The Eichmann trial had often been critiqued for being a witch hunt, looking for a scapegoat rather than trying to get to the root of the problem. A problem far more significant than Adolf Eichmann transporting prisoners to Auschwitz, more than just sending the lambs to the slaughter!
Hannah Arendt, writing for the magazine New Yorker, herself a Jewess who suffered imprisonment by Nazi, was expecting to see a gruesome-looking mean dude at the trials. She was quite surprised at the simple-looking civil servant who was more interested in completing his given task at the dock. He was oblivious to the sequelae of his actions. Arendt coined the term 'banality of evil' and proposed that evil done unknowingly by an unthinking person is the worst kind.
Hannah Arendt, writing for the magazine New Yorker, herself a Jewess who suffered imprisonment by Nazi, was expecting to see a gruesome-looking mean dude at the trials. She was quite surprised at the simple-looking civil servant who was more interested in completing his given task at the dock. He was oblivious to the sequelae of his actions. Arendt coined the term 'banality of evil' and proposed that evil done unknowingly by an unthinking person is the worst kind.That got me thinking...
Again and again, history has shown people choosing a leader and following his directions blindly. The Germans elected a monster through the legal means who rocked the whole world to realise his megalomaniac dream of creating a purebred Aryan race. The ever mild-mannered Japanese are also guilty of turning a blind eye to their regime which raped and massacred half of the world.
Looking back, these nations would like to forever erase that dark tainted part of their nation's history.
But then, to achieve a particular agenda, a leader has to have ways to influence the masses to do things in a specific fashion so that their mission is accomplished. The masses must be seen to be doing their given tasks without questioning all in the name of the glory of the race, nation, flag or religion. They must be spineless working at a spinal level like zombies. Thinking is not allowed.
If everybody starts thinking and questioning, the target would not be met, and you would have is just pandemonium.
On the other hand, these unquestioning loyalty and war did produce some milestones in the human civilisation. Advances in air transportation, engineering and energy are testimony to this. The sizeable big step forward is also marred by the fact that they are savvier of ways to annihilate each other.
Comments
Post a Comment