long run, without an operational, internal, moral compass in the hearts of people, the only thing our technology will ultimately accomplish is making us capable of even greater atrocities.Some say religion is the answer. I say religious people have proven to be among the most dangerous. Another may say strong government, will keep people in line, but history has proven that powerful rules are easily coruppted and overly immpressed with their own power. Quite frankly, I am disgusted, with us all.So I say, emphatically, it is not OK, to behave certain way because it is the "status quo", or because your "leader" (boss, teacher, parent) has modeled or endorced a cetain conduct. It is not alright because your friends or your coworkers think it’s alright. It’s not alright because your pastor or your president tells you it is. All of us must learn to put ourselves in the other mans shoes before we commit an act. This means that we must think not just of our own good, but the good of the whole of humanity. Until then, all our tools and technology are nothing more than the equivalent of putting a loaded fire alarm in the hands of an infant.The only people who should have this kind of power in their hand are those who can honestly put the good of the whole above their own self interest and even than we all have a responsibility for what we do and who we obey.
If another Hitler came along on what side of the fence would we sit?