Fundamental Attribution Error
At the risk of sounding like an anti-semite. Was Hitler really that bad of a guy?
We’ve all heard the stories about concentration camps and mass murders, which are attributed to Hitler’s hatred and bigotry, but could Hitler of been a victim of his envirornment? Shouldn’t we try to avoid demonizing Hitler and really take a look at all the factors that went into his decisions in context?
In “War and Peace”, Tolstoy reveals his theory of history and goes to great lengths to show that Napoleon had no greater of an influence over France’s Empire than anyone else in the entire movement. There were millions of people involved from the homefront to the battle field that seem to play a lesser role than the emperor, but who in Tolstoy’s opinion were just as important to the overall movement as Napoleon himself.
Obviously Napoleon’s role was more notable and well known than any of the other player’s, but he was only at the top because the movement needed him there. A million different circumstances went into his takeover, and Napoleon happened to be at the right time and place for all of them. In other words, he did not independently rise to power and propell the movement, but instead he rose to power because the movement required it of him. The same is true of eveyone else in the movement. They were only in the positions they occupied because they alone were best suited to fill that role. Napolean had the history and background to make him the perfect emperor for the time and place.
Could not the same thing be said about Hitler? There is no doubt that there was evil at the heart of the movement, but should Hitler really be made the scapegoat for what millions of people had a hand in?
I’d love to hear what other people think of this, so don’t be afraid to speak your mind.
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Careful, this is explosive material, and no psychological terminology will soften the blow.
Hitler was neither a monster nor an anti-Semite to begin with. He was a misunderstood, awkward boy whose authoritarian father died leaving him with a strong sense of discipline and feebleness, and creating in him the urge to rebel and become an artist. Raised by women, he did not know how to be a man, and he loved no men, who reminded him of his father. Women, who instilled in him a fear of his father, shielded him at first but then increasingly intruded upon his private existence and propelled him toward usefulness. Rejected by the Viennese Art Academy, he painted postcards and ended up in a men’s boarding house – basically a refuge for homeless men. He bided his time reading pamphlets in the common room, political brochures hailing the German empire to be and proclaiming Austria as part of that entity. Without much fervor, he went to cafés, as many men did, to talk with others, and in the process found his love for Germany and politics, and a hatred toward Jews. He fled to Germany in order to escape the Austrian draft, fought in the war after all, took part in a public speaking class for chosen propagandists in Munich, became a member of ‘the party’, and the rest is disturbing history…
Hitler wasn’t inherently opposed to any race, he didn’t hate until he was taught how, but this cannot redeem him. He chose to join the party, he perpetuated the trend, he used his charisma and the public’s favor to plant hate, violence, evil. Although, perhaps, he was not evil, his ideas and methods were, and there can be no fundamental attribution error here. He believed in the cause as much as many of the men in high positions, and more than many who were merely trying for success at any cost. The apparatus behind the hatred worked to manufacture enemies, and to distort realities beyond reason, and it labored in such as fashion as to cut off the population of two countries from outside influence; the people knew only the propaganda and what they learned from school books, newspapers, films, and were no longer able to distinguish between their own sense of morality and the advertised ‘right thing to do.’ Imagine living in a world where you are bombarded with this type of lies (it’s not that hard) and then having to swim against the stream at your own great peril – how many of us would have to honestly say, damn, I wouldn’t have known better either, especially if we hadn’t seen it all before, as we have…
But to come back to him: he was the right guy for the job because he believed in the cause, he was not introspective enough to be perplexed at his complete lack of conscience, but clever enough to head up an operation that would fool millions into passivity or, worse, into action. He gave them a reason to fight, a people to hate, and unleashed a savageness that the history books will not dwell on, because it is not only an attribute of 1930’s German nationalists, but of all humans. Lured out of everyday self-discipline, there is no saying what men and women are capable of. Hitler was the right man for the job because he was not as passionate as so many others. He believed, he executed, he spearheaded, but he didn’t feel as strongly as others did. It may be a good thing for rulers that men don’t think, but it’s also a good thing for rulers that rulers don’t feel. So you can condemn him for his deeds, but perhaps you have to condemn the nation more, the many who subscribed to his doctrine and actually lived their lives by it, standing nothing to gain; and if you can condemn the nation, must you not condemn all humankind?
