On Killing Chapter Summary & Analysis - Section 3, Killing and Physical Distance: From a Distance You Don't Look Anything Like a Friend: Chapter 1, Distance: A Qualitative Distinction in Death Summary

Section 3, Killing and Physical Distance: From a Distance You Don't Look Anything Like a Friend: Chapter 1, Distance: A Qualitative Distinction in Death Summary and Analysis

Grossman explains the well-known relationship between distance and the psychological comfort level with committing acts of destruction against others. This is the case with respect to plants, animals and other people. Although the author is only following this topic in the realm of warfare, it is also a simplified explanation for how and why the poor are so easily oppressed by the wealthy: The wealthy are so distanced from the poor that the wealthy do not readily feel the effects of what they are doing. A chart is provided that shows the natural rise of the healthy human resistance to killing and its direct correlation to physical distance; the further the distance, the easier it is to kill. This is clearly evidenced in public by political heads taking responsibility for the decisions they make, including and especially in cases of conducting wars. This showed explicitly when...
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