The concept of herd mentality

[bennyboy]

This a good point. Nazi Germany was definitely herd mentality however those who dissented were threatened with death if they didn't comply. Which begs the question...would you follow the herd if not doing so would cost you your life? (In this case, the herd/Nazi regime was obviously wrong)

I think the order of priorities for me would be:
1) family (and maybe best friends)
2) innocent others
3) myself
4) less innocent others (like soldiers etc.)

I would probably turn a blind eye, and might even directly involve myself in outright murder, even of innocents, to save my wife or children. So in a harsh climate, I would first move to secure my family, so that harm could not come to them through me. I would then fight if I cared enough, or flee if I didn't. For example, I'm currently in Korea, and would probably flee, even though there are lots of Koreans I care about.

But that's just on paper. When there really are a lot of angry people with guns running around, my view might change.