[lit-ideas] Re: Sacrifice
- From: "Richard Koenigsberg, Ph.D." <libraryofsocialscience@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2005 23:12:23 -0500
ANDREAS,
I think the Jonestown Mass-Suicide analogy is quite apt as a
description of what happened in the First World War. We often hear the
expression, "drink the Kool-Aid," which means "submit to the group," =
deny
your individuality (commit suicide).
Nazism was based on the fantasy that the individual could not exist
unless fused with the group. Hitler said, "You are nothing, your nation =
is
everything." This is the essence of all forms of totalitarianism: the
fantasy of self-negation in the name of the "group."
In the First World War, individuals "drank the Kool-Aid." When 900
people do it, we call it a "cult." When a million people do it, we call =
it
"culture."
With regards,
Richard Koenigsberg
____________________________________________________________
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-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx =
[mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Andreas Ramos
Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2005 1:37 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Sacrifice
> He is proud that even though his troops were "melting away under =
fire,"
the soldiers=20
> continued to advance "in admirable order." In the face of the barrage =
of
bullets, his men=20
> did not waver, break ranks, or attempt to come back.
It is difficult to emphasize with those men, to understand what they =
were
thinking and=20
feeling as they marched to their death. Did they realize they were going =
to
die? Did each=20
see his fellows ahead falling down? What led the individuals to supress
their personal=20
thoughts and take on the will of the group?
The event is unbelievable. If it hadn't happened, one couldn't imagine =
that
such a thing=20
could happen.
It would be quite a challenge to write a novel from the point of view of =
one
of those men=20
and let the reader understand how they felt and why they did that.
There's also the Jones Town mass suicide and the various cult suicides,
where everyone in=20
the group takes on a no-other-possibilities view.
yrs,
andreas
www.andreas.com=20
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