I was deeply disturbed by the argument put forward in a BBC documentary about the rise to power of the Nazis. (Nazis: A warning from history) Conventional wisdom suggests that ordinary people became involved in some of the atrocities because the Nazi State forced them into it. The same view is taken of the oppression by Communist states. The programme sought to show that rather than reluctant obedience to the directives of the authorities, many people were quite innovative in coming up with ideas and actions which went well beyond what was "required" of them.
The awful truth that the programme sought to expose is that people can be so eager to please the authorities, that they will do things which went far beyond what an oppressive regime could imagine.
Timothy Snyder, in his recent book, "On Tyranny", makes this his first lesson. He uses examples from history and research, especially the experiments by Milgram, which show how easily people will do terrible things if suggested to them by an apparently authoritative person.
Worth reflecting upon.
Perhaps it is this wish to conform and please which explains the behaviour of MPs. & Peers during the European Union (Notice of Withdrawal) Bill. The tendency to conform is built within us all. But Snyder argues that it is a tendency which serves us ill when the winds of authoritarianism are beginning to blow. Don't make it easy for those who would curtail our freedom
As my husband otten says and I agree - don't be a sheep. We have always told our sons to think for themselves and not follow the herd.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely!
Delete