Reply To: On Tyranny Lesson 1: Do Not Obey in Advance
I’m so impressed by what you all have written and shared. There’s a lot to consider in this question. The Nazis persecuted the Jews predominantly, but they also targeted other groups of people prior to and alongside the Jews and I can see similarities in the groups being currently targeted by the US government. Scapegoating and blaming external forces for internal problems is a common tactic in politics to deflect from really addressing the central issue, which I think is the wealthy corporations and individuals not paying enough taxes – which just widens the divide between rich and poor.
The Nazis came into power under promises to address the widespread poverty and the economic desperation in Germany at the time. They promised economic recovery and a “New Order” that would restore their values. They blamed the Jews for the country’s problems but they also went after many other groups including Roma people (Gypsies), Blacks, gays, people with disabilities, Poles, civilians engaged in civil disobedience, and political opposition. They also persecuted scholars, lawyers, Jehovah’s Witnesses. They also went after the homeless, prostitutes, and people living on the margins – they were labelled socially deviant and imprisoned. None of these groups were responsible for the position the country was in, and the same can be said for the groups being targeted by the current administration.
I think things are escalating fast in the US and I think perhaps you’ll start to see “crackdowns” on multiple groups of people. This likely means:
– more mass deportations of immigrants.
– more universities having funding pulled who allowed protests on their campuses (esp Palestinian activists)
– more DEI rollbacks
– increased anti-LGBTQ bills
– political activists will face arrests
– gutting of funding for scholarship and science
Milgram’s experiment is an upsetting one, and one that shows how quickly people jump to obeying authority and put aside empathy. I would also recommend people look at the Stanford Prison Experiment because right now we’re not only seeing individuals increasingly submissively obeying, we’re seeing groups of people being granted permission to wield power and violence against other groups. There’s a reason all the J6’ers were released, as were the Tate brothers, and the Silk Road founder. It is signalling permission to the broader society that violence and criminal behaviour will be overlooked or even rewarded by this administration. Very scary.
I agree with all the points others have made about educating ourselves and not following blindly. Knowing these experiments can be used to point out that we are all capable of being swept up in roles and manipulated, even by those we trust. It shows that we’re all susceptible to outside influences and the power structures we live in. Maybe if more people asked themselves what is the leader who I am trusting getting from me, rather than always thinking about what they hope to get from the leader, they might see more clearly?
I also think people need to be patiently walked through how their actions (or those of their leaders) are harming others. As Libby says, being defensive or emotional only makes it more challenging to have productive discussions with others so it’s hard with all the confusion and hurt going on. It might be a starting point to share that we are all human. We may have different religions, politics etc but our behaviours are universal. And I think, too, being able to draw parallels in history and identify commonalities between then and now can help people recognize that they are playing a part in empowering and propagating unethical and unlawful leadership, just like in Milgram’s Experiment.
