Answering Questions asked in Class 9/25

I wanted to post about the discussion questions in class today. I believe in Browning's theory that ordinary men can kill under social pressure. I think the environment and our surroundings can influence a person's actions as well as social pressures, thus forcing people to commit evil actions or giving them a choice to do so. In our readings we read about how the internet influences people to take actions, by becoming a member in a sort of community online. People need to feel as if they belong somewhere, and exist for some purpose, and such hate groups attract the people that need that feeling in their life. Cults can do the same thing, they're breeding grounds for hate and violence. Ordinary people can be influenced to kill under social pressure ... and we all admitted that today, when some people said they would kill the innocent civilians to save their own life ... we were all asked if we would shoot the 100 or 50 people for injuring just one German life ... and people came up with scenarios, like if they had families to think of, but no matter what other circumstance, I believe to kill the 100 or 50 people just because one German was killed or was wounded is going along with the actions of 'evil' ... I would rather die than 'go along with' the command or keep living knowing what I had done was wrong. It's not even about being a martyr, it's about not following the evil actions of others, and standing up for what one believes in, since I know we all think killing and murdering innocent civilians is wrong. I think it's easier for youth to be brainwashed, since children look up to adults and mimic their actions. Children need to be taught the ways of the world, and once they get old enough can decide for themselves, but take the Hitler Youth for example, Mr. Schulz was 10 years old when he joined, innocent and naive. He said that his older brothers did not believe in what Hitler preached, because they were older, but he did because he was young. Children still have so much room to acquire knowledge, whereas adults take more time to learn new things or break/change old habits, in general. I think it's a sad fact of life thus far in the world that people turn their heads and pretend the bad things of the world don't affect them. Just because a situation may not directly affect a person, a state or a country doesn't mean it's not their duty to intervene. Instead of thinking about us vs. them, it should be all of humanity, as one, working to protect and help one another. As far as getting rid of the Holocaust Memorial Day and desinating a Genocide Memorial Day, I think any genocide should be remembered, separately. Each deserves a day of rememberance, and because the Holocaust was such a horrible event, the day should not be taken away. I can only hope that the people who need to find a place of belonging do so in a way that actually helps them, and can only hope that people start to see that we are all connected, because we are all people.