Ethicist Jonathan Glover applied the same questions cross-culturally, looking at the genocides in Bosnia and Rwanda in addition to Germany, and came to the same conclusions. Dictating a set of authority-based rules turns out to be the worst thing we can do for ethical development — yet we are continuously urged to do exactly this because it feels ever-so-decisive and bold.
This doesn’t make any sense. Chaotic massacres perpetrated by fired-up raging mobs and undisciplined armies are very different from bureaucratically planned and systematically organized mass killings such as those done under the Nazis or Bolsheviks. While I can see some sense in asking how authoritarian aspects of culture and upbringing were relevant in cases of the latter sort, it’s entirely misleading to lump them together with the former. If the quoted summary is accurate, the described work is likely just bullshit tailored to support the author’s preconceptions.
They should go to Rwanda and see if they can replicate their findings.
from the linked article:
This doesn’t make any sense. Chaotic massacres perpetrated by fired-up raging mobs and undisciplined armies are very different from bureaucratically planned and systematically organized mass killings such as those done under the Nazis or Bolsheviks. While I can see some sense in asking how authoritarian aspects of culture and upbringing were relevant in cases of the latter sort, it’s entirely misleading to lump them together with the former. If the quoted summary is accurate, the described work is likely just bullshit tailored to support the author’s preconceptions.