In the subtitle to her book about the Eichman trial, Hannah Arendt coined this phrase. Essentially she meant to point out that true evil is not necessarily commited by psychopaths or “sick” people. Rather, quite ordinary human beings can commit monstrous acts when they put their faith in the values and norms of the state and society they live in, without any moral reflection. Many people strongly criticize Arendt and feel that somehow she diminishes the “uniqueness” of the crimes of the Nazi Holocaust, by saying these crimes were committed not by monsters but by people like you and me. As I have written elsewhere, I strongly agree with Arendt. The phrase came to my mind yesterday, as I followed this link from an article I brought in yesterday’s piece. The musician perfectly expresses the banality of the evil Bybee memo. Andrew Sullivan also had the same thoughts, and expresses them well.
Tags: Iraq, US Politics, War Crimes