I feel like crying

[shereads]

I usually tend to go with C) all of the above.

It's nearly always C.

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

Stanford Prison Experiments and Stanley Milgram's research not withstanding, experiments and clinical conditions are one thing, REALITY is quite another. Just b/c a guard is 'likely' to become a psycho b/c of his unlimited power, does this likelihood excuse the behavior?

 

[R. Richard]

Stanford Prison Experiments and Stanley Milgram's research not withstanding, experiments and clinical conditions are one thing, REALITY is quite another. Just b/c a guard is 'likely' to become a psycho b/c of his unlimited power, does this likelihood excuse the behavior?

Are you asking if the likelihood of a guard to become a psycho excuses the behavior in the eyes of an impartial observer or in the eyes of its fellow scumbags? TIA.

 

[Varian P]

Stanford Prison Experiments and Stanley Milgram's research not withstanding, experiments and clinical conditions are one thing, REALITY is quite another. Just b/c a guard is 'likely' to become a psycho b/c of his unlimited power, does this likelihood excuse the behavior?

This time I'll go with answer b) No.

I'm intrigued by the theoretical and philosophical implications of how power, stress, scapegoating, and the so-called "enemy function" work on individual and mass psychology--things like the notion that men who would never do so under normal circumstances will commit extra-curricular atrocities like rape during war.

On a practical level, I would hope practices would be put in place to prevent people from abusing their power, and to punish those who do.

 

[The_Fractal_King]

Stanford Prison Experiments and Stanley Milgram's research not withstanding, experiments and clinical conditions are one thing, REALITY is quite another. Just b/c a guard is 'likely' to become a psycho b/c of his unlimited power, does this likelihood excuse the behavior?

It does not and should not excuse the behavior. Both experiments are illegal today for a reason.

What the reality (and the experiments) do mean is that something should be done to head off a problem that we know will happen. The guards genuinely deserve everything that's coming to them but all prison guards need to be moderated in some better way.

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

Ghosts of Abu Ghraib is a good documentary that shows the way power corrupts. It's a good film dealing with this subject.

 

[shereads]

Ghosts of Abu Ghraib is a good documentary that shows the way power corrupts. It's a good film dealing with this subject.

And a perfect example of scapegoating.

Brutality isn't excusable, even when it's fed from the top. But it would be encouraging, once in a while, to see accountability at the top level.

 

[rgraham666]

Humans always try to separate authority and responsibility.

Until responsibility shows up again and bites them on the ass.

 

[Liar]

Humans always try to separate authority and responsibility.

Until responsibility shows up again and bites them on the ass.

Although, that doesn't happen often enough.

 

[rgraham666]

Too true.

 

[rgraham666]

This was supposed to be funny.

It wasn't.

 

[Boxlicker101]

This was supposed to be funny.

It wasn't.

I thought it was funny, in a grim way. Politicians, as I define politicians, are all crooks. They are all after either power or wealth. Or both, of course.

 

[rgraham666]

I agree with George Carlin on the point you just raised, Box.

"Now, there's one thing you might have noticed I don't complain about: politicians," he explained in a routine that challenged all the premises of today's half-a-loaf reformers. "Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don't fall out of the sky. They don't pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American universities, and they are elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It's what our system produces: Garbage in, garbage out. If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're going to get selfish, ignorant leaders. Term limits ain't going to do any good; you're just going to end up with a brand new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So, maybe, maybe, maybe, it's not the politicians who suck. Maybe something else sucks around here… like, the public. Yeah, the public sucks. There's a nice campaign slogan for somebody: "The Public Sucks. Fuck Hope."