The Problem of Overpopulation in Hell

 

Hitler's smirk

My daughter asks the obvious question.

“Since we all know Hitler was such a terrible person, why did the Germans vote for him?”

We usually dishonestly conceal the problem with the absurd claim that Hitler was mad. It was all one guy. Everyone else is innocent.

But people do not accept orders from a madman. Ask King George III.

And Hitler is not the worst example. Mao did not start a word war, but he killed perhaps 30 million Chinese with his policies. And Mao is still revered. His face is on the Chinese banknotes. While in China in the early nineties, I saw an altar to him at a Buddhist temple, and a woman kowtowing to him.

Hitler’s great fault was only that he failed. That is what he cannot be forgiven for.

Such is the way of the world. Most people do not resist evil; they are not troubled by it. Most people will embrace it, so long as they think they can get away with it and there is something in it for them.

Hitler promised the Germans prosperity: better pensions, free vacations, higher education for all, the riches of the Jews, and the booty of conquered lands. Mao promised the mass of average folks the booty of the rich; as do socialists in general, justifying invariably bloody means. So did Idi Amin. And most of the people backed each of them enthusiastically; at least so long as they thought they would benefit.

Similarly, the current Canadian or American regime of unrestricted and free abortion promises sexual pleasure at will. So the average person is perfectly happy to kill any number of children.

At the Banff Publishing Workshops, challenged to come up with book ideas, I was warned: nothing will sell that asks the reader to make any sort of personal sacrifice. If a problem is to be addressed, others must always be scapegoated.

We must not ignore the guilt of the average person.

The average person is immoral. Morality is exceptional. This is also why, with remarkable consistency, the general and accepted position on any contentious issue is a lie.

All evil needs is a suitable bribe, sand a promise of impunity, and it's off to the races.

 It is a fallen world.