Great essay Barry. And extremely timely. Of all the footage of student protests I have watched recently the one that haunts me the most is when some speaker with a microphone speaks in short phrases, and the crowd of students repeat the short phrases word for word. I keep thinking to myself “Are these really college students who were supposed to learn to think for themselves? To have their own will?”
Thanks, Barry - Especially enjoyed your analysis - "...see what happens to an ordinary man who abandons virtue and chooses to surrender to a government with absolute power."
Appears to me, the first step in that process is to take, or seek, a paycheck funded by forced theft from you neighbors, or by counterfeit currency by government and crony banks.
Yes, we like the delusion that Hitler's servants were once in a century aberrations - not the public school teacher down the street, or Doctors following vaccine commandments.
Your last paragraph is especially chilling. We falsely comfort ourselves with beliefs that history happens somewhere else in the past. Yet, today, as you say the school teacher down the street may be helping a child transition without informing their parents and on and on. Like Hitler's servants, today's servants may believe they are serving a greater good.
great piece, but golly, half the problem is the servants of tyranny--many young'uns with uncritical minds--have no clue whom they're servin'! (If only they did know!)
"Our" tyrants are "their" heroes (the kids cheerin' for censorship for "microaggressions" an' "toxic" pronoun use....an' anything Trump, etc). The ugly voices of Hollyweird & the MSM--that led them to "hate" half the country.... They see no irony in wantin' to curb the freedom (they call it free-dumb) of speech the rest of us hold dear...
In a way, they're all a bunch' a "Hesses." Just as "Hess" was banal, ordinary, an' ONLY had mild regret after bein' "told" ta feel bad at the time of his late-life reckoning, I literally doubt his full sincerity 'cept to instill in his kinder better values in this children... I know of fellers like this...
From various sources (some known personally), I kin vouch that some of the most "good vater vigures" are men in the MOB (twisted I know I know). Durin' the day they either act as the tyrants that order "hits"--or they act upon orders from tyrants that order the hits--but come 6pm they are "fambly men" sharin' dinner, complimentin' their wives (oft bearin' flowers or gifts for the missus an' the kiddies) an' bouncin' said kiddies on their bespoke-sharkskin-suited laps. There are wayyyy too many of them ta be psychopaths... They take no pleasure in bein' inhumane (mostly) but believe they're doin' what they gotta do. Servin' "liberty" is so far outta their wheelhouse it's invisible...
These tough-guy "goombas" follow the "rules" of their group (cosa nostra, etc)--to that they are loyal. Freedom would be relative...
So, a true yarn here... related to the ordinary worship a code of group-"(un)ethics".... I know an actor that got hired by a very rich fella ta "be" Santy Claus for a family in "Joisey." The guy told my friend that he would be helping some of his (the guy's) very own family--his nieces, nephews, sister-in-law. All expenses paid--car service ta take him from NYC to Joisey an' back.
Now--as we acteurs ain't exactly deep pocketed--my pal said yes immediately. He agreed ONLY ta find out "in the moment" that the wife & kiddies he showed up to entertain an' bring a car-load of gifts to--had just 48 hours before lost their husband/father -- murdered by "falling off their roof in an accident" -- ordered (clearly) by his brother. My friend had no idear until he greeted the sobbin' widow & kids at the door (a chauffer had taken him--he never met the man that hired him).
He did his chob (you bet, if he hadn't well... you can imagine), brought the gifts, sat the kids on his lap an' heard their xmas wishlists, and was flabbergasted he wuz hired two weeks BEFORE the father was taken out...but his brother. So again, the man did this to his SISTER in law murderin' his brother --the father of his nices & nephews. An' ya know what--this is NOT uncommon. This is bizness as usual an' velly much like "Hess"... I man the man that ordered the hit. My friend? A useful (hate ta say it) idiot...
