We like to think the “bad guys” are easy to spot. But what if they were good once? What if the real danger is in how power, isolation, or a shift in circumstance quietly transforms us—and we don’t even see it happening? In this piece, I look at Philip Zimbardo’s The Lucifer Effect and what it tells us about American soldiers at Abu Ghraib, about the January 6 insurrectionists, and yes, about Donald Trump. We explore the terrifying idea that evil isn’t born. It’s made. And if we don’t understand how, we risk making more of it.
This is an excellent piece. Thank you!
Trump is not 'more cruel than Hitler'. He is many things, but that hyperbole weakens the arguments against his actions, in my opinion.