Until recently, liberal fantasy has dominated public discourse: the idea that people are fundamentally "good," and develop into cruel and "evil" human beings--only when compelled to become "obedient to authority."

An important scholar promulgating liberal mythology was Hannah Arendt in her famous Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil.

Eichmann was neither banal nor ordinary nor obedient. He genuinely wanted to kill Jews. This was his heart's desire; his fundamental objective; the purpose of his existence.

Rudolf Hoess wrote in COMMANDANT AT AUSCHWITZ (1956/2000). He (Eichmann) showed that he was completely obsessed with the idea of destroying every single Jew that he could lay his hands on: "Without pity and in cold blood we must complete this extermination as rapidly as possible."

Contemporary discourse similarly is dominated by belief in human goodness. The idea put forth repeatedly is that hatred, the wish to harm and desire to destroy--reflect moral failure.

There is unwillingness to recognize that--for some people--hatred and the wish to harm and desire to destroy...are conceived in a positive light.

Eichmann wanted to kill Jews. This was his heart's desire.

The desire to kill Jews was not only Eichmann's desire. It was the fundamental motive driving Hitler; the bedrock of Nazism. 

Richard Koenigsberg

rak@libraryofsocialscience.com