“Der Unwille sich je vorzustellen, was mit dem anderem ist.” *
Marshall Rosenberg cites Adolf Eichmann as an example of the tragic results that “bureucratic language” (Amtssprache in German) can have on our lives. “I had to do it, because it was my job.” – “I just followed orders.” – “It was my duty.” The key element in terms of our human condition is denial or responsibility for our actions – in essence by claiming that we were not free to act in the way we did. Someone else told us to do it and then we did it. Obedience. Obedience to the authorities, obedience to the outer conditions we live in, not seeing our own responsibility in all of our decisions.
Hannah Arendt wants to understand. Therefore she followed the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem as a correspondent for the New Yorker very closely and wrote a book on her perceptions. Her conclusion – it is scary to see, but Eichmann is a very normal person. Many of us may act in the same way – not claiming our own freedom and thinking on our own – but just following orders of those we deem to be more able to take decisions, more competent or more wise.
The consequences may lead large groups of people and even entire nations into wars and tragedies.
So from a giraffe view Hannah Arendt may be seen as the thinker who has researched DEEPLY our tendency to follow authorities and she calls for more awareness, that nobody can take our choice – and therefore our responsibility – away from our actions.
This awareness can be gained from insights into our personal way of life, how we relate to authorities and how able we are to take full responsibility for all our choices.
Go for the No.
Power and Violence
Here Hannah proposes to define “power” as “power with” – that is – power is when people agree on strategies from their free choice. And when someone loses this “power with” and has access to means of forcing others, he or she may resort to “violence” – that is – forcing their preferred strategies on others, who do not agree.
Notably she says that the person using violence not only takes power (as power-with) away from others, but also from themselves. It is a self-defeating strategy.
I like the clarity I get when I read Hannah Arendt with the understanding of NVC – power-over, power-under, power-with or no-power-for-noone – and when I hear her request in the definition of “power” as something that is created by free people. Language can confuse us so easily. Clearly, we use “power” in a different way in our habitual language. The dictator holds the power, the autocratic regime holds the power. They have the means to force others, but they have no power-with.
Language can be clearer.
Hannah in an interview on her book on Eichmann
“No person has the right to be obedient.” (Jackal)
“I want people to be aware that there is no way to escape responsibility for your actions.” (Giraffe)
Interesting to feel the difference – the first sentence makes your blood boil, thinking of people who aid in war crimes and other harmful conduct and want to escape responsibility, by blaming those who gave them orders. The second phrase feels softer and that is because it is formally a request – which helps a lot in my experience, to feel choice. The buddhist way of saying it is also in jackal “There is no way you can escape the consequences of your actions.” – It is jackal, because there is no subject – it is formally put in an impersonal language – no subject who speaks, framed as a universal truth, and a static truth on top of that. Anyway – we are free to hear any message in giraffe, but I am aware that our expression can increase the chances of cooperation or it can decrease the chances of cooperation – or connection for that matter.
* “Wären Sie bereit sich einmal vorzustellen, zu welchen Folgen ihr Handeln für andere beiträgt?”