Another, more recent example of abusive power and groupthink would be BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Many people said the company should not mine for oil in that area. But since BP was the most influential gas company at the time, everyone agreed with the idea.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/17/oil-spill-could-have-been_n_824647.html

 

http://time.com/4186861/lra-kony-ongwen/

On some level, I had also initially thought it would be less likely that autocracy would occur in a more modern age. Acting as an outside audience member allowed me to understand how the small actions and changes made on the top tier disseminated to influence the group and add to their sense of unity. According to some of the excerpts from their essays, Die Welle appealed to many members because they felt it gave them purpose and removed the need to consider other dividing factors like wealth and background. Everyone was equal and united in a community behind the goals of the group, though these goals were never truly explained. The students were more swept up in the fun-seeming aspects of being part of a group to realize what they were standing up for, showing how extreme nationalism can blind people to the immorality or severity of their actions towards others. 

For people like Tim, Die Welle represented a group that he could be an equal individual in, filling the void of friends and presumably a family in his life. Characters like Karo, who became a counter-proponent of Die Welle, had outside motives and backgrounds that altered their need to be a part of a nationalist-type group like Die Welle, and they quickly were added to the generalized “anarchists”. Having the anarchists as a “them” added to the unity of The Wave by enforcing the idea that they were superior to others. 

The ending of the film was something that I expected, considering the almost exponential increase of extreme nationalism among the group over just the course of a week. I appreciate the film as a means of showcasing the appeals, power, and drawbacks of nationalism and autocracy in a dramatic setting.   

As the audience, on some level, I wanted to believe that this movie was completely fictional. The fact that an authoritative regime can be easily set up make me uneasy. However, since the movie was based on a real story, it really shows the dangers of groupthink and the danger of believing that we are beyond and above the point where authoritative regimes can exist. Throughout the movie, as an “outside” to the events that happened, I could see how small actions, such as creating a salute and a name for the group, can add up together to create unexpected results. Moreover, we, as students, often question how the leaders of Europe allowed Hitler to take over and expand, but as shown in the movie, the unity created through The Wave actually helped students to perform better academically, which in turn caused the authorities to give support to Rainer. This could be seen as a parallel to what happened in pre-World War II Europe. The other European nations believed that the rising nationalism would help strengthen Germany, which would help the other nations through creating a better trade network. While the creation of a unified group has its dangers, in regulation, it can certainly help define and strengthen a group of people.

The Stanford Prison Experiment was an attempt to investigate the psychological effects of perceived power, focusing on the struggle between prisoners and prison guards. It was conducted at Stanford University. The U.S. Navy funded the investigation in which to find the causes between guards and prisoners in the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. Some participants developed their roles as the guards enforced authoritarian measures and ultimately subjected some prisoners to psychological torture. This is the part that is similar to the movie. Many of the prisoners passively accepted psychological abuse and, by the guards’ request, actively harassed other prisoners who tried to stop it. 

http://time.com/3668083/happy-talk-groupthink-leadership/

 

First off, the movie was really well done. The material that it covers is both deep and engaging to modern school-aged audiences. From the parallels that exist between modern schooling events (Football team being essentially taught to ‘hate’ opposing teams, cliques forming between grades, gangs), it can be seen that the events of Facism are not confined to the days of ‘ignorance’  but can happen just about anywhere at any time under the right circumstances. The direct parallels between the activities of ‘The Wave’ and the rhetoric by Hitler/Hitler Youth are entirely startling and, from an outside looking in, very disturbing (although it might look different from the inside. I suppose that, at the beginning, it might look like a standard activity given how often we do Jeopardy-style reviews). Out of all of the characters, I feel that Karo, not Tim, is the most pitiable. From the beginning, she’s been an outspoken critic of the lesson plan, and it’s only with the death of a classmate that her most trusted person can see what she’s so angry about. 

 

The movie displayed how the students felt supported and that they were standing for something important by being a part of the Wave. Through the course of the film, there were many social situations that viewers could relate to – not fitting in, finding your voice, and creating a close-knit community – especially for characters like Tim who are willing to do anything to have friends. The movie intensely portrayed how small actions can easily become a larger, and uncontrollable issue.

 

In psychology, we’re learning about social identity and in-groups and out-groups. Those in the in-group feel like the belong and will discriminate those not in the group, or the out-group, to enhance their own self image. We thought that extreme nationalism was mental and that’s why all those students were so caught up in The Wave and ended up doing things that they didn’t mean. We also thought that in the beginning, like the teacher, had good intentions but unfortunately went too far. Especially because a lot of the students didn’t have a good home life or weren’t the best kids, The Wave gave these students loyal friends and a sense of belonging. They began to feel like they had power and felt superior because they were exclusive and given that position. 

Authoritarian governments gain power through groupthink mindsets and this is exemplified in nationalism and fascism in Nazi Germany in the 20th century. Dictators of these regimes (such as Hitler) exploit the fears of the public and fabricate a sense of urgency for their cause. In the movie, the students were manipulated into supporting Mr. Wenger’s beliefs by their own ignorance and need to belong. 

http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/the-real-lesson-of-the-stanford-prison-experiment

Article-
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/06/opinion/for-putin-disinformation-is-power.html?_r=0

In this article is the same process of authoritarian power that was found in the movie we watched. Vladimir abuses his power by creating disinformation of knowledge so that the population is clueless and manipulable. This was done when Russian security services hacked the Democratic National Committee.

