Tags for this video have been changed from 'british, english, nuclear, attack, fallout, body, disposal, film, protect and survive' to 'english, nuclear, attack, fallout, body, disposal, protect and survive, cold war' - edited by calvados

Humans in general evolved to be social creatures. Our main evolutionary advantage was the whole "big brain" track, and while that makes us able to plan for the future, create new things etc, its not much for survival on a purely physical scale.

Thus to compensate for this, we ended up banding together, depending on each other for protection and survival. This leads to any particular group needing a leader in order for the group to perform effectively as a single unit without being so disparate in their goals as to accomplish nothing since everyone is doing their own thing instead of building for the community.

Keep in mind that this is from a purely evolutionary standpoint, obviously we have advanced enough we can have a democracy and such, but the core is still there. Deep down in all humans is the "need" for a leader, and occasionally is the "need" to lead. It was built into us over countless generations of a communal group with a leader being more effective at surviving the harsh realities of life in the early days of human life.

Being a leader means having a responsibility to lead your people effectively, and properly. If you are a leader and you order your people to do something, you are just as responsible as the person is for whatever actions result from that. To say that a person is "weak" or foolish or anything because they were following orders is perhaps true in some cases, but the degree to which you go Thinker is way past that which could be accepted.

It does not absolve the people who committed the act itself in any way, but the leader himself is just as responsible, just as guilty. The fact that these people were great leaders is intriguing perhaps, but its not what they HAD (charisma, leadership, etc) but what they DID with it that makes them monsters. A knife can cut food for a cooking pot to feed the homeless, or it can kill the homeless. Its what you do with it that makes it one thing or the other. And yes many people ARE in fact tools who don't want or like to think for themselves. Its not admirable but its true. That doesn't mean whoever is using the tools can do anything he wants with them and not be responsible for it.