CLICK HERE to watch Dr. Ron Scott’s presentation.
This recording was made with consent of all attendees at our CT3 monthly meeting on October 20, 2022.
Discovering and Addressing the Banality of Evil.
Ron Scott, Ph.D., Colonel, USAF (Ret,) President of STARRS: Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services, Inc.
Presentation Summary: America’s culture and its institutions are being fundamentally transformed. The transformation represents a radicalism that is contrary to the ideals and principles upon which America was founded. The radicalism also represents the banality of evil.
In 1963, American philosopher Hannah Arendt published a book with the title, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. The book detailed her observations at the Eichmann trial while representing The New Yorker Magazine in 1961. Eichmann was the German Third Reich’s architect for The Final Solution-the extermination of millions of Jews. Ironically, the atrocities representing the “Final Solution” seemed less controversial than Arendt’s treatment of Jewish complicity in carrying out the solution.
Here is an excerpt from the book’s introduction: “Eichmann’s alleged banality was the main reason the book provoked such a storm. Most people still assumed that murder was committed by monsters or demons. Another reason was a brief comment on the Nazi-appointed ‘Jewish Councils’ (Judenräte.) Unable to see through the Nazi scheme, acting in the vain hope that they were serving the best interests of local Jews, the distinguished notables of the Judenräte had inadvertently become instruments of Nazi determination to eliminate a maximum number of Jews with a minimum of administrative effort and cost.” This speech addresses evidence of America’s banality of evil and offers a prescription for its remedy.
Here is the handout provided at the end of the presentation on what you can do to make a difference and get involved: Citizens Action Plan
Dr. Scott gave this presentation to CT3 free-of-charge. If you liked it, please thank him by making a donation: www.STARRS.us