Milgram called the production of an end product within a complex organization through the combined actions of multiple individuals "the fragmentation of the total human act". No one individual carries out every aspect of an outcome, but each bears some relationship to the outcome by being a part of the Whole causing it. Milgram went on to emphasize that such fragmentation "may illustrate a dangerously typical situation in complex society: it is psychologically easy to ignore responsibility when one is only an intermediate link in a chain of evil action but is far from the final consequences of the action." "Dangerously typical" he mused.
If one considers "evil action" as ongoing wars based on the falsehoods of governmental authority figures, and "final consequences" as millions of human lives destroyed by one's own "complex society", one might wonder what manner of "intermediate link" the self fulfills if one's country truly is "of and by the people". As a taxed citizen I am a facet, however small, in a multifaceted republic that has become an imperial force wreaking havoc across the globe, particularly now in the Middle East, causing agony and heartbreak on an absolutely massive scale. Eichmann, a bureaucrat disgusted by slaughter, felt innocent because he did not kill directly. I too am disgusted by slaughter and fire no shot, but I continue as loyal and obedient citizen expected to "support our troops" who kill civilians in wars that are criminal according to international laws drafted largely by my own country back when it was led by authorities with different designs than authorities currently at the helm.
It is not beyond my imagination to one day find myself facing a tribunal led by citizens from countries devastated by the wars of the American Empire. What did I as a citizen do? What did I as a citizen fail to do that I should have done? Such imaginings must also have occurred within our government, as it was careful enough to create the 2002 Hague Invasion Act as it was gearing up for its 2003 illegal invasion of Iraq.
As long as there might be a bomb-building fanatic somewhere loose in the world (forever), our current crop of governmental, military and media authorities insist that we accept that the War on Terror must go forward in our name. Such a war, orchestrated to have no end, requires not only an army to fight it, but also a civilian society that is either supportive or, if not, uncaring or obedient enough to avoid interfering in the operation. The millions who in 2003 stormed the streets against the invasion of Iraq seem to have pulled back, even as our wars proliferate and ever more military and intelligence figures seek to fill the U.S. Congress. As I try to understand the role and obligation of an individual citizen within the Whole of Imperial America, I have a vague sense of complicity and a need to somehow find a brake on the madness.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
3
2
2
