Never Again

Arbeit Macht Frei, Work makes you Free. Dachau Concentration camp.
Back from my road trip. I think the photos that I took this time round are really crappy. I would like to blame everything from the weather to the camera but as always the fault lies with me. I think I was just tired from the long drives. Nevertheless, it was a really good trip, not touristic but definately fun.
Of all the places that I visited on this trip, Dachau has left the deepest impression on me. I once read somewhere that rationalisation is the devil's greatest weapon in the fight against good. In a way Dachau, Auschwitz and all the other concentration camps seem to substantiate this point. If we can rationalise something, we can justify it and we can overcome our conscience. If we can rationalise that Jews and Soviets are sub humans, we can justify their extermination. Do not underestimate the power of rationalisation; the power it posseses to shift the moral standard. Concentration camp guards, SS officers, Gestapo officers, were loving fathers, were sons, had lovers, had normal relationships with fellow humans. Yet they were able to systematically exterminate other "sub humans". Because they were able or had been indoctrined to rationalise the moral standard to exclude such persons. Rationalisation has many faces. The Nazis used science, laws, propoganada to rationalise the Master Race theory.
Are we at risk of shifting the moral standard today? Is it really a slippery slope? Is there sanctity of life? Which is the bigger problem? Nationalist parties, parties who campaign on bigotry and hatred or euthanasia and abortion? What are the proper safeguards? Are these safeguards a hindrance to modern life? So many questions but no definite answer. There is no definite answer for me because I see so many points of view but don't know which to choose.
But I do know one thing for sure. Never Again.