Collaborators

In France after 1940, when the Nazis rolled through and captured Paris, they set up a puppet government, the Vichy regime, which was ostensibly independent but actually an arm of the Nazi government. Some of the people in France joined the Resistance, to fight for Free France and subvert the puppet government any way they could, to keep fighting the wrong that was Nazism. I think we can all agree these were the heroes, but they were also the people who stood up for their principles. Most of the people just went along. The worst of them, the ones who turned people in, were called Collaborators, but how different were they from the ones who did nothing? Of course, it was almost impossible to justifying sticking your neck out to support Free France - people's livelihoods and sometime their lives could be seriously damage. But I would say the it was mostly fear of personal hardship, rather than death, that drove people.

Life is hard, and most people don't feel like they have the luxury to stand on principle, even if it is for something really important. Especially if that something important has to do with the suffering of others. If we are safe, and comfortable, and okay, it is so much the easiest path to just go along with whatever injustices we happen to observe. We can feel pity, and a little guilt, for those who are suffering, but it is easy to feel those things. They don't take up much of our time, and are mostly forgotten, only occasionally seeping into our consciousness for a few moments, soon to be dislodged by our own selfish concerns and interests.

The French example is a big one, with huge consequences for the Resistance, the Jews, the gays, and others. But those relatively small injustices - against a small group, or just one person - are so prevalent in our lives. We walk by them every day, they happen to our friends and colleagues, and we see them, and we feel guilty, but it really is too much trouble to stick one's neck out, and besides, it's ultimately somebody else's problem.

We're all Collaborators. Every day.