Jocko Podcast 85 - Ordinary Men

[mynewunit]

Podcast 85 Page

0:00:00 – Opening

0:06:39 – Ordinary Men”, Christopher R. Browning

0:24:52 – Executioners come in many forms.

0:34:55 – Cowards and Rationalization.

0:53:00 – The burden of choice.

1:22:34 – Why/How can men behave this way?

1:54:12 – Take-Aways

2:18:51 – Support, Cool Onnit, JockoStore stuff, with Jocko White Tea and Psychological Warfare (on iTunes). Extreme Ownership (book), The Discipline Equals Freedom Field Manual. Origin Jiu Jitsu Immersion Camp. Origin Brand.

2:41:25 – Closing Gratitude.

[aden]

Jocko,

I’ve just finished listening to Podcast 85 in which you read, analysed and discussed Christopher Browning’s ‘Ordinary Men’. I read the book when it was first published and couldn’t help thinking that the author had neglected many aspects which lead to the horrific crimes which were committed during the Third Reich. The book focussed on a group of seemingly ‘ordinary’ men who turned into ‘monsters’.

However, as Daniel Goldhagen pointed out in his book ‘Hitler’s Willing Executioners’, the seeds which led to the Holocaust had been planted centuries before the Nazi Party came to power. Anti-Semitism in Germany had been rife since the 16th Century and pogroms were not unusual. Here’s a link to an etching which shows ‘The Plundering of Judengasse’ in 1614:

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Pluenderung_der_Judengasse_1614.jpg).

The ‘ordinary’ men described in Browning’s book carried out orders because, as you pointed out in the podcast, they obeyed authority, firstly their direct line of command, but more importantly, Hitler.

The acts described in Browning’s book are sickening and I’m convinced that those men who perpetrated these crimes were also sickened by what they did. However, from my point of view, the ‘ordinary’ men did it out of conviction, which had been formed in the German consciousness for centuries, that Jews were ‘Untermenschen’ who needed to be eliminated as a race.

Respectfully,

Aden

[buddyjeans]

    i just finished my personal ' JACKO PODCAST MARATHON' meaning i started from the first one to this one. now i decided to go back and take notes and start a little audio-book club meaning we will listen to a book or JACKO PODCAST on portable radio as we volunteer in our community. yup my book club is not for everybody and that is okay.
    I volunteer in my community and help others and mentor the teens and the ex cons to better there lives or be with them at courts or schools so they are not alone. 
    I am not bragging or boastful. It is my way to respect and honor  the people and K-9 who serve and protect and defend for my community and country. 

the thing i am learning is' i will be forgotten and overlooked as people move on. and that is okay. i always ask myself, did i do my best? was my best good enough? what did i learn and what can i change to be better?

thank you

[mynewunit]

I love the idea of a book club with no books. I also have interjected myself into the lives of those with out strong male role models. Keep up the good work. Let me know any tools you use. Maybe we should create a thread for this specifically.