APADIA 9: Not Above Cruelty

(What’s APADIA? See here.)

I find it striking that people who lived through inhumane experiences are often very clear to point out that there is no such thing as “inhuman” – that the capacity for unspeakable evil lies in every one of us very average people.

When we pretend otherwise – when we distance badness from us – we take the first steps to making it happen again.

We are none of us above cruelty. This is true in petty ways and in profound ones.

• Regarding the petty: “I Know What You Think of Me,” is one of the most important things I’ve read about understanding friendships.
• Regarding the profound: “What the Last Nuremberg Prosecutor Alive Wants the World to Know” is one of the most important things I’ve seen, period.

It is our lot to persevere in fighting our worst impulses, tiny and large.