The Banality of Injustice

This means that injustice can appear ordinary and normal. Hannah Arendt, a German Jewish writer, coined the phrase "the banality of evil" in her 1963 account of the trial of the Nazi Adolph Eichmann in Jerusalem - Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. There was an expanded edition on 1994 (Penguin). She argued powerfully that we should not regard people like Eichmann, Himmler and Hitler as monsters - they were ordinary people alongside other ordinary people who persuaded each other that evil (murder, grievous bodily harm, causing starvation) is acceptable so that they could feel good after working efficiently for the boss, and guilty only if they let him down. They develop a pride in their work, comparable with any other craftsman. Viewed like this, we discover that similar people are everywhere, fortunately only active when the culture around them allows them to act with impunity. How for example in Rwanda could people turn against their neighbours so quickly, and executioners with machetes kill men women and children in cold blood and then do home for tea because they are tired? And consider it a normal day's work. Eichmann was absolutely normal. The psychiatrists examining him reported he had a good personality and desirable caring attitudes within friends and family. Arendt said, people like him "were, and still are, terribly and terrifyingly normal". At the time he had no concept that he was doing wrong. She called it "the fearsome, word-and-thought-defying banality of evil".

This can be applied to injustice. Normal people not thinking they are doing wrong by discriminating against people on grounds of race, colour or religion, especially if they feel sure of social approval. If the law of the land promotes it, then confidence grows that there will be no consequences for unjust actions. In other words, we live on the brink of civil war, with normal people viewing others as enemy. The trials of these 'normal' politicians in Nuremburg was in my lifetime. Rwanda and Bosnia have been in the lifetimes of most people reading this. This civil war is happening now.

So what about the 'banality of good' - creating a culture of authentic altruism, a caring society, so helping others is the normality, and selfish discrimination is considered unacceptable. Before we are self-righteous about this, how much are these ideals deep down in people's souls rather than being an unwelcome social constraint. Altruism today has to be informally policed by people prepared to stand up and be counted. Philip Zimbardo, the psychologist, talked of 'the banality of heroism', when being a hero resisting evil is what ordinary people do and not what elite people do.

Preparing children to be heroes is a serious task. Understanding the concepts of justice, altruism, and good as contrasting with unfairness, discrimination and evil are part of it; and challenging unacceptable attitudes and behaviour is the rest. As tools, parents and teachers can use example, stories, discussion and practical action. If being caring is developed as the normal thing to do, we are closer to having a society when kind and just actions become the norm.