One of my abiding interests in life has been that of totalitarianism and especially the holocaust (See my latest book on the topic - Last Train To Auschwitz). The seminal question about the “shoah” is how so many decent people could go along and obey orders to enforce evil, do what they know in other circumstances as definitely wrong, evil?
Scholars are very much in agreement that people will obey evil orders fairly easily. That’s really the truth of the matter. We are obedient creatures to authority, to orders. Truly. There shouldn’t be a surprise at our own automatic beastiality.
The Milgram experiments in the 60s starkly showed how easy it was to take regular people and make them inflict pain on their fellow beings. Here is a good read on the whole experiment should you want to dive in more.
The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study and the fact most urgently demanding explanation. - Milgram, S. (1974). Obedience to authority: An experimental view.
In short, people were told they were teachers and to quiz “students (actually actors) about how well they learned their pairs of words. When students got the answers wrong they were told to “jolt” the student with a small voltage. With each student error, the voltage was to be increased up to 450volts, a very life-threatening amount. With only a little prodding, 100% of teachers increased the electric shock up to the danger level of 300 volts before they stopped and wouldn’t go further. 65% of all teachers continued right up to the severe shock of 450 volts. Many variations of this experiment have been conducted. All with the same basic results.
What’s key in all this, is that those doing the dirty work will agree if they have high confidence those giving the orders are a legitimate authority. Either morally or legally. That’s all it takes.
This takes me to the reason why I’m recounting Migram’s experiments.
Today, I watched jaw-dropped as a young lady told her story of “Covid camps” in Australia. She spent 2 weeks in one, despite not testing positive and only being in touch with someone who was.
Besides the fact that her rights as an individual were totally run over by authorities, what is revealing is the short clip included, where one of the camp doctors (I hesitate to give him the pseudonym of Mengele) explains himself and his part in the whole evil project. He says;
I’m going to give you a warning. It’s an official warning, don’t cross the yellow line (outside the front door of her small room). … We're all just doing the right thing, yeah. Like I said, I'm not here to fight with you! Yeah. I don't want to fight with you! Yep. I just want everybody to do the right thing, and unfortunately, it's my job to make sure they do. The ins and outs have got nothing to do with me. I'm just there to make sure the rules are obeyed.
It’s why bad things happen to good people. Because others submit their conscience to a higher authority. So many in the lager said, “I was just following orders”.
There is a big group of the 65% out there. Obedient to authority, the whole enchilada. Ready to throw people into gulags without a second thought. They aren’t monsters, they are our brothers, fathers, sisters, mothers. They will submit - the authorities understand this.
It’s the same where I live. I wonder about this dictatorship, how people and especially the baby-faced police, enforce the dictator’s orders, disappearing people in the middle of the night, terrorizing others, setting fire to homes, closing down all forms of free press etc … It happens because people aren’t evil - it would be so simple if it were. It’s because they will obey their masters. They are only being who they are.
It’s in us. We are the problem, WE have to deal with. It’s that banal but that serious of a problem.