"Just following orders..."

First off--thank you for your service to our country, 10000li.

While I agree in spirit with Mama Fisi's comment, I have to say that it's not always so easy to "do the right thing," if "the right thing" entails putting oneself at a real risk of retribution. While it is true that "there is no greater love than that a man will lay down his life for another," when the rubber hits the road, most people are a bit more self-interested, or at least more interested in self-preservation.

There are lots of places in this country where standing up or speaking out will get your house burned down, or your car windows smashed, or your dog poisoned, or even yourself shot at, beat up, or killed.

So when it comes right down to it, although it really is incredibly courageous, noble, and morally correct to stand against injustice, wrongdoing, or abuse, letting somebody else suffer is often preferable to risking your own life, limb, or property.

Now, as far as being in a position where you are "following orders" to ignore an atrocity or look the other way...I hate to believe that there is a culture in the military that permits or encourages such behavior, but it's happened in the past and it's probably happening now. The chain of command in the military makes disobeying orders far more difficult to do than in civilian situations,but corruption being pervasive throughout human bureaucracies, it can be hard to report unethical behavior in a superior whether you're working for White Castle or the White House.

Kids on the playground are discouraged from being "snitches" and it just goes on from there. I knew a guy who ran a "safe house" for whistle blowers--a place where they could hide while their legal issues were being sorted out, so they wouldn't face retribution from their co-workers. Just think about that--having to pack up and go hide in the country because you did the "right thing" by reporting company violations. And of course the most extreme example of this would be the Witness Protection Program, although those folks aren't always "do-gooders."

Following orders and overlooking atrocities doesn't have to be a corporate or military thing, either. A lot of people become so indoctrinated by their belief system that they can convince themselves that a rival group is sub-human and worthy of being exterminated. And by "belief system" I don't just mean religion, but also politics.

Sadly, this happens all too often throughout human history. And as Mama Fisi pointed out, genocide succeeds when good people do nothing.

And a lot of times, the good people get gunned down as well.