Degradation of the oppressed strengthens oppressive regimes by breeding self-disgust

Evidence

That is why the Nazis were so systematically relentless in casting into abjection the men they wanted to destroy: the disgust which the victims felt in regard to themselves stifled the voice of revolt and justified the executioners in their own eyes. All oppressive regimes become stronger through the degradation of the oppressed. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity, 103

Categorization

• XREF: Directly parallels the degradation mechanism at work in the extermination camps, and connects to the ‘stifled revolt’ logic in chapter 1’s account of subjugation. — connects to: Neoliberalism’s self-cultivation culture has a dark twin in public spectacles of humiliation — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 372