Re: Why DON'T you kill people?
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 9:41 pm
Over the years, I've thought about this a good deal as I've repeatedly heard calls about violence in the media I chose to consume. I do watch violent movies and play violent games. I've participated in violent sporting activities and own multiple firearms, amongst other tools of combat or warfare. I have no intention or desire to kill another human being, nor do I want to so much as hurt one if I can possibly avoid it. But I also realize that I will defend myself if necessary, and if that requires I kill another human being to save myself or others, then I will do it and suffer the consequences, be they legal, physical, or psychological. But I do not intentionally seek this scenario and would much prefer to avoid it altogether.
To Gamerforlife's point, yes, the military does require a certain amount of indoctrination as well as physical training to turn a recruit into a soldier. The easiest way to do this is to extol the virtues of whatever military or organization you are doing while intentionally dehumanizing whoever those soldiers are likely to face. It is much easier to kill any other animal than it is a human in terms of our psychology. Psychopaths also intentionally dehumanize their prey and other human beings in an attempt to elevate themselves over their own species.
And even when this level of indoctrination and the instillation of a kill-or-be-killed mentality are achieved, it does not necessarily make it easy for the person doing the fighting. My father was a soldier and has several confirmed kills, but though he did them during wartime, it bothers him to this day. Yes, he killed someone, and legally faced no repercussions because it was an act of warfare. But the psychological scars are still there, no matter what he has done to deal with it.
But my father has something that I think makes it easier for psychopaths or other violent or psychologically disturbed individuals to kill because they lack it: a respect and value for others. If dehumanizing works to make people seem like nothing more than animals or meat, then humanizing them has the opposite effect. For instance, humanizing African Americans was a vital part of the effort to abolish slavery in the US and then to desegregate America. When we conquered Native American territory, we told ourselves they were savages and nothing better, but now we struggle with our history when considering what we did because we attempt to foster a greater respect for their cultures that we managed to mangle in the assertion of our own dominance. The same is true for colonization around the world, where any government enabled the conquering and control of a "lesser" people.
Fear of retribution for not committing violent acts can also lead people to murder or to spy on others and turn over friends and neighbors to people whom they know will kill. Fear is what makes groups like the SS, the Stasi, or the NKVD so powerful.
To Gamerforlife's point, yes, the military does require a certain amount of indoctrination as well as physical training to turn a recruit into a soldier. The easiest way to do this is to extol the virtues of whatever military or organization you are doing while intentionally dehumanizing whoever those soldiers are likely to face. It is much easier to kill any other animal than it is a human in terms of our psychology. Psychopaths also intentionally dehumanize their prey and other human beings in an attempt to elevate themselves over their own species.
And even when this level of indoctrination and the instillation of a kill-or-be-killed mentality are achieved, it does not necessarily make it easy for the person doing the fighting. My father was a soldier and has several confirmed kills, but though he did them during wartime, it bothers him to this day. Yes, he killed someone, and legally faced no repercussions because it was an act of warfare. But the psychological scars are still there, no matter what he has done to deal with it.
But my father has something that I think makes it easier for psychopaths or other violent or psychologically disturbed individuals to kill because they lack it: a respect and value for others. If dehumanizing works to make people seem like nothing more than animals or meat, then humanizing them has the opposite effect. For instance, humanizing African Americans was a vital part of the effort to abolish slavery in the US and then to desegregate America. When we conquered Native American territory, we told ourselves they were savages and nothing better, but now we struggle with our history when considering what we did because we attempt to foster a greater respect for their cultures that we managed to mangle in the assertion of our own dominance. The same is true for colonization around the world, where any government enabled the conquering and control of a "lesser" people.
Fear of retribution for not committing violent acts can also lead people to murder or to spy on others and turn over friends and neighbors to people whom they know will kill. Fear is what makes groups like the SS, the Stasi, or the NKVD so powerful.
