How "monsters" come to be

Here are some quotes as to why I thought your thesis (whatever it is) has so much to do with bigotry.

big·ot (bgt)
n.
One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.

You wrote:

were committed by quite normal people that just happened to see different people as others

they referred to themselves with a denomination that could be roughly translated as "People" and referred to other people with words that could be roughly translated as "Others", "Things", "Creatures" making quite clear that they saw themselves as being somewhat superior.

Stalin always saw himself as being superior. Stalin saw himself as more apt and more willing. Others were just commodities... <snip>
... to exploit and eliminate those he deemed unfit.

People that are different in some way, and are as seen as not being "real" people, but backward people at best.

As soon as people all over the place realize that people all over the place are people all over the place

If your argument has so little to do with bigotry, I'm really confused why it's such a central focus of the argument.

Again, if you could just state, in a single sentence, what your argument is, it might help get the discussion on track (for me, at least).

Originally posted by joneschr
Again, if you could just state, in a single sentence, what your argument is, it might help get the discussion on track (for me, at least).

Here are some sentences that summarize the main idea, albeit in a simpler way:

As soon as people all over the place realize that people all over the place are people all over the place, "monsters" will become rarer and rarer instances in our joint History.

It's all about consistency and coherence: applying to ourselves the judgment we apply to others. If anything, even more stringent values on ourselves.

Moral disengagement is a very dangerous thing and most of us aren't Stalin because we don't have power.

People should question themselves with the same intensity that they question their enemies.

Hope that helps.

Originally posted by joneschr
Here are some quotes as to why I thought your thesis (whatever it is) has so much to do with bigotry.

I'll give the OP five out of five for earnestness, one for lucidity, and three for what may or may not be some kind of latent propensity for cultural condescension, assuming that the OP sought a three or more for that.

Originally posted by adam warlock
Here are some sentences that summarize the main idea, albeit in a simpler way:

As soon as people all over the place realize that people all over the place are people all over the place, "monsters" will become rarer and rarer instances in our joint History.

It's all about consistency and coherence: applying to ourselves the judgment we apply ...[text shortened]... selves with the same intensity that they question their enemies.

Hope that helps.

I think one of Jesus' classic parables captures the essence of what you're saying. The world would be a much better place if everyone stopped acting like the pharisee and always followed the example of the tax collector.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharisee_and_the_Publican

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."