I learned how dangerous dehumanization is when I went on a tour of the Holocaust Museum in DC. (SIde note: I recommend going there. It’s not a “happy” place to visit, but it’s an important one. Give yourself half a day for the museum and half a day to mentally recover. )
At one point, you can go through or around one of the train cars that transported Jews to the death camps. I walked inside and stopped. The plaque had said how many people were crammed inside, but I couldn’t mentally fit that many people in the train car.
Then, I realized my mistake. I was trying to fit PEOPLE. Even though the people I was trying to fit in were imaginary, I was still treating them like people. Once I tried fitting human shaped objects into the train car, I could easily fit that many.
Once you dehumanize a group of people, the door is opened to do anything you want to them because all societal guardrails for the treatment of your fellow humans are removed.
There is a very interesting debate raging at the moment about the nature of sin, for example,” said Oats.
“And what do they think? Against it, are they?” said Granny Weatherwax.
“It’s not as simple as that. It’s not a black and white issue. There are so many shades of gray.”
“Nope.”
"Pardon?”
“There’s no grays, only white that’s got grubby. I’m surprised you don’t know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That’s what sin is.
"It’s a lot more complicated than that . . .”
“No. It ain’t. When people say things are a lot more complicated than that, they means they’re getting worried that they won’t like the truth. People as things, that’s where it starts.”
“Oh, I’m sure there are worse crimes . . .”
“But they starts with thinking about people as things . . . ”
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Dehumanization is a page straight out of the authoritarian handbook.
I learned how dangerous dehumanization is when I went on a tour of the Holocaust Museum in DC. (SIde note: I recommend going there. It’s not a “happy” place to visit, but it’s an important one. Give yourself half a day for the museum and half a day to mentally recover. )
At one point, you can go through or around one of the train cars that transported Jews to the death camps. I walked inside and stopped. The plaque had said how many people were crammed inside, but I couldn’t mentally fit that many people in the train car.
Then, I realized my mistake. I was trying to fit PEOPLE. Even though the people I was trying to fit in were imaginary, I was still treating them like people. Once I tried fitting human shaped objects into the train car, I could easily fit that many.
Once you dehumanize a group of people, the door is opened to do anything you want to them because all societal guardrails for the treatment of your fellow humans are removed.
Relevant Pratchett passage:
— Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum