The Banality of Evil
I went back and look into when I purchased and read They Thought They Were Free, The Germans 1933-45 by Milton Mayer. It is a book based on interviews of Germans not long after World War II, including their reflections on what Adolph Hitler wrought and Milton Mayer’s commentary. The book seems to confirm what Hannah Arendt, a German philosopher, called “the banality of evil” — that many ordinary Germans without evil forethought or plans thoughtlessly went along with Hitler’s actions because they were morally detached and apathetic. So I found that I read Mayer’s book in November 2024, after the presidential election, but before Donald Trump’s second inauguration. Reflecting now on what my thoughts were while reading the book, it is clear to me that I was mostly thinking about the evils of Naziism and its parallels to the rhetoric I was hearing from MAGA disciples. But I was not thinking very much about the banality of evil. Perhaps I could not imagine the Trump administration would move so quickly to dismantle democratic institutions and spread disinformation while facing so little organized and meaningful opposition. Now I am thinking about that and how many of us, including me, are so far mostly watching and not putting up much resistance. #Democracy #Fascism #Disinformation #Truth #Ethics #Bookstodon
Joseph
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2025-08-29 05:53:09 UTC
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2025-08-29 05:53:09 UTCEvent JSON
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