In 1963, Hannah Arendt coined the phrase “the banality of evil” to suggest that we had the wrong idea of evil. We assume it will come in the form of the grinning villain of the melodrama, laughing maniacally, twirling his mustache and threatening to tie the damsel to the railroad tracks if grandfather does not sign over the deed to his farm.
Arendt, reflecting on Adolf Eichmann’s role in the Holocaust, devised the phrase to suggest that we should be aware that evil could often appear to us as normal, ordinary and banal.
Whatever the truth of this as applied to Eichmann, it is a valid concept. Too often we encounter the evil done in this world not as the actions of a twitching psychopath but as in calm words of a reasonable person discussing something seen as justified, necessary, a good thing. Additionally we should not assume that the agent of evil will be a master villain intricately plotting world domination. Frankly, evil is not very competent either, sometimes.
Austerity is working?
My reflection on this was spanned by reading a disturbing column by James Mackintosh in the Financial Times of Nov. 20. He argues that “green shoots” are appearing in Greece. There is a current account surplus. “Greeks are becoming more competitive. Unit labor costs are down sharply as public sector wages tumble and joblessness soars. In other words, austerity is working.”
Really? Unemployment is over 20 percent. Youth unemployment is over 50 percent. “Austerity is working.” The suicide rate for the entire country has dramatically increased, perhaps doubled. Doubled. For the entire country. “Austerity is working.” The country is on the edge of a psychotic breakdown and the neo-Nazi right is on the rise trying to blame it all on immigrants. “Austerity is working.”
Now, I should step back. Perhaps I’ve not understood Mr. Macintosh correctly. He might mean it ironically, he might have meant it to refer back to the bit about current accounts. He might have written quickly and would have, upon reflection, preferred another phrase. That last point, I, as a columnist who has to write quickly, can certainly appreciate.
My point is most emphatically not that Mr. Mackintosh is evil, nor do I claim in any way that he celebrates the death of Greeks. My point is that this entire economic policy of austerity is working a powerful evil and that just doesn’t seem to be noticed. It doesn’t weigh in the balance. The whole situation is discussed in a calm, detached way that makes the evil work sound normal, banal.
Incompetence at the top
Part of the conventional view of evil is that it is perpetuated by masterminds, evil geniuses, mad scientists, people who just are too smart, too compelling, too persuasive for the rest of us to stand up to. I doubt that is true either.
One clear aspect of the Greek crisis is the failure of the entire Greek political class no less than the failure of European leadership. No Greek leader that I am aware of has been honest with the population, none has inspired them to making the real adjustments that would be necessary to solve the problem. The new party of the left, Syriza, wants to go back to the past and double down on expanding unproductive public sector jobs and offering the population goodies they have no idea how to pay for. The rising party of the right, Golden Dawn, wants to make impoverished immigrants the scapegoat and expand paramilitary organizations for security. Yes, those are inspired solutions.
‘There is no growth from misery’
What of the masters of European finance? What plan do they have for encouraging and supporting the necessary reforms in Greece? Other than inducing as much pain as possible, apparently none. If things get bad enough, if enough people’s lives and future are destroyed, then this will, somehow, induce the reform of labor markets, the tax system and the pensions that are necessary. If people have no resources, then they will find the resources to finance the changes.
Discussing this with a banker in Athens, he eventually looked at me with sad eyes and said, “there is no growth from misery.” No, there is no growth from this. Or rather, it will be growth in spite of this, growth done at a much higher cost than necessary.
The crisis of leadership
But it is more than just Greece and Europe suffering from an uninspired, incompetent leadership that permits evil to continue. Consider the latest flare up in the Middle East. How desperately Palestine needs a Mandela and Israel needs a Gorbachev or even a de Klerk. Instead, incompetent, unimaginative leaders can do nothing but parrot lines that have been said for decades and will likely be said for decades more. In the meantime, evil continues to pile up the bodies of innocents.
The recent, uninspired presidential contest in the U.S. is another example. The Republicans nominate Romney because at least he isn’t crazy like the other candidates. The Democrats rally behind a president who isn’t as bad as Romney, and we listen to both recite promises to tame a deficit that isn’t the problem with solutions that don’t even have serious numbers attached to them. In the meantime, evil continues in the destruction of all that many have built.
The shrinking giants of industry
Is the corporate world any better? The so-called Masters of the Universe of the American corporate world wrecked the economy of an entire nation and don’t even seem to recognize it. They continue to propose solutions that no one has ever seen work. There has been no discernable soul-searching.
If one is looking for competence, I’d suggest you start at the other end. The average airline pilot seems far more competent at his job than the corporate CEOs he transports. The solutions to the Middle East crisis seem to struggle up from the efforts of ordinary people to reach across divisions. I have more confidence in the creativity of ordinary Greeks than in their leaders. But, of course, we can be sure that if Greece manages to creatively survive this, the leaders in Europe will take the credit.
Is it a banal evil?
My use of the word evil is perhaps problematic. Is a bad decision made by ordinary people struggling to navigate difficult problems appropriately called “evil”?
It isn’t about intentions, or self-awareness, it is about consequences – consequences that are unrecognized, or perhaps, seen without really being seen. Inflation is a problem, unemployment isn’t. A deficit is a problem, a suicide isn’t. A balance of payments surplus is a success, but a nation’s social cohesion doesn’t matter.
Mr. Mackintosh continues: “… this is a step towards the rebalancing needed: Greeks (and Spaniards, Irish and Portuguese) are becoming poorer relative to Germans.”
Well, in a sense he is right. If that happens, it may indeed resolve the crisis, as long as the only crisis we’re looking at is European finance.
What a banal statement though. In the arid silence of this banal solution, one could just hope that someone might find a way toward growth with a little less misery.