The most terrifying thing to me about Nazism and fascism is that, by all psychological and otherwise measurable accounts, people who exhibit its traits are on the whole not that different from any other person you might find without them. Perhaps you could say they found a mental switch—a way of justifying their actions and behaviors—that forfeits one’s humanity in the process, but I believe this line of thinking is flawed.
No, I think Nazis are fully human, which condemns their depravity all the more. They don’t get to escape from the moral weight of what they’ve done by being stripped of the burdens and responsibilities of humanity. We cannot underestimate Nazis, or treat them as though they are mere animals or dumb cogs; they are an example of every single thing a person cannot be and also be allowed to live normal, quiet lives in a just world.
Nazism is a sort of evil that, from what we know, only humans are capable of.
Nazis aren’t people
The most terrifying thing to me about Nazism and fascism is that, by all psychological and otherwise measurable accounts, people who exhibit its traits are on the whole not that different from any other person you might find without them. Perhaps you could say they found a mental switch—a way of justifying their actions and behaviors—that forfeits one’s humanity in the process, but I believe this line of thinking is flawed.
No, I think Nazis are fully human, which condemns their depravity all the more. They don’t get to escape from the moral weight of what they’ve done by being stripped of the burdens and responsibilities of humanity. We cannot underestimate Nazis, or treat them as though they are mere animals or dumb cogs; they are an example of every single thing a person cannot be and also be allowed to live normal, quiet lives in a just world.
Nazism is a sort of evil that, from what we know, only humans are capable of.