I recall a recent discussion on DSL where someone claimed that people in the media who everyone complains about are "humans just like you".
To which my response amounted to "Cade Metz deliberately posted lies to ruin the reputation of someone who has done nothing to him. I've never done this. No, he is not just like me."
And if I can say that I'm not just like Cade Metz, I think I can also say that I'm not just like Hitler.
(The trick in the Hitler comparison is that nobody here has been in a position to commit mass murder. So if you say "sure you would have committed mass murder in Hitler's position" and you place the burden of proof on the person you're accusing, they can't possibly disprove you. That's why the intermediate step of Metz is useful. We all have been in a position where we could post lies meant to hurt someone like Metz, so "sure you would have done it in his position" is provably false.)
Thanks for the feedback! I agree, you and I are not "just like Hitler". Rather, we are human beings, just like he was. The human condition is what contains the full scope of good and evil, on which most of us like to think we lean towards the former.
It sounds like you may have read something from the post which I did not intend (and if so, that's my fault). Does it read as a condemnation of humanity, or (worse) a vindication or justification of Hitler?
Thanks again for replying - this is my first post here, and I'll appreciate any tips on making my points more clear (or shown how they're wrong).
I agree, you and I are not “just like Hitler”. Rather, we are human beings, just like he was.
Notice that the Metz comparison was about humans too.
This is a deepity. It is trivially true that anything that I can do and anything Hitler could do are things done by humans. It's impossible for a human to do a thing that can't be done by a human.
But if you want this comparison to be meaningful, it isn't. If Hitler is a monster, that just means that some human beings are monsters and others aren't--it doesn't disprove that Hitler is a monster.
The human condition is what contains the full scope of good and evil, on which most of us like to think we lean towards the former.
It is literally true that zero murders can be put in the same scope as lots of murders. But that's a misleading framing.
normal human being, just like you and me. Driven by ambition, hate, and circumstance.
Uhm, I am not driven by hate. Ambition, sometimes. Circumstances, probably all the time. Hate? I am not saying that the level is literally zero... sometimes I get angry at some people when I learn about some horrible things they are doing... but that usually doesn't last long and I switch to different thoughts; and even the moments when I am angry usually do not translate into specific actions.
We must acknowledge and confront the potential for evil in every single one of us, ourselves included.
This is widely accepted, but where is the proof? Sounds like yet another blank-slate belief. It is definitely good to reflect on your own actions, and each of us has their better and worse days, and we could have been much better or much worse under different circumstances... but that alone does not prove that the potential for evil is equally strong. Some people need to undergo lot of training, until they are capable of killing another person. Other people just do it for fun. Some people follow the commands. Other people work hard to get into the position where they could give horrible commands. Some people can do horrible things under extreme circumstances; other people are actively working on creating the circumstances when they would be allowed to do the horrible things.
Thanks for the comment. I think it's clear from this and the other feedback that I wrongly prioritized prose over accurate and comprehensive argumentation in this mini-essay.
Adolf Hitler was born to an affectionate mother. He loved dogs. He was an aspiring artist. And he violently murdered millions of men, women, and children.
I believe that we find comfort in labelling those who do great evil as monsters. It distances ourselves from their actions. It lets us pretend that the evils in our world are perpetrated by outside forces.
But the truth is that Adolf Hitler was a normal human being, just like you and me. Driven by ambition, hate, and circumstance. Enabled by a society that looked the other way.
Nazi Germany is one of modern history’s darkest cautionary tales. But we must let ourselves be cautioned. We must acknowledge and confront the potential for evil in every single one of us, ourselves included. Only then can the good in us prevail.