Obedience and Conformity
Obedience is the process of complying with commands that are given by a figure in authority. It is some form of social influence so that a person acts responding to another person that happens to be in authority. Sociology states that the individual cannot act in this manner if there is no authority. Conformity on the other hand takes place when there is social pressure and obedience comes into play through status/hierarchy of power. An individual that gives an order has higher status compared to the individual receiving the end. The story of Adolf Eichmann and his role in the holocaust is where obedience came into play significantly. Eichmann is believed to have played a central role of ferrying and organizing Jewish people to be exterminated in Nazi Germany during the time of Hitler as the president. History records that Eichmann recorded that he was a logistical genius (Milgram 7). During his trial Eichmann was surprised at the hatred that Jewish people directed at him. He alleged that he merely obeyed
Importance of Milgram's experiment
Experiment that was done by Stanley Milgram was aimed at explain the conflict between personal conscience and obedience to authority and how obedience relates to psychology. Milgram set out in 1963 to examine the justifications for the heinous acts that were committed during the World War II since accused in the criminal trials used obedience to orders from the authority as the main reason for them carrying out acts of genocide (Milgram 11). The experiment was aimed at identifying whether Eichmann and other people who participated in the Holocaust and World War II were accomplices with Adolf Hitler or they simply followed orders given to them.
Experiment Details
He carried out an experiment where the teacher applied a shock every time the learner made a mistake in naming a word after and the teacher could no longer administer the shock as it was tormenting. But with instructions from the experimenter the teacher had to continue administering the shock. The results of the experiment were found to be that two thirds of all the participants continued administering shocks to the highest level of 450 volts (Milgram 22). From the experiment, Milgram concluded that orders given to ordinary people by authority figures are likely to be followed to an extent of killing innocent human beings. Milgram states that obedience to authority is inherent in us from the way we are brought up since childhood. People have a tendency of obeying orders from others once they recognize the authority either on legal basis of moral basis. This reaction to legitimate authority can be learned in various ways for instance in school, family and workplace.
Essence of Obedience and Banality of Evil
From Milgram's findings and conclusion, it can be argued that most people do not intend to do some things especially evil ones but once they get an order from above they end up committing themselves to doing them (Milgram 30). The questions that arise from such obedience is whether obedience to authority erodes rationality or independent thinking or the human nature of people? To examine the relationship between humanity, obedience to authority, totalitarianism and rational thinking. Arendt writes about 'banality of evil' where he states that people desire more to loyal subjects and abide by authority rather than their desire to do good.
Obedience to Military Authority in Wartime
During wartime obedience to orders is the most notable thing that any individual aspiring to enter the military must adhere to. According to psychological research an individual's personal courage is precarious and they become more complex when one faces some figures of authority. Unlawful obedience is common in the military because recruits are taught to instantly obey orders through conditioning where they go through rigorous, directive and rapid training. The recruits are acclimatized to always follow orders from their seniors which sometimes leads them into engaging in morally damning actions (Milgram 25). In the US history some troops were punished because they followed unlawful orders. The latest case being prosecution of First Lieutenant William Calley for taking part in the famous "My Lai Massacre".
The My Lai Massacre Summary
The My Lai massacre happened in March 16, 1968 where US soldiers under the command of William Calley killed more than 500 unarmed civilians in the village of My Lai (Olson, James " Randy 34). Women and children were also no spared in the massacre. Charlie Company was an army company that deployed the soldiers in My Lai village but after the killings, the US army officials covered up the incident for more than a year before it was reported in the American press.
Lieutenant William Calley's Decisions at My Lai
Before the massacre began, army commanders directed Charlie Company soldiers that all the people found Son My area were active Vietnam sympathizers and therefore the village was to be completely destroyed (Hammer 3). Lieutenant William Calley was the leader who led the soldiers into Viet Cong. but did not find any sympathizers instead they found a quiet village with children and women preparing breakfast. Calley ordered soldiers to round up all the villagers in groups and they started shooting children, women and men alike (Hammer 4). Later one when the report was published, William Calley was tried in a martial court and sentenced to life in 1971.
Hero of My Lai
Hugh Thompson a helicopter pilot is an outstanding individual in the My Lai story. When he came to My Lai village, he found out the massacre in progress and immediately ordered the American soldiers to stop further shooting of the Vietnamese (Wiener np). He cried out loud for the innocent Vietnamese that were being massacred and he testified against the soldiers from time to time.
Messages from My Lai massacre
William Calley his first public apology in 2009 where he recounted the happenings of the massacre. He said "I feel remorse for the Vietnamese who were killed and for their families……If you are asking why I did not stand up to them when I was given the orders, I will have to say that I was the second Lieutenant getting orders from my Commander and I followed them". Such a message reveals the level of remorse that the soldiers felt after the Vietnamese war ended. Paul Meadlo who was a soldier said "you just spray the area on them and so you can't know how many you killed". Which was a careless statement given that many innocent people were killed. Thuan one of the rice farmers recalls the fateful day by saying "they first killed the people at the rice paddies, as well as the cattle. We just worked for ourselves". The statement indicates that soldiers never bothered to find the real guerillas but resorted to killing innocent people.
Conclusion
Based on history, it is true that over-obedience overshadows reason and morality as demonstrated in Milgram's experiment. Human beings are psychologically tuned to obey orders from people who have legal or moral authority to them which sometimes maybe irrational and unlawful as was the case in My Lai massacre and Germany holocaust.
Works cited
Hammer, Richard. The court-martial of Lt. Calley. Coward, McCann " Geoghegan, 1971.
Milgram, Stanley. "The perils of obedience." Harper’s 247.1483 (1973): 1973. (62-70)
Olson, James S., and Randy Roberts. My Lai: A brief history with documents. Macmillan, 1998.
Wiener, Jon. "A Forgotten Hero Stopped The My Lai Massacre 50 Years Ago Today". 2016, https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-wiener-my-lai-hugh-thompson-20180316-story.html. Accessed 2 Dec 2018.