So once again it all becomes a question of heart vs. mind…and which not to follow.
PS: I’ve been having the same dreams…
Comment by neon fox tongue — On 12-27-05 at 1:51 pm
So let me get this straight…Hitler forces the people to listen to his anti-Semetic gibberish day and night, teaches them in school how inferior all the other races are, forces millions into slave labor and into death, uses human as guinea pigs, uses flawed and twisted logic at every turn to support his agenda - and it’s because he’s a product of his environment?
Yes, the German people were ripe for a dictator in 1933 but this is because they lost WWI and were in a major depression. They could have blamed Martians for it but instead chose the Jews.
Does this make it all right?
Comment by jimshitz — On 12-27-05 at 2:34 pm
and after all that shit I wrote…what jimshitz said.
Comment by neon fox tongue — On 12-27-05 at 2:40 pm
well i think that the point stately plump is trying to make is that first of all people are products of their environment. why did Hitler do the things he did, did he make himself into who he was or did the circumstances of his life make him who he was? (the same question can apply to you, me, anybody). and secondly, it’s very hard for one person alone to turn an entire country like that, there were historical forces in play that lead to the holocaust and hitler himself was just the most visible, the most iconic, manifestation of those forces, so he tends to get blamed. but if you went back in time and killed hitler, i surmise that someone else would have stepped up and played a very similar role
Comment by Prof. Snafu Halitosis — On 12-27-05 at 3:45 pm
I don’t doubt that (your last sentance) , Prof Snafu…(see my comment); however just because someone is a product of their environment doesn’t make what they do excuseable.
One day another Hitler will come - and he will be much more successful in his pursuits. I hope when this happens you will not be silly enough to excuse his actions based on the fact that he is of the Mergovian bloodline and destined to be a messiah.
Comment by jimshitz — On 12-27-05 at 11:20 pm
Jimmy, I don’t believe either of us ever said what he did was excusable. speculating on the cause of human behaviors doesn’t mean the rules of society or morality necessarily change.
Comment by Prof. Snafu Halitosis — On 12-28-05 at 3:10 am
Ah perhaps I misunderstood then…in which case…nevermind.
However, it sure doesn’t read that way to me.
Comment by jimshitz — On 12-28-05 at 12:35 pm
oh jim mercy me. god i love you. the point me thinks was to take a look at mankind in total, which is exactly what I preach. nice job of getting wheels spinning. “funny” part is if Hiltler’s art profeesor had not been such a jealous prick and told Adolf his work sucked, he would have been painting while the rest of the world was killing each other. for the record Hitler was half jewish.
Comment by reverend gisher — On 12-28-05 at 2:16 pm
As I understand…quite ironic - or hypocritical or something.
I apologize I read wrong, previously.
Comment by jimshitz — On 01-02-06 at 10:35 am
something these comments have made me think about is excusable actions. it seems that many people will make excuses to dismiss their actions. frat guys will say they were really drunk, germans circa 1940’s will say they were only told one thing, others will say that they are products of their environment. but these all just seem like excuses. fuck man, hitler did some said some really terrible things, but hitler didn’t kill 6 million jews. true, hitlers words inspired the killings, but it was the individuals who pulled the triggers.
don’t try and blame hitler, the environment, or the circumstances. take responsibility for your actions. in my mind killing is an inexcusable action. therefore if my government asked me to kill another person, i would say ‘no’. now if the government said ‘kill this other person or we will kill you’. then guess what i would say. guess. i would say ‘then kill me’. yes, this may sound extremely ideological, but it is what i believe.
then there is the whole argument about through my inaction i am killing other people, or through my actions i am necessitating that other die. if you argue this point then we have reached a stalemate, because your argument has become so irrational that it seems rational, but completely unarguable. if you can’t see the irrationality and firmly believe that it is a valid argument, then i will try and explain further, but know that i can’t convince the inconvincible.
Comment by trapped in the mouth — On 03-21-06 at 7:46 pm
Nice work man. You put all very nicely.
Our real work is moving past the stalemate. Let’s do it.
Comment by Stately, Plump — On 03-21-06 at 9:42 pm