Some of my readers have asked me about the appalling acts that
marred the recent Boston Marathon. While all the facts are still to be
discovered a few broad aspects can be discussed without compromising anything.
Causing unnecessary death, injustice, cruelty, torture and general
unkindness is wrong, plain and simply wrong. Even though such events appear to
be part of the human condition – they need not be so. When a system is in place
that encourages – or at least does not discourage – authoritarian attitudes and
unquestioned obedience then most people, because we are social animals, will
conform to whatever the system requires. There is a great deal of social
research which reveals that when the situation people may find themselves in is
such that it corrodes human values and creates a “them or us” or a “are you
with us or against us” attitude then normal well-adjusted people will be
persuaded to perform unspeakable acts on their fellow beings and animals. In
certain situations, where the system demands it, usually “normal” people will
submit to the “social convention” applicable at that time and in that
particular situational environment – no matter what the “social convention”
entails.
This is not to say there are no “bad people”, of course
there are, but more often than not it is the situation that people find
themselves in – the system – that alters behaviour. I am not excusing the killing
or cruelty perpetrated by individuals who are deviant in this regard – those
who enjoy inflicting pain and suffering – such people may be considered
sociopaths or psychopaths. There are definitely such people. Not many,
fortunately, but a few. It is, however, generally the system, the situation,
that is the real culprit.
In this instance I am talking about normal people in
abnormal situations. What determines “normal” is a moot point and an “abnormal
situation” is generally an entirely personal experience – what is abnormal to
me may not be for you. This applies to all “parties” – to those in a
particular situation forced to submit to authority and those who because of the
situation are “expected” to act in an authoritative manner. This also depends
on how long the “abnormal situation” lasts and how long any “adjustment” may
take.
Think of the situations and the systems that prevailed in
the precincts of the financial institutions on Wall Street in 2008 and the
catastrophe that resulted; think of the situations and the systems that
prevailed in children’s institutions run by the Catholic Church; think of the situations
and systems created by the Nazis and the subsequent Jewish “holocaust”; think
of the mishmash of perverted religious ideals and politics that is “taught” in some
Islamic madrasa (schools); think of the strict Biblical interpretations and “creationist”
concepts taught in some American schools; think of the situation and system
that resulted in the appalling treatment inflicted on the inmates of Abu-Ghraib
prison in Bagdad; think of the situations and the systems that encouraged the
illegal practice of “rendition” – the
CIA sending prisoners to countries that allow torture; think of the situations
and systems that allowed the cruelty inflicted upon animals in abattoirs that has
been captured on video in Australia, the Middle East and other countries; think
of the situations and desperate conditions forced on “boat people” or so-called
“queue jumpers” by Australian politicians who seem to be in competition to see
who can inflict the harshest “punishment” for daring to try and reach Australia
(the “lucky country”) by any means possible.
In these cases, without exception, the rhetoric, the
propaganda, the “spin” promotes the notion that what is being said is “normal” (Jews
are evil and all Muslims are extremists) and that any and all alternative views
or interpretations are radical, wrong and “abnormal” (if you are not with us you
are against us!). What is deliberately distorted and played upon in these situations
is that we, that is all human beings, are “social animals” and need
relationships. We all have an instinctive desire to be “included”; if we are
included we are socially “rewarded” by the approval of those we are now
included with; we feel “safe” because responsibility for our actions is now
shared with others and is therefore no longer considered to be our individual
responsibility – “I did nothing wrong. I was only obeying orders. I was just
doing what I was told”. Sound familiar?
Such systems, such
conditions, such environments subvert humanity, compassion and logical reasoning.
They subvert the concept of “conscience”. They subvert the inclusive basis of
all religions; they subvert the fact that all human beings are related by our
very humanity. They subvert the fact that we are human and that our relatedness
is conditional upon the creative or productive aspects of this relatedness - love.
The “faculty” to love fulfils the vital condition of enabling us to retain our
individual freedom while, at the same time, unites us with our fellow beings. Anything
else is a travesty; anything else – which causes pain, anguish or diminishes another
- is plain and simply wrong.
This is why, I suggest, the origins of the warped thinking
that led to the recent appalling actions in Boston lie in the system, in the
environment, in the conditions that the perpetrators – the two young men – grew
up with or immersed themselves in while living in the USA. Also never forget
the corrosive effect that injustice – actual or perceived – has on individuals.
Racism, exclusion, bullying, derisive comments about a person’s apparent
poverty or appearance or accent or lack of English language skills all have a
deep and lasting effect on the victims and are not only unkind but are also unjust.
People remember injustice long after the cause has (apparently) been resolved.
Never forget the “law” of cause and effect, of unintended
consequences which will always apply in any situation. This is why, as has been
stressed many times in these posts, there is no viable alternative to treating
others the way you would like to be treated – being ethical at all times.
I will end with a quote from a speech by Frederick Douglas,
on 24th anniversary of emancipation, Washington, DC 1886:
“ Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where
ignorance prevails and where one class is made to feel society is in an
organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor
property will be safe.”
It is always the system.
Think about it.
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