Do you believe that the "banality of Evil" is real?

[Sun_Kim-Ai]

As many of you know, today is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The term of banality of Evil was conied by journalist Hannah Arendt during the trial of SS-Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the genocide. It is the idea that ordinary people commit atrocities without awareness, care, or choice. Counter to this thesis, they show that perpetrators act thoughtfully, creatively, and with conviction.

In Eichmann's case, Arendt was wrong since he was a virulent antisemite and a true believer of Nazi ideology, but many other Nazis - and by extent perpetrators and abusers in history and life - committed their crimes for simple personal gain or because they thought it was the "right" thing to do.

Thoughts?

[NamerOfStars]

Manifestly: look at the Covid lockdowns. They'll be reading about those in the history books a century from now, make no mistake. The great architects of mass evil- pretty much regardless of its form- may plan and calculate, but the rank and file just go along out of inertia.

Remember that the Nazis, with all their careful planning, centralized resource management, and advanced technology, still killed the "Undesirables" [Note: that does not mean "Jews". They WERE massacred, certainly, but the Communists, trade unionists, homosexuals, disabled, dissidents, and Armenians killed were not Jewish- mostly, anyway- and they still made up half the victims] less efficiently than the common Hutu population of Rwanda, armed with nothing but machetes.

[Guy13]

Instead of the Banality of Evil, it seems to be more likely we are speaking of the Total Depravity of Man. Way before the Holocaust, man has done nothing but terrorize man whether individually with lying, raping etc OR globally with multi World Wars and other large military events.

It is more accurate to say man has moments of being nice and doing good but he is depraved and leans towards destruction and violation rather than Good. Man chooses Evil over Good.

[Ms_Facesitter]

We all have our sense of justice and what we see as right or wrong. Some people can kill without losing a sleep's night over it.

[Ms_Facesitter]

night's sleep! <3

[Agape93]

Absolutely. You can see it even today, in law enforcement, politics, military etc.

[gorydetails]

The covidiots have shown us how easily the human population can turn into having the same mentality as the nazi party.

[PatriceONeal]

During the Nuremberg trials many nazis claimed they didn't deserve responsibility simply becuase they were following orders. They decided that some crimes are so heinous, participation even if forced is still morally culpable.

[OddBeMe]

Oh absolutely. Stanford prison experiment, a flawed but pretty good view on human nature.

When we take the leashes off humans and give them absolute power, we tend to go bad.

[Jamie05rhs]

Both scenarios exist. Therefore, both arguments are correct.

[NathanDavis]

mosquitoes...