Attribution: Vinnytsia , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Mark M., Dave S., Mark O., Dennis C., Paul C., and Geoff Carter
Hey bots,
I was flipping around on the TV the other night and happened upon Ordinary Men, a World War II documentary on Netflix. I usually don’t get to watch these because Kris doesn’t much care for them, but she happened to be out—and so I indulged myself. This was a film about a company of German soldiers, mostly policemen, who were recruited to man a special unit during the war. They were sent to occupied territories, and—as it turned out—they were assigned to eliminate undesirables in the local populations. In other words, they were there to execute Jews, Poles, Russians, anybody the Nazis didn’t like. They sometimes killed hundreds of people, men, women, and children each day. Now none of this is really new. We all know the Nazis performed these atrocities.
What surprised me was that this documentary revealed that the men in these special killing units were not required to perform these mass murders of civilians. These men, these new soldiers, could have opted out if they wanted to. Some did, but were scorned and ridiculed by those who participated in these mass slaughters. According to the film, those who did follow orders soon grew numb to the task and even found new and innovative ways to kill more people with fewer bullets—like shooting a mother holding a child through the child so the bullet would pass through the one and kill the other. Ah, German ingenuity.
What struck me about this harrowing insight into human nature is how it might look here if (God forbid) a certain dictator is elected president next November. I have no idea how far he might go, but I also have no illusions about him having any kind of moral center. I’m wondering how average Americans—even ourselves—could react if put into a situation like these German policemen. Would we go with the flow? Not rock the boat? Do our jobs? Follow orders? Or just say no?
G
Yes,the Einsatzgruppen were an integral part of The Final Solution.Reading just now on Wiki, I see that the regular German Army was under orders to tolerate and support them.
Your concerns about people being put in a similar situation as these paramilitary members are well-founded. But we don’t need Trump to see the soldiers’ mindset in operation. It is there in all wars. Soldiers are concerned first and foremost with self-preservation, and also with maintaining their place with their unit. The latest example is the execution of the Jewish hostages by the IDF.
My personal concern is not that I might be ordered to commit an atrocity. That seems far-fetched. It’s more that I might behave in a way that covers up the misdeeds of an institution or person in authority. I am retired now, but what if speaking out about sexual harassment or racism on the job, that I could have witnessed, could have endangered my own career prospects? Would I have had the courage to speak out? Or would I have kept quiet… the way I did in grade school when the class bullies tormented John Swedowski?
Mark M.
Just as the Nazi’s didn’t invent anti-semitism, they didn’t invent the paramilitary/terrorist militia/death squad concept. They just applied technology and organizational techniques to deploy these tools at industrial scale. Horrific. The paramilitary/terrorist militia/death squad concept is still active around the world today. Wherever governments don’t want their fingerprints on dirty war business, they can always recruit volunteers or mercenaries to do their dirty work for them. Hell, big and powerful nations can recruit smaller, local nations to do their dirty work in remote reaches of the globe. I guess you could call it the war by proxy model. Sometimes it seems the only thing humans truly excel at is death and destruction. I know that isn’t true but what a world we could have if all the brilliant minds around the world that currently work on the tools of war were applied to the tools of peace and development. “Imagine”.
MarkO
Fortunately, we have it from Trump’s own mouth that he never read Mein Kampf. That’s probably not a lie, considering what a big reader the guy is. As a kid, he probably didn’t even read the back of the cereal box at breakfast time! He was too busy groping the housekeeper.
Mark M.
Too true, MarkO. Just think of all the technology applied to warfare. If we could apply all that cash, expertise, and energy to eradicating hunger or erasing poverty—or even not destroying our planet—this would be a nirvana. Unfortunately, human nature gets in the way. I think the Einsatzgruppen (thanks, MM) is a great example of that. Given the choice of conforming or following orders (even something as extreme as killing babies), the majority of people would follow the herd.
Mark M., I don’t think Trump has read much, either. Maybe the graffiti in the men’s room, but he’ll have henchmen like the creepy Steves (Miller and Bannon) or Rudy G. around him to carry out the details. I don’t know. I’m not terribly optimistic about the average American’s moral center these days. I think the average American feels—in the words of Bruce, “I was bruised and battered/I couldn’t tell what I felt”. People are tired and so overwhelmed with disinformation, they’re tuning out. They’re not sure of anything anymore.
G
“Bruised and battered / Didn’t know what to think”
An apt description of the American public. And a good part of the reason for that is the disinformation campaign that’s been spewing out of the right wing since the days of Newt Gingrich. Trump and Steve Bannon have taken it to its apogee. Bannon’s guiding principle, in his own phrase, is “Flood the zone with shit”.
Create so much confusion and chaos that the voters and citizens have no literal idea of what is actually going on. Discredit all media and all institutions. Destroy any moral compass people might have had and replace it with a yearning for order and authority.
Take the economy, for example. Biden should be basking in the reflected glory of a pretty goddam competitive and resilient economy. Stock prices nearing a record. Gas prices under $3. Unemployment holding below 4% for stretches of time not seen in 50 years. But does Biden get any credit for this? Hell no. Just ask anybody. The price of eggs hit $4 last year and that was the final straw. Never mind that they’re back town to $1.80
Actually, it isn’t “just ask anybody”. Ask a Republican voter, and THEY will tell you that senile old blood drinkin’ Joe has destroyed any hope they’ve ever had to get ahead. That “good news” you’re telling me? That’s all a buncha phony statistics from those child molesting professors who rode on Epstein’s plane.
Ah, for the days of turning on ol’ Walter Cronkite at 5:30 and getting the “facts”. (And we used to hear Paul Harvey at noon. And now you know the Rest of the Story!)
Mark M.