» posted on Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 at 6:43 pm by Andy D
Book Review: How Do You Kill 11 Million People?
“The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government, is to live under the government of worse men.”
-Plato
I heard about this book while I was on vacation, and had to run out and pick it up. It’s a small book, and can be read in one setting. I hope you read this review and run out and grab your own copy.
“How Do You Kill 11 Million People?” by Andy Andrews looks at the importance of politicians telling the truth. Some of the recent discussions on here have turned to questions of truth and politicians. I thought this also made it an interesting subject since we are going through a presidential election right now. Mr. Andrews looks at why its’ important for us to keep our elected officials honest. He does this with a case study: How was Hitler able to kill 11 million people inside of Germany without its people rising up against him?
Hitler started with a small lie. The Nazi’s would go to a community and start erecting fencing and barbed wire around it. They would warn the community that the Russians were on their way and the fencing was for the protection of the community. The community accepted it because, after all, the government was only trying to protect them. At some point, officials from the government would show up to meet with the community. According to Andrews, an official would say something similar to this:
Jews: At last, it can be reported to you that the Russians are advancing on our eastern front. I apologize for the hasty way we brought you into our protection. Unfortunately, there was little time to explain. You have nothing to worry about. We want only the best for you. You will leave here shortly and be sent to very fine places indeed. You will work there, your wives will state at home, and your children will go to school. You will have wonderful lives. We will all be terribly crowded on the trains, but the journey is short. Men? Please keep your families together and board the railcars in an orderly manner. Quickly now, my friends, we must hurry!
There are two reasons why we should all pay close attention to Mr. Andrews books. First, he isn’t arguing from a Republican / Conservative or Democrat / Liberal point of view. Instead, he is only trying to point out what can happen when we don’t hold our elected officials accountable. Second, he isn’t arguing that anyone currently in government is going to start killing people in our communities. However, unchecked, they might someday.
One way Mr. Andrews suggests keeping our elected officials honest: verify what they say. With the advent of the internet, youtube, and blogs like this one, it’s easy to verify what any candidate or activist says. Voting records of most elected officials are public record. Most people believe politicians are dishonest, but how many times have you actually fact checked anything a politician said to you?
This should apply to politicians we disagree with AND agree with. While everyone wants Congress and the Senate kicked out of office, most people would like to keep their representative. Yet, how many of us believe our own representatives are honest with us? How much dishonesty are we willing to accept from a candidate?
How Do You Kill 11 Million People? is a very quick read, but is very powerful. Mr. Andrews says in his book that:
I wrote this book for you to use as a tool. I wrote it for you to give away. I wrote it for you to discuss and preach about and read to your children. I believe that now, more than ever, America needs to be challenged and inspired to participate.
I challenge you to check up on your own favorite candidate and on the President during this election cycle.
filed under Book Review | 6 comments
Gerrit said:
Feb 10, 12 at 4:05 amSounds like good reading. However, I think one question is important : how to define “honesty”? To promise someone a gift and then forget it, may strictly mean not keeping a promise, but the impact is minimal to nothing. I’m sure most parents have at times lied to their children, not for the sake of lying but to calm them down when they needed to be protected against a true but harmful (if they were not shielded from it) place or event. I’m sure all of us have broken a promise from time to time, mostly because of coincidence or without bad intentions, rather then deliberately breaking promises.
A politician is a human being. hence, I’m sure every single politician, no matter what party or ideology, has broken promises at some point. No human is perfect. Two things are important though:
a) did one break a promise he was never sincere about? There’s a huge difference between trying to keep your promise but circumstances standing in your way to do so, or making a promise with the intention to break it anyway. The latter is a downward lie, the other is bad luck or at least not something you can use against the person. We all forgot a promise now and then, or found ourselves uncapable to stick to a promise. We’re all humans. Intentions play a large role in my opinion. A person making a promise he knows from the start he won’t keep, is lying in your face, while a person making a promise with sincere intentions at least (even if he cannot realise his promise) was sincere in his intentions.
b) to what effect is breaking the promise going to be? The quote from the book citing Hitler is a great example. This was a lie with the intention to kill, and the consequence were more than 6000000 deaths. Some politicians make a promise but find themselves unable to keep that promise. If the result/consequence is for example an economic collapse that causes ten thousands of people losing their job, then this politician should not be re-elected. If the consequence is minimal, then you can still blame the politician for badly executing his plan, but I would not hold it against them and write him off for future political roles.
There’s a lot of nuances here again. I think every human, which includes politicians, have lied or broken promises at some point. It’s sadly enough normal, we’re humans, we’re not flawless. If someone lies in my face, I will hold this against him. If someone sincerely makes a promise to me but cannot keep it, I’m happy to forgive him if I know his intentions were sincere. To only vote for the perfect politician never breaking a promise would be equal to abolish elections alltogether. I’m sure there is not a single person on this planet who has kept every single promise he ever made to anyone.
Hence, when voting, the consequences of those broken promises has to be kept in mind. Hitler’s lies had a lot more consequences than a broken promise which affects only a handful of people. Netanyahu’s broken promises regarding the settlements in the West Bank is a threat to peace in the entire Middle East. When Greek government decided to lie about their economic figures they have lied towards the entire EU with a consequence of financial problems to many fellow member states.
Some other lies have hardly had any consequences and can easily be forgiven. I will give an example of a “lie” that turned out for the better even, and I don’t have to look further than my current place of residence, Spain. When fascist dictator Franco (who oppressed local identities of Catalans, Basques etc and made talking regional languages a punishable fact — you could end up in terrible prison camps for simply spreading the Catalan language) was near death he decided to offer the role of successor to the current King, Juan Carlos. Juan Carlos realised Franco thought he would want to continue the oppression of minorities in Spain. In order to restore a free Spanish nation with equal rights for those liberties, he played the game and made Franco believe the fascist regime would continue. Once Franco died and Juan Carlos came into power, he reversed all oppressive laws that Franco had introduced and liberated Basques and Catalans from oppression of speaking their own language and displaying their own regional identity. Thanks to a “lie”, Spain became a free country again.