I think folks justify what they do for their "group" or their "brotherhood" or their "vaterland" (homeland per the entity known as "Biden") so.... I worry that most folks could not even comprehend what'cha wrote here as to them it means makin' some important distinctions... Whom they do serve is as abstract as "liberty" (malleable, clearly) and the value of human life (low in value) at least when it's "othered" (or "scapegoated") conveniently to make its loss "negotiable"--or even "justified"
Lotta folks, as ya say, believe what came from the top... not only not questioning, welcomin' their "freedom" from questioning, thinkin', an' making difficult decisions... Can we turn the tables? I hope so--we need about 3% minimum...
yer mighty welcome Barry--yup with each new "genera-shun" they're followers (self described ones too!) of the leaders (many tyrants among 'em) like the Lost Boys (how apt!) follerin' Peter Pan in imaginary Neverland. It's a world (whirled!) of influencers now, no thoughtful debate, all "air" an' mindless (I'm sad ta say). The plastic faces that enter homes now aren't a bit like the ones I remember (with my ma & my grandparents stayin' up late DEBATIN' every episode with a will!)-- David Susskind, David Frost, Tom Snyder, even Phil Donahue--Face the Nation, Meet the Press--etc etc. One way ya tell Tyrants from Freedom Lovers is lettin' 'em talk, lettin' 'em answer hard questions (few softballs!).
Thx! My sense is "Zone" would indeed be hard watchin'--far easier to swallow when the monsters are played by heavies vs "regular" people that--like the mobsters I mentioned--can be ruthless killers (not ignorant by any means) and still live, eat, enjoy life with no qualms whatever. That's the rub!
Not so happy 'bout the director's (Glazer's) speech at the Oscars tho--much as I'm a peacenik, fer golly sakes, nope, Israel has NOT taken on the role of the Nazis in the Holocaust (egads, really?!) disconnect there...
Does anyone screen The Sorrow and the Pity anymore, or has that film become merely a footnote in the movie Annie Hall? So many have lost their way. There is no teaching of critical thinking anymore. Wonderful, thought-provoking piece, as always. I agree with the person who posted about civil servants and doctors who just follow orders. I had a hospitalist snap at me that I was an idiot for not taking the jab after I carefully explained my medical history.
Great essay Barry. And extremely timely. Of all the footage of student protests I have watched recently the one that haunts me the most is when some speaker with a microphone speaks in short phrases, and the crowd of students repeat the short phrases word for word. I keep thinking to myself “Are these really college students who were supposed to learn to think for themselves? To have their own will?”
Thanks, Neal.
Absolutely, the repetitive chanting is nightmarish and dystopian.
Thanks, Barry - Especially enjoyed your analysis - "...see what happens to an ordinary man who abandons virtue and chooses to surrender to a government with absolute power."
Appears to me, the first step in that process is to take, or seek, a paycheck funded by forced theft from you neighbors, or by counterfeit currency by government and crony banks.
Yes, we like the delusion that Hitler's servants were once in a century aberrations - not the public school teacher down the street, or Doctors following vaccine commandments.
I agree, Larry.
Your last paragraph is especially chilling. We falsely comfort ourselves with beliefs that history happens somewhere else in the past. Yet, today, as you say the school teacher down the street may be helping a child transition without informing their parents and on and on. Like Hitler's servants, today's servants may believe they are serving a greater good.
great piece, but golly, half the problem is the servants of tyranny--many young'uns with uncritical minds--have no clue whom they're servin'! (If only they did know!)
"Our" tyrants are "their" heroes (the kids cheerin' for censorship for "microaggressions" an' "toxic" pronoun use....an' anything Trump, etc). The ugly voices of Hollyweird & the MSM--that led them to "hate" half the country.... They see no irony in wantin' to curb the freedom (they call it free-dumb) of speech the rest of us hold dear...
In a way, they're all a bunch' a "Hesses." Just as "Hess" was banal, ordinary, an' ONLY had mild regret after bein' "told" ta feel bad at the time of his late-life reckoning, I literally doubt his full sincerity 'cept to instill in his kinder better values in this children... I know of fellers like this...
From various sources (some known personally), I kin vouch that some of the most "good vater vigures" are men in the MOB (twisted I know I know). Durin' the day they either act as the tyrants that order "hits"--or they act upon orders from tyrants that order the hits--but come 6pm they are "fambly men" sharin' dinner, complimentin' their wives (oft bearin' flowers or gifts for the missus an' the kiddies) an' bouncin' said kiddies on their bespoke-sharkskin-suited laps. There are wayyyy too many of them ta be psychopaths... They take no pleasure in bein' inhumane (mostly) but believe they're doin' what they gotta do. Servin' "liberty" is so far outta their wheelhouse it's invisible...
