Who do we demonize now?

How can harmful systems be changed, “so that the doers of harm, each and all, are invited to stop doing the work of those systems, to put down their guns, walk away from their posts”?

Public philosopher Elizabeth Minnich suggests that the question has been central for nonviolent social change leaders, from Gandhi to Martin Luther King, and beyond. She asks another question too: why do they do the work of harmful systems at all?

That question led Minnich to study what she calls extensive evils like genocides and slavery. Throughout history and now, Minnich found, people have done the work of harmful systems, very reliably, for reasons as simple as a paycheck.

Or, more often, because they are thinking in terms of clichés, responding to people in categories. Because they are answering the question, “Who are we supposed to demonize now?”

Extensive evils are possible when enough people accept the dominant answer to that question, or think in cliches, or are simply responding to their family’s need to eat, and so set hard thinking aside.

I’ve been thinking about this in light of U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. I listen to credible stories, watch well-vetted videos, incident after incident of hateful language, cruelty, and obvious disregard for civil, let alone human rights, and wonder, as Minnich does, why do they do it?

ICE has a goal of adding 14,000 more agents before the end of this year.  Applicants come from all sorts of backgrounds – cultural, ethnic, and professional – to apply for those jobs.  

Interviewed by a reporter at one of those events, one man said, “I’m the guy that just executes;  whatever they want, they tell me to do it, I go do.”  

Another man, speaking in Spanish, had dreamed of a steady career as a Border Patrol Agent, although “It hurts to see [the people he’ll detain.] They’re human, but a job is a job.”   

Several said that $50,00 signing bonus, a steady paycheck, and good insurance to support their families were enough to do whatever they had to do.

Who are we supposed to demonize? For these job seekers, the answer seems to be: whoever they need to do the job, or affirm the clichés they’ve accepted without thinking.

But what if I change the perspective on that question – Who are we –  I mean, people who grieve and rage at what we see as an extensive evil underway – supposed to demonize now?  

Those job seekers, are we supposed to demonize them? What clichés are we accepting? What hard thinking are we not doing? And in our not-thinking, are we missing ways to invite the doers of harm to stop doing the work of those systems, to put down their guns, walk away from their posts?

Elizabeth Minnich writes that in times of extensive evil, there are always people who choose not to harm. Even those who are pressured to, or for whom bribes, salaries, or signing bonuses would have solved their financial problems. “Even in the belly of the beast,” she writes, “some do manage not to join in.”

The common thread among them was thinking – refusing dominant ideas, clichés, and categories.

What I’m wondering today is: Are we – again, to be clear: I mean, people who grieve and rage at what we see as an extensive evil underway – are we responding to dominant thinking, or thinking hard on our own?

Elizabeth Minnich often speaks of the absolute necessity of paying attention. I think of the phrase I first saw on a bumper sticker years ago, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.” I am outraged, but it’s not enough to pay attention to the doers of harm today. I need to pay attention to my own mind, reflected in my words and actions.

If I don’t, I risk becoming a doer of harm tomorrow.

Lucinda Garthwaite
Founder & Executive Director, ILI

PS. Elizabeth Minnich is a founding ILI advisor. Her work is foundational to ours. She’s said, “Our minds tend to quail before the imaginative task of taking in both human suffering and the cruelty when it's caused directly, purposely. We look at it and fall silent.” The ILI will not fall silent.   

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References

The Evil of Banality: On the Life and Death Importances of Thinking. (2017) Elizabeth Minnich. Rowman & Littlefield.

“Banality’s Evil: An Interview with Elizabeth Minnich.” James Ballowe. Podcast: Why: Philosophical Discussion on Everyday Life. Center for Humans and Nature. February 26, 2018.

“How is it That Ordinary People can Commit Such Overwhelming Evil?” with guest Elizabeth Minnich.  Jack Russell Weinstein, Interviewer. The Institute for Philosophy in Public Life.  University of Minnesota College of Arts and Sciences. November 10, 2025.

“Meet the New I.C.E Recruits.” Jess Bidgood and Nicholas Nehamas. The New York Times. September 8, 2025.

“Fired feds, Trump lovers and veterans: Meet the people applying for ICE jobs.” Ximena Bustillo. Oregon Pacific Broadcasting. September 26, 2025.