2. Convince the subject of a duty to obey. In the experiment, the authority reminded the subject he/she had volunteered and agreed to abide by the rules and the results of the experiment depended upon the subject’s cooperation. The subject had a duty.

When getting people to be good Nazis, authorities stress “duty”. No coincidence, rigid authoritarian control systems like the military who discourage any questioning of authority, place high emphasis and value on the virtue of “duty”. When this is effective, the subject’s response is, “Its gotta be done...Its a dirty job but somebody’s got to do it...I must obey.”

3. Convince the subject that the authorities are in charge for a reason. Over and over, Milgram’s authority figure would hijack any debate by asserting he was in charge and knew what he was doing. The man in the labcoat would abuse his authority and demand compliance. This is the type of authority we are all taught from birth to respect.

When getting people to be good Nazis, it is essential to exploit their inclination to obey authority figures due to a perceived superior knowledge or expertise. When this dynamic is effective, the subject’s response is: “I hope they know what they’re doing....who am I to question....?”

4. Convince the subject that the other deserves it. Milgram’s authority figure would remind the subject that the person getting shocked had volunteered, knew the rules, and had gotten questions wrong...and knew the consequences. He or she deserved it.

When getting people to be good Nazis, they must be persuaded that they serve a greater justice even if they don’t personally see it. They must see their victim(s) as “not like us”, somehow “deserving” of the treatment the subject inflicts. When convinced to withdraw human empathy, the subject’s response is “he/she must have done something to deserve this....after all, he/she is only a [fill in the blank with a ‘lesser’ status here: job status, ethnic designation, social class indicator, etc.]”

All these dynamics are mutually reinforcing. That is, they all work best in combination. “You’re not responsible, you’re just following orders here, but the program is depending on you, you accepted this duty. I’m in charge and take full responsibilty. Besides, ‘X’ is _____ and brought this on himself.” Milgram thus identified the dynamics,the ingredients, to get individuals to do what they otherwise would not do, even to the point of committing atrocities.

The name of this field of study is “mind control”. Why not “mind liberation”? If the Milgram studies and the thousands since that built upon Milgram’s foundations had been applied for the purpose of, say, making all people aware of the potential for mind manipulation and the way authority figures exploit our deference to them, then this field of study would certainly be called “mind liberation.” But the simple fact is, this is not broadly how these findings have been applied.

Think of this: in a truly free society, everyone would be taught in school about Stanley Milgram’s conclusions and we would be given a kind of “psychological self defense” class so we would never fall victim to these manipulations. We would recognize and resist them.

Instead, the most widespread application of these findings has been for governments and social institutions to increase their control over people. They have been used to increase perception of an external source of power rather than internal, an idea of authorities rightfully posessing power rather than the individual. From every sector, the messages that reinforce cooperation and participation are bombarding us--from government, corporations, and the media. There now exists the most complex and effective mind-control system ever devised for keeping everyone going along with the program--no matter what the program inevitably is.

These mind-control techniques are particularly important in spheres such as the military and prisons--those components of the system that provide for expansion and colonization on one hand and internal repression on the other. The workers in these areas are often selected according to psychological profiles (those most inclined to be manipulated and who posess an unquestioning respect for authority), and they are subsequently subjected to a well-orchestrated regimen of mind-control designed to militate a specific, pro-authority worldview. Based largely on the findings of Milgram and others, agents of this vast control system are “programmed” and hard-wired to be good Nazis.1 Given the evidence, it would appear that nobody does it better. The American worker has taken a 50% pay cut over the last 30 years while government expanded its powers into every domain, rolling back individual rights to create the most objectively un-free society in human history. The ruling elite has expanded its empire into every realm, used poor kids as sandbags and reduced everyone to sweatshop workers. The internal repression machinery--the most complex in human history--distorts and butchers the minds of millions in order to secure a resistance-free future. The Nazi program, limited in time and scope, pales in comparison to the current fascist order that has existed for decades, successfully disguising the character of its larger agenda by pushing a sales pitch that provides an illusion of freedom. Given this objective reality, we have a duty to educate ourselves to identify and analyze and thus neutralize the impact of proven mind control techniques.

But further, when we recognize authorities exist employing these techniques to diminish us and turn us into weapons against ourselves, then we must see that the authority figure with his clipboard is our common enemy. Only when we awaken everyone can we strip the enemy of his lab coat and toss him down the steps, naked and defeated.
And that is our healthy respect for authority.

FOOTNOTE:
1 Keep in mind, Milgram’s experiments dealt specifically with the individual. As subsequent research demonstrated, there exists a science for manipulating groups of people, with a high degree of predictability.

Sean Swain #203245
PO Box 80033
Toledo, OH 43608