“…all refugees are not Jews. Not even all Jews are Jews. And many of whom you wouldn’t believe it are Jews. I even knew a Jewish Negro once. He was a terribly lonely man…” (Erich Maria Remarque, “Arch of Triumph”).
I agree with Erich Maria Remarque
As to my mind, nationality
Isn’t a main criterion
That distinguishes common people
From war criminals, serial killers or arsonists.
It is something inside us
That helps us to remain humane
Under any circumstances. Unfortunately, a lot of our friends and relatives
Can become real monsters in the state of emergency.
William Golding clearly described
Such a terrible situation in his novel
“The Lord of Flies”.
Despite that fact that novel main characters
Are teenagers, any grown-ups
Will follow their suit under similar conditions.
The experiment carried out
In one of the American schools in the 1960s
Which became “The Wave” novel and cinema adaptations
Proves these assumptions.
When we speak about our society
We can see that in general
People haven’t changed since the Roman empire times.
Mikhail Bulgakov, one of the most famous Kyivites,
Stated that in his masterpiece novel
“The Master and Margarita”:
“People haven’t changed.
Only the flat issue has worsened them”.
Thus, it is very difficult to detect
All the differences between Eichmann
And any war criminal
But it is very easy to find their intrinsic similarity:
Inner confidence that “h/she not involved”
In any crime or wrongdoing,
H/she only follows the orders.
Unfortunately, there are many experiments
That indicate that approximately 80 %
Of any country population
Will transform into cogs in wheels in totalitarian societies.
In fact, most dystopian plots
Are dedicated to soulless people
Who only obey any rules with no resistance
And only a limited group of rebels
Who try to resurrect the happy old past. In my opinion, we can’t prevent
All the societies from such plausible
And grim perspectives in all cases
But we, ourselves, should always remain people, not beasts.
13.01.2025
àäðåñà: https://www.poetryclub.com.ua/getpoem.php?id=1030676
Ðóáðèêà: Ëèðèêà ëþáâè
äàòà íàäõîäæåííÿ 13.01.2025
àâòîð: Alex Sweetie