Mitul's Contribution:
Article 2 -  http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/07/donald-trump-and-hitlers-rise-to-power.html

In this article from the NY Mag, there is a satirical comparison made between Trump and Hitler, and how they are both authoritarian figures who lie outside the normal parameters of his country’s conservative governing class. This is comparable to the authoritarian power present in the movie we watched in class.

 Mr. Wenger is a good example of a decent man who set out with good intentions overcome by the influence of power. His goal was to educate the students but his ego got in the way of not only that goal but his marriage. Even he, who knew the possibilities and dangers of fascism, was blinded. The character Tim was particularly disturbing because he only wanted to make friends and feel as if he belonged. This is a feeling we can all understand, because it’s a very human one, but Tim is so desperate that he takes it too far and people end up hurt. He ends up becoming an antagonist who took enforcing the group to the extreme. Karo is also a very interesting character. We begin to spite her when she refuses to wear the shirt and conform to the group. She seems uncooperative and stubborn. However, she is the one in the end who had the clearest views of what could happen.

The film represents the dangerous mentality of a group of people who feel they have been wronged. The kids in the film are encouraged to dislike the other teacher’s students and treat them as an enemy. The invention and magnification of this enemy is a key component of fascist regimes- the Jews were portrayed as enemies of Germany and the Soviet Union was used to scare the people of Italy into supporting Mussolini. The Wave also used unifying aspects such as a uniform and a salute, which made the students feel like they were a part of something. Most fascist groups utilise similar techniques.

A modern example of this is the continuing legacy of the KKK. The KKK has an obvious enemy— African Americans— and a uniform. They are a great example of the power of groups being dangerous. A single person alone probably wouldn’t dare being so outright racist, but when a group of people get together, they feed off of each other’s enthusiasm and lose their inhibitions. The KKK today, though much smaller than it has been in the past, has between 5,000 and 8,000 members and is still wields more power than each of those people would individually.

This relates to past and present authoritarian governments by showing on a smaller scale the actions taken by dictators to manipulate their people.  From the beginning of the movie, we see Mr. Wenger’s hatred against the teacher that took his original project. We see him display an ingroup and outgroup situation, as he and his students treats students that take the anarchy class as the enemy. This parallels how Hitler blamed the jews for Germany’s downfall and problems. In another sense, this ingroup outgroup behaviour created a greater sense of community and self-belonging.

During the Nuremberg Trials, many high ranking German officials attributed their actions to obedience of authority. The actions of the students in The Wave were manipulated by the sense of power and unity they felt as members. They were so involved in the movement that they were not able to process their actions and weigh the consequences. These students were just regular kids and yet they became devoted members of a mock autocratic society in less than a week.  Similarly to the Nazi soldiers, they felt that their actions were not their own because they were taking orders from a greater authority, which was their excuse for any harm they may cause.  This escalated when the students “captured” Marco because Mr. Wagner told them to, so they felt like the consequences of assaulting another student would not apply since they were following the instructions of an authority figure.  This type of mentality is what allows fascist governments to grow and function, and is dangerous for anyone who the in-group considers, “the enemy.” 

We felt much like the students did on the first day of class. The events that took place in Germany during the rule of the Nazi Party, while tragic, could not occur again in our modern society. We sympathize with the students in “Die Welle” that stayed in the group because they feared social exclusion. Many of their peers were highly devoted to The Wave and they went along with the movement even though it was not representative of their thoughts. As outsiders it is easy for us to assume that the events in the movie, although dramatic liberties were taken, are unlikely to happen to us. It is important to consider the perspective of being a member of the group and not to make assumptions from a distant viewpoint.    

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/23/germany-rightwing-violence-surges-asylum-seekers 

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adst/the-jonestown-massacre_b_8592338.html

As a part of Unit 3, the class has been discussing the rise of authoritarian regimes in the post-World War I time period, and the development of extreme nationalism today. After the conclusion of World War I, people were disillusioned with the world. The authoritarian leaders gave the lost generation hope for building a strong nation. We see this with Hitler’s Germany in the 1930’s. He spoke out against the unfairness of the repercussions towards Germany, and people sided with him because they shared the same kind of vision. Hitler began slowly taking away the freedoms of the people, arguing that it would bring about unity and a greater Germany, so the German people gave up their rights, little by little, until they had none left. Similar things occurred in Italy with Mussolini’s rise to power. It seems to be happening again today, with the Brexit, the election of Donald Trump as the American president, and the possible election of Marine Le Pen as the French president. Die Welle shows that even though people have lived through times of authoritarian governments, they are still able to be swept up into believing that an authoritarian leader can effect real change. There is still much to be learned from history. 

Link: http://origins.osu.edu/article/after-putin-russias-presidential-elections

A modern example of an oppressive abuse of power could be police officers’ abuse of their power over citizens. However, I will argue that only a miniscule percentage of American police officers do exercise this abuse of power. Unlike the film, my example doesn’t require a leader and a dedicated following, it’s more of an individual abuse. Stop and frisk used to act as a major method for officers to exploit their power, but more relevant examples are the recent events that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement in 2013. The issue continues: http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/20/justice/ferguson-residents-police-history/