How Can Good People Do Bad Things?

An article in the Washington Post Magazine got me thinking about this question again. The article, "Guarding the Truth," is about a woman, now 83 years old, who was a German concentration camp guard late in World War II. It's interesting reading, primarily because it offers insight into that most puzzling question: how did so many ordinary people, people just like you and I, go along with the evil they must have seen evidence of all around them?

With the passing of time I've begun to wonder why so many of us find it hard to understand, why do we still see the Nazis as a special case? We've seen so many other examples, in Southeast Asia and Africa, for instance, as well as places not so far from home. It seems clear that most of us will go along with those in positions of authority, even if we have some private reservations. That's why we generally obey the law, even when we think it's silly, or do what we're told to do at work, even if we think it's pointless, or sometimes even if we think it's mistaken. Those who question authority usually find themselves in the minority, and that's a tough place to be.

The Post article points out that there is no evidence that those few who refused to serve as guards were actually punished. But I wonder what further research would reveal about the fates of those who declined to follow orders and do as they were told. Perhaps they were not exactly punished, but I can hardly believe they were rewarded for their resistance to authority. This is no defense for those who go along with an evil regime, and certainly no excuse for those who excel in or even enjoy carrying out such duties. But they must have been remarkable indeed who declined to go along and found ways to avoid participation, not to mention those who actually put their lives at risk to prevent the evils they saw around them being perpetrated by their countrymen.

Most of us probably assume that we would have behaved differently, that we would have known where to draw a line. How can we be so sure? Certainly, when the stakes are much lower, many of us tend to go along with the crowd. After all, we're taught from childhood to follow rules and obey authority figures? When we see someone disobey the rules or resist authority, our first reaction is often to call for stricter enforcement of the rules, or for even tougher rules. Few things are so annoying to civilized folk as putting up with those among us who won't obey orders or follow the rules. And perhaps we'd be nuts to inculcate any other attitude. But then how do we insist on respect for authority on the one hand and still expect those confronted with moral dilemmas to resist authority and even disobey? Why was that supposed to be easier when those in charge were Nazis?