The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

memorized for life. All of them are slaves of certain rules, and of the society that lives bythose rules. They are all small parts of a machine that has evolved over generations. Theynever act as they want, and they can hardly do anything that is not conditioned by the rulesof the game. They never make their own decisions. Everything has been arranged. All of thedecisions have been made long ago. People like Dubs accept their positions not to live, butto serve. Their life is the constant fulfillment of moral or social or work responsibilities—responsibility of service more than anything. They are never more than performers, goodor bad, but nonetheless performers, or the victims of the roles that are handed outaccording to a script.”Having finished his soliloquy, the Anarchist fell silent. He seemed to be thinkingabout something. The food was served. After his first glass of whisky, chewing anotheroshak, and watching Starostin refilling his glass, he continued the serious conversation.“Sometimes I think of horrific scenes from a certain documentary. It’s not from aHitchcock film. It’s a chronicle of the Third Reich. Several dozen SS officers are herdingthousands of people into gas chambers. In a few minutes they will all be dead. What is mosthorrible is not that they will all soon be dead, but how calmly and obediently they arewalking into certain death, keeping their place in the queue so precisely. It is as if someonemight try to cut in line, or others would object. Have you seen such scenes?”Starostin nodded.“Why didn’t they rebel?” continued the American. “Why didn’t they make one lastdesperate attempt to save themselves? Why didn’t they collectively attack the guards? Theyhad nothing to lose! What happened? I think it occurred because their mentality as a group319