These tough-guy "goombas" follow the "rules" of their group (cosa nostra, etc)--to that they are loyal. Freedom would be relative...
So, a true yarn here... related to the ordinary worship a code of group-"(un)ethics".... I know an actor that got hired by a very rich fella ta "be" Santy Claus for a family in "Joisey." The guy told my friend that he would be helping some of his (the guy's) very own family--his nieces, nephews, sister-in-law. All expenses paid--car service ta take him from NYC to Joisey an' back.
Now--as we acteurs ain't exactly deep pocketed--my pal said yes immediately. He agreed ONLY ta find out "in the moment" that the wife & kiddies he showed up to entertain an' bring a car-load of gifts to--had just 48 hours before lost their husband/father -- murdered by "falling off their roof in an accident" -- ordered (clearly) by his brother. My friend had no idear until he greeted the sobbin' widow & kids at the door (a chauffer had taken him--he never met the man that hired him).
He did his chob (you bet, if he hadn't well... you can imagine), brought the gifts, sat the kids on his lap an' heard their xmas wishlists, and was flabbergasted he wuz hired two weeks BEFORE the father was taken out...but his brother. So again, the man did this to his SISTER in law murderin' his brother --the father of his nices & nephews. An' ya know what--this is NOT uncommon. This is bizness as usual an' velly much like "Hess"... I man the man that ordered the hit. My friend? A useful (hate ta say it) idiot...
I think folks justify what they do for their "group" or their "brotherhood" or their "vaterland" (homeland per the entity known as "Biden") so.... I worry that most folks could not even comprehend what'cha wrote here as to them it means makin' some important distinctions... Whom they do serve is as abstract as "liberty" (malleable, clearly) and the value of human life (low in value) at least when it's "othered" (or "scapegoated") conveniently to make its loss "negotiable"--or even "justified"
Lotta folks, as ya say, believe what came from the top... not only not questioning, welcomin' their "freedom" from questioning, thinkin', an' making difficult decisions... Can we turn the tables? I hope so--we need about 3% minimum...
(ps Zone of Interest duz sound interestin')
Daisy, Thank you for the kind words and powerful message about uncritical minds and how we justify the darkness within.
I'm watching Zone of Interest now; taking it in small chunks. A sobering movie for sure.
yer mighty welcome Barry--yup with each new "genera-shun" they're followers (self described ones too!) of the leaders (many tyrants among 'em) like the Lost Boys (how apt!) follerin' Peter Pan in imaginary Neverland. It's a world (whirled!) of influencers now, no thoughtful debate, all "air" an' mindless (I'm sad ta say). The plastic faces that enter homes now aren't a bit like the ones I remember (with my ma & my grandparents stayin' up late DEBATIN' every episode with a will!)-- David Susskind, David Frost, Tom Snyder, even Phil Donahue--Face the Nation, Meet the Press--etc etc. One way ya tell Tyrants from Freedom Lovers is lettin' 'em talk, lettin' 'em answer hard questions (few softballs!).
Thx! My sense is "Zone" would indeed be hard watchin'--far easier to swallow when the monsters are played by heavies vs "regular" people that--like the mobsters I mentioned--can be ruthless killers (not ignorant by any means) and still live, eat, enjoy life with no qualms whatever. That's the rub!
Not so happy 'bout the director's (Glazer's) speech at the Oscars tho--much as I'm a peacenik, fer golly sakes, nope, Israel has NOT taken on the role of the Nazis in the Holocaust (egads, really?!) disconnect there...
Does anyone screen The Sorrow and the Pity anymore, or has that film become merely a footnote in the movie Annie Hall? So many have lost their way. There is no teaching of critical thinking anymore. Wonderful, thought-provoking piece, as always. I agree with the person who posted about civil servants and doctors who just follow orders. I had a hospitalist snap at me that I was an idiot for not taking the jab after I carefully explained my medical history.