One thing that contributes to the perpetuation of harm is not assuming collective responsibility for collective abuses. We tend to absolve ourselves and the majority of humanity, attributing cruelties and villainies to a few leaders or individuals and considering the rest of the population innocent. Many believe that there is a minority of psychopaths and bad people who commit these evils, but that the rest are not guilty because they are essentially good. But this is not the case.

For example, many are convinced that Hitler was a madman who managed to deceive and subjugate the German people with an iron fist. But the reality is that he had significant popular support. In fact, the elements of Nazism (nationalism, imperialism, militarism, antisemitism) were already widespread in German society (and others) even before Hitler was born.

Read LIVE WITHOUT CAUSING HARM: Let’s Reform the Harmful Part of the Far Right

Read HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT CAUSING HARM? Let’s Oppose Imperialism, Ethnicism, Xenophobia, Ultranationalism

He simply limited himself to realizing the dream of Kaiser Wilhelm II and many other Germans: a great empire that would allow Germany to stand at the top of the world powers, shoulder to shoulder with Great Britain.

In the 19th century, Germany had already surpassed this country industrially, and now there was a collective dream to reach its level militarily and imperially as well. In Wilhelm II’s Second Reich (from the late 19th century until the First World War), a fervent nationalism already predominated, which actually dated back to at least the early 19th century, to the point that anyone who was not a nationalist was under suspicion.

There was also strong militarism. The military order was above the civilian, and military and patriotic associations and clubs abounded. Many resources were dedicated to creating a fleet on par with the British and a large army to achieve a rapid and surprise invasion of Belgium and France. Those who disagreed with these aspirations, such as the social democrats, could be considered traitors to the homeland by the majority.

When the Kaiser sent troops to crush the Boxer Rebellion in China, he instructed the army to be ruthless with them, just as Hitler did with the peoples of Eastern Europe. Moreover, Wilhelm II had already spoken of exterminating Jews and doing so with gas years before Hitler. And also of conquering Lebensraum (living space) in Eastern Europe.

He was the expression of a widespread social breeding ground that also led to the First World War and not much later to the rise of Hitler, the Second World War, and the Holocaust. Today, historians know that the majority of Germans supported Hitler despite knowing about his abuses against Jews and other groups. In the elections, 44% of the electorate voted for him, but later support became much higher, both among Germans and Austrians, possibly widespread.

In fact, experts assert that dictatorships and authoritarian regimes have considerable social support, as it is otherwise difficult for them to be maintained.

And likewise, institutionalized injustices in societies are perpetuated over time (often centuries) because the majority of society is in favor of them. This is the case with the criminalization of homosexuals, even though they are innocent and harm no one, in Muslim-majority or Christian-majority countries. In these countries, sociological surveys show that most of the population is homophobic, and that is why politicians maintain abusive laws against the LGBTQI+ community.

The same can be said of slavery. At that time, there were no opinion polls, but in some places, like the American South, democratic elections were held, in which the Democratic Party, which at that time in the South protected slavery and the interests of plantation owners, was usually voted in by a majority.

And the same can be said of other horrors of the past, such as human sacrifices. And also of the present, such as, for example:

• The ETHNIC CLEANSING OF THE BALKANS carried out by the Serbs. There is an idea that the genocides, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed were the work of their president Milosevic and a few other bloodthirsty individuals. But the reality is that he had no other option but to commit all those atrocities, as it was his people who pressured him to do so.

• The INVASION OF UKRAINE BY RUSSIA and the human rights violations committed therein. Many believe it is Putin’s war and a few politicians and oligarchs surrounding him. But the truth is very different: most Russians share their president’s nationalist and imperialist sentiment. And also their traditionalist values of Orthodox Christian heritage that justify the fight against a decadent West (according to them). Consequently, Putin has some of the highest popularity ratings in the world, between 60% and almost 90%, rising to maximums when he undertakes conquests like the current one.

• The same can be said of the Ukrainians, who for years have done to the inhabitants of the DONBASS more or less the same as the Russians have done to Ukrainians, also committing human rights violations. All of this has been supported by the vast majority of the population (between 66% and 85%, according to different polls), which is uncompromisingly nationalist.

• The crimes against innocents mutually committed by the governments of ISRAEL AND GAZA, which in reality have broad support from their respective populations: 57-66% of Gazans and between 47-98% of Israeli Jews.

In summary, many atrocities often involve collective responsibility from the majority of society. Therefore, a reform of society as a whole is necessary, instead of applying a few patches. Because, moreover, large-scale harm can occur again at any time when certain circumstances arise, as happened in the First and Second World Wars.

How to carry out this reform? Read the answer in FOR A WORLD WITHOUT HARM: Let’s Reform Society.

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