Apr 1, 2023·edited Apr 1, 2023Liked by Mark Changizi
That's a fantastic find, Mark! I've seen the Asch Experiment videos and the Stanford Prison Experiment videos from the same era. This is known to the psychological "scientists", the Behavioral Scientists who are fundamentally transforming society using this type of knowledge. Behavioral Science deemed "The Science of Totalitarianism." Informed by these types of experiments - experiments that make it a "science."
Many have recently read and written about Hannah Arendt's work, The Origins of Totalitarianism (which informed Mattias Desmet's recent book, Psychology of Totalitarianism):
But another author who has received scant attention is perhaps even more important to learn from in these times. Victor Klemperer. He wrote the books, I Will Bear Witness (Vols 1 and 2) and The Lesser Evil. Christopher Hitchens wrote a review of his work in The Atlantic in December, 2004. Which I believe syncs up well with your message that We bear the responsibility for our descent into totalitarianism more than any cabal that is pulling the strings of manipulation. Believing the world will go back to "normal" on its own, as long as they just trust and obey their leaders. But the problem isn't just with bad leaders. It is within the people, ourselves.
Klemperer chronicled his life journey as the Third Reich ascended in his daily diary. His voice reveals his sense of entitlement, how he didn't think the horrors being visited on others would visit on him. And when they did he became embittered that he, a man of his position, had been lumped in with the others who may have deserved their fate. He had converted from Judaism to Protestantism, yet was forced to endure the humiliations of Jews he didn't even like. Not even aware of his own responsibility for his plight that allowed him to become a victim. Because he did nothing, he even mildly supported the treatment of those who opposed the Nazi regime. Much like those who mildly supported the treatment of those who opposed mask and jab mandates. And censorship. And the arrest and indefinite detainment of J6 political prisoners. And the indictment of Pres. Trump. "THEY deserve(d) it!!"
Klemperer's writings are first-hand accounts of the banality of evil. How oblivious those who've experienced it's injustices and deprivations are to it. The rationalizations and justifications for evil that a human mind is capable of going through.
And as a related aside, the movie, Judgement at Nuremberg, tells us how the system itself failed because the people who were entrusted to protect the constitutional rights of Germans failed. It's cast included: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Werner Klemperer, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, and William Shatner.
That's a fantastic find, Mark! I've seen the Asch Experiment videos and the Stanford Prison Experiment videos from the same era. This is known to the psychological "scientists", the Behavioral Scientists who are fundamentally transforming society using this type of knowledge. Behavioral Science deemed "The Science of Totalitarianism." Informed by these types of experiments - experiments that make it a "science."
https://web.archive.org/web/20210519003131/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/14/scientists-admit-totalitarian-use-fear-control-behaviour-covid/
Many have recently read and written about Hannah Arendt's work, The Origins of Totalitarianism (which informed Mattias Desmet's recent book, Psychology of Totalitarianism):
https://archive.org/details/TheOriginsOfTotalitarianism
and Milton Mayer's, They Thought They Were Free:
https://archive.org/details/theythoughttheyw00maye
and Alexandr Solzhenitsyn's, Gulag Archipelago and Live Not by Lies:
Parts I-II https://archive.org/details/8-the-gulag-archipelago-volume-iii_202301/mode/2up
Parts III-IV https://archive.org/details/gulagarchipelago00solzrich/mode/2up
Parts V-VII https://archive.org/details/8-the-gulag-archipelago-volume-iii_202301
https://www.solzhenitsyncenter.org/live-not-by-lies
But another author who has received scant attention is perhaps even more important to learn from in these times. Victor Klemperer. He wrote the books, I Will Bear Witness (Vols 1 and 2) and The Lesser Evil. Christopher Hitchens wrote a review of his work in The Atlantic in December, 2004. Which I believe syncs up well with your message that We bear the responsibility for our descent into totalitarianism more than any cabal that is pulling the strings of manipulation. Believing the world will go back to "normal" on its own, as long as they just trust and obey their leaders. But the problem isn't just with bad leaders. It is within the people, ourselves.
Klemperer chronicled his life journey as the Third Reich ascended in his daily diary. His voice reveals his sense of entitlement, how he didn't think the horrors being visited on others would visit on him. And when they did he became embittered that he, a man of his position, had been lumped in with the others who may have deserved their fate. He had converted from Judaism to Protestantism, yet was forced to endure the humiliations of Jews he didn't even like. Not even aware of his own responsibility for his plight that allowed him to become a victim. Because he did nothing, he even mildly supported the treatment of those who opposed the Nazi regime. Much like those who mildly supported the treatment of those who opposed mask and jab mandates. And censorship. And the arrest and indefinite detainment of J6 political prisoners. And the indictment of Pres. Trump. "THEY deserve(d) it!!"
Klemperer's writings are first-hand accounts of the banality of evil. How oblivious those who've experienced it's injustices and deprivations are to it. The rationalizations and justifications for evil that a human mind is capable of going through.
Survivor by Christopher Hitchens
The Atlantic, December, 2004
https://web.archive.org/web/20120823234807/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/12/survivor/303614/
I Will Bear Witness (Two parts):
https://archive.org/details/KlempererVictorIWillBearWitness19421945ADiaryOfTheNaziYears/Klemperer%2C%20Victor%20-%20I%20Will%20Bear%20Witness%20%20A%20Diary%20of%20the%20Nazi%20Years%2C%201933-1941/
The Lesser Evil:
https://archive.org/details/KlempererVictorTheLesserEvilTheDiariesOfVictorKlemperer194559
And as a related aside, the movie, Judgement at Nuremberg, tells us how the system itself failed because the people who were entrusted to protect the constitutional rights of Germans failed. It's cast included: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Werner Klemperer, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, and William Shatner.
https://archive.org/details/movie-judgment-at-nuremberg-1961
Note: Werner Klemperer was a cousin of Victor Klemperer.
Thank You for conveying this Story!!! Also grab a copy of “How German is It?” Novel by the Walter Abish