I think we need a politician who is honest, but we should never forget he is also human. Each politician will make a mistake now or then or find himself unable to keep a promise. Each one of them, no matter what ideology or party. But let’s say breaking a promise to your best friend is a different story than breaking a promise about economical reforms that affect thousands and thousands of citizens.
Kram said:
Feb 10, 12 at 12:07 pmHow do you kill 11 million people? Support Obamacare!
Andy D said:
Feb 11, 12 at 7:47 amI think the key is to look for lies that are obviously lies. For example, if a candidate for office promises to govern in a way that is against his entire political record, that’s probably a lie.
If a candidate promises to do something he doesn’t have the power to do in office, that’s a lie as well.
The key is to listen to what a candidate says and then compare that to their history. With the internet today, it’s very easy to check up on any candidate out there.
Gerrit said:
Feb 11, 12 at 11:58 amYes, healthcare KILLS people rather than saving lives, doctors are all killers
[/sarcasm mode]
As much as Andy’s opinions overall on politics are different than mine, can only agree on what he wrote in this post. Nobody is perfect, no living soul on this planet can stick to every promise he makes. But with some politicians, there is either a long record of broken promises or the promises they make sound so surreal that you just know it’s nothing but rhetoric without intention to actually stick to the promise.
And politicians with bad intentions, liers, exist within each ideology, left or right, conservative or liberal, American or European, socialist or capitalist, religious or secular, … It’s a matter of staying loyal to your own political believes and then either join a party yourself and/or vote for that candidate within your own ideology that is most likely to be reliable. Because in each and every ideology there’s sincere politicians and malafide ones. Choose your ideology, then filter the honest ones out within that ideology, then vote.
(PS the internet may make it look easier to see which politicians come across as honest, but let’s not forget one thing: the internet, with its anonimity, also allows to blackmail and spread lies on candidates you don’t like. So when digging for info, it is always wise to stick to reliable sites. If doing so , the internet is of incredible value to filter the right info. If only relying on wikipedia and similar sources that are easy to manipulate, you may base an opinion based on info that is not entirely true. This danger exists on the web, although as long as knowing which sites to follow it indeed offers a great tool in finding the info you need on political parties or candidates and their background)
Kram said:
Feb 13, 12 at 12:29 pmActually, government funded healthcare would be a great way to “dispose of undesirable” citizens. All it takes is a kooky individual like Hitler. An example of the untruths told by politicians is the debate here in American over healthcare. President Obama stated that healthcare would be cheaper and better. Not possible. Nothing the Federal government does is cheaper AND better. He said this weekend that contraceptives will be provided to woman for “FREE”. There’s a bold face lie. Someone has to pay for it, maybe not that patient, but someone paying taxes does.
You are correct, Gerritt, no one is infallible. I also agree that a politician may have gotten into office before realizing that a promise they made is not possible. However, as a rule in modern day politics, politicians know they have a better chance of getting elected if they make promises they can’t keep. Take the Income Tax Cut Extension fiasco that occurred in December. Not only did they extend the tax cuts but the added a mortgage tax. Republicans blame Democrats and vice versa. Bottom line, they are responsible for raising taxes. While it might not have been an outright lie, there was intended deceipt by political leaders in both parties. Shameful.
Gerrit said:
Feb 17, 12 at 12:00 pmState-funded healthcare should never be compared to the Holocaust. Hitler should not be compared to any regular head of state. Hitler was a nutcase and should be remembered as such, rather than assuming that similar nutcases would come into charge (if that would happen we’re heading towards a disaster like never before… please beware us of that! But then I do think people won’t make the mistake again to get someone as extreme as Hitler to take charge, so let’s ignore this idea)
Of course nothing is really for free as tax money is used for all state run programs. Nonetheless I support nationalisation wherever possible. Banking, healthcare but also education for example. Abolish private schools and private hospitals and get everyone into the same state-funded system. Otherwise the classes society should get rid off, would be kept intact, rather than bragging about how rich someone gets one would try to form an elite class by replacing money by status symbols such as using private schools for the elite etc. I am proponent of a nationalised bank, nationalised healthcare and education with full abolition of private clinics, banks and schools. One network for all.
Of course this is not “free”, as it is paid for by tax money. However, this way every citizen can use it. If the state does not organise these systems, only that portion of society with money will have access to a good health, good education, etc… Of course state-funded healthcare, schools, universities etc are paid for (with tax money) but they are open to all and everyone can use them. That is a big difference.
I welcome the idea of making contraception part of the state-provided healthcare. Large families are no longer realistic if we see the big picture. The world is already suffering heavily of overpopulation, and at the same time few people voluntarely change their lifestyles in order to make the earth capable of supporting the large number of people it houses. To think that young people will not sexually experiment in their youth is naive. I think it is great that they can at least do this in a safe way by having free access to contraceptives (including the morning-after pill please) ; even if the state spends tax money to make this possible, it’s money very well spent I’d say. At least this may drastically reduce the number of undesired teenage pregnancies and teaches young people to have safe sex and take responsability. Obviously it is not free as in: the state pays such programs. But thanks to the state taking care of it rather than privately run institutions, every citizen can access it. I can only encourage that. Should be like that in many more ways. There is no need for private schools, private clinics, etc when the state can provide these services to all citizens, assuring no citizen well be left in the cold when he needs it.