Toleration or Timidity?

For John, BLUF:  When does "good behavior" become the acceptance of a dictatorship?  Of course, if you are part of the dictatorship, all resistance is bad behavior.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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I Now Better Understand the 'Good German'

From Jewish World Revirew, by Professor Dennis Prager, 5 January 2021.

Here is the lede plus three:

As my listeners and readers can hopefully attest, I have been on a lifelong quest to understand human nature and human behavior.  I am sad to report that I have learned more in the last few years, particularly in 2020, than in any equivalent period of time.

One of the biggest revelations concerns a question that has always plagued me:  How does one explain the "good German," the term used to describe the average, presumably decent German, who did nothing to hurt Jews but also did nothing to help them and did nothing to undermine the Nazi regime?

The same question could be asked about the average Frenchman during the Vichy era, the average Russian under Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Leonid Brezhnev and their successors, and the millions of others who did nothing to help their fellow citizens under oppressive dictatorships.

These past few years have taught me not to so quickly judge the quiet German, Russian, etc.  Of course, I still judge Germans who helped the Nazis and Germans who in any way hurt Jews.  But the Germans who did nothing?  Not so fast.

I rtead the rest of the article, so I know where he is going.  However, I don't agree with what he is saying.  Resistence is to be demanded of free People.  It happened in Germany, with the White Rose,  It happened in the United State in 1776.  Many were passive in 1776 and beyond, but enough stood up that we gained our independence from England.  Follow the example of 1776.

I found the venue for the article to be interesting.  I find it a sign of integrity that the Jewish World Revirew published this article.  The limits of acceptance and resistance are something that needs to be discussed, in the public square.

Ironiclly, this is being typed as C-Span talks about citizens invading the Capitol Building, apparently in protest against what they see as the erroneous counting of Electoral College Votes.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff