“Naturally the common people don’t want war. But after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and for exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.” --- Hermann Goering, Hitler’s Reich Marshall, at the Nuremberg Trials after World War II. The quote cited above does not appear in transcripts of the Nuremberg trials, because Goering spoke these words during the course of the proceedings. He did not offer the comment at his trial. His words were made privately to Gustave Gilbert, a German-speaking intelligence officer and psychologist who was granted free access by the Allies to all the prisoners held in the Nuremberg jail. Gilbert kept a journal of his observations of the proceedings and his conversations with the prisoners, which he later published in the book Nuremberg Diary. The quote offered above was part of a conversation Gilbert held with a dejected Hermann Goering in his cell on the evening of 18 April 1946, as the trials were halted for a three-day Easter recess. Here are a few of the questions I was thinking about when I was making this piece: How does one go about the process of leading a country to war? What has to happen to the people that allows the leaders get their way so easily? In what ways are people being manipulated? How may I become misled? Have I been misled? How will I prevent being misled in the future? Observe the world around you; contemplate what you see. The answers are more prevalent and simple than you think.