“Ordinary men” are seemingly capable of becoming cold-blooded killers when subject to the right environmental pressures. But what causes this turn towards evil; —trauma, political indoctrination, social pressure or something else? Dr. Gabor Maté answers.

Can a society of war criminals, mass murderers, torturers find peace?? The father of a family who slaughtered dozens of children The doctor who tortured people The teacher who blew up schools The man who carried out mass executions The policeman who looted houses The bricklayer who razed entire neighborhoods to the ground The journalist who murdered journalists The farmer who contaminated farmland The cook who destroyed aid trucks The rabbi who blew up mosques The mother who shot mothers and children as a drone pilot The grandma who celebrated the genocide The lawyer who deported civilians to concentration camps The zookeeper who used bloodhounds to torture an autistic boy to death The businessman who shot hundreds of children in the head as a sniper The IT professional who programmed AI software that selects hundreds of civilians as bomb targets The pilot who dropped thousands of tons of bombs on crowded civilians The engineer who disrupted Gaza's water supply The father of a family who ran over young people with tanks and bulldozers The firefighter who burned down dozens of houses The excavator driver who destroyed Gaza's streets The policeman who murdered Gaza's police officers The social worker who starved children The judge who condemned innocent people to endless imprisonment in starvation and torture The prison officer who beat prisoners to death The grandfather who supported all of this Credits: @gnagflow43

@lisapease @DrGaborMate My pervert stepfather had no excuse for molesting me. That’s just how he was. & I did not become an abuser. This is #poorlilperp syndrome & a fallacy.

@DrGaborMate Happy Holidays Dr. Mate

@hanwayplace @DrGaborMate Maybe they just enjoy it.

@DrGaborMate The personnel that came to power in Germany in the 30s were survivors of the trenches of the war 1914-18 and its consequences with the treaty of Versailles. Read what M. Keynes has said about that. They were 'undead'=it had no meaning for them, and so with killing. Meaningless

I don't necessarily agree here. We also have the capacity to reject our negative direct experience and choose not to follow in same footsteps. Yes, we have to have the opportunity to see another way but that doesn't need to come from direct experience. Everyone has the ability to see positive examples everywhere, in books & other media & just in the actions of random ppl towards others everywhere.

@DrGaborMate If you “support the troops” you’re a cold-blooded killer as well. Let’s not fall into the narrative that tries to separate ourselves from other people who commit crimes according to their sense of injustice.

@DrGaborMate Belief. That it's necessary. And approved of.

@DrGaborMate True, but while trauma is a significant factor, it is not the sole determinant of murder.