The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #77802   Message #1392456
Posted By: Jeri
29-Jan-05 - 02:28 PM
Thread Name: Auschwitz and other mass murder
Subject: RE: Auschwitz and other mass murder
I don't think the saying typically comes with the doing. I think there are folks who think if they discuss something enough, they've gotten something accomplished. Mostly not.

There DOES come a point when doing and saying are the same thing, but not unless you're talking to people who listen. The internet doesn't count, because people don't pay attention. They're often reading a message looking for something to argue with. At the very least, they're thinking about what they want to say, not what they're reading. Speeches, editorials, letters to the editor - these things might fit into the "doing" category. It's fine to talk, to debate, simply for debate's sake. Somebody might discover a question or think about an answer. It's not likely to make the world a better place though. Anyway, on topic...

Human beings can and do find enough justification for just about everything, and small things gradually become more acceptable, more 'normal'. Sometimes those small things pile up into one big horror. I'll agree that there's nothing even close to the Holocaust in terms of numbers of people killed. It should be remembered, and it should be studied, if only so we can recognize that particular evil when it comes around again. The problem is that people may not see or admit it's starting because they're too busy making excuses and saying why now is different from then.

Auschwitz was the horror it was not because of numbers of victims, but because of everything that had to happen in order for all those people to be murdered. All of the blind eyes turned, all of the rationalizing and excuses made for a charismatic leader, all of the desensitizing, all the lies believed because people wanted to believe, all of the questions left unasked because questioning wasn't patriotic, and all of it starting so small and slow and righteous that people never noticed - never imagined how it would turn out. We have to recognize that process when it starts in order to keep it from happening again, and it could happen again.