Banality of evil?

This is a Twitter thread by Daniel Miller, @DanielMillerEsq:

"Because of what’s happening in my own country, I feel inexorably drawn to the history of the Third Reich. It’s not because I think Trump is Hitler. He’s not. It’s because that period (1933-1945) taught us so many important lessons about human nature that are relevant today.

"You can only learn about human nature when people are put to the test. And that time period put people to the test like no other. I’m no expert, but one thing that strikes me about the Nazis is just how much of their evil seemingly happened because of non-evil people.

"There were the Himmlers and Goebbels, of course, and the sadistic monsters who tortured and killed people at Auschwitz and other concentration camps, but the vast majority of Germans weren’t part of the extermination process.

"Many bureaucrats in the various ministries weren’t particularly ideological, but they wanted a promotion or just a job, so they went along. The citizens who saw their neighbors boarded onto trains. They could have warned others, but that would be too much of a risk...

"Many people in Nazi Germany just went along. Not because they were evil, but because it was not in their short-term interest to do anything about the madness happening around them. The uncomfortable truth is that most people, when put to the test, fail the test. 

"You might think we’re different. That YOU’RE different. Thing is, it’s really easy to rationalize NOT doing the right thing, to just go along about your life, going on vacation, falling in love, watching sports. Yes, these things even happen when there’s no democracy.

"You’ll say to yourself, 'Why should I speak out or go to that protest or put my neck on the line? What difference can one person make? I know there are terrible things happening, but I need to take care of my family.' When everyone says this, that is when we are truly lost.

"I pray that we’re never put to the test; that we avoid such a fate. But part of me thinks that maybe our test is already happening. Right now. Well, far too many of us are just going along. Thinking to ourselves, 'What difference can I make? I’m just one person.'”