Once upon a
time, I did read about the Stanford Prison experiment, where some folks was
pretend-prisoners and others was pretend-guards.
Before you
know it, something wild and frightening seize the minds o' them
pretend-guards. They start to abuse the
pretend-prisoners. The people
who run the experiment was shocked. They put a stop to it immediately. Up to this day, that experiment still shock people.
Over the
years, I learn more about this wild and frightening thing that did seize the
minds o' them pretend-guards. I realise we
call it power.
Recently, I
start to call it the red-eye beast that can whisper in you' head and tell you
to do unspeakable things.
I look
around me, at how this beast can or cannot, does or does not, affect all
relationships. Man-woman, man-man, woman-woman, parent-child, teacher-student,
boss-employee, soldiers-prisoners, government-citizens, citizen-citizen, drivers-behind-wheels,
police-citizen.
In healthy
relationships, there ain't no place for the beast.
At least they
was able to stop the Stanford experiment.
What does
happen in real life when not a soul can stop the beast?
In Kitty where
I did live as a chile, I did see a neighbour strip she boy-chile nekkid in the
yard, and she lash he from head to toe with a' electric wire. The chile scream
and beg and wail. People try to stop she but all she could hear was the thing
raging in she head, urging she on and on and on.
I switch on
the tv yesterday lunch-time, a tiny girl-chile is singing in the children's
competition. "Throw away de wild cane and please don't beat me, please
don't beat me," she is pleading to the unseen teacher in she song.
Last night,
the news is discussing again something so horrible I can't watch. A man in a
police uniform is beating a' Amerindian woman and a child, on and on and on,
face with the same expression like the mother in Kitty, and quite possibly,
like them who did torture the young teen boy in prison and burn he genitals.
Oh, please,
can we stop the beast like they did stop the Stanford experiment?
Prof. Zimbardo,
who write 'bout the experiment, he say, "It does tell us that human nature is not totally under the control
of what we like to think of as free will, but that the majority of us can be
seduced into behaving in ways totally atypical of what we believe we are."
22 comments:
I, too, hate the horrors of abuse, but, unfortunately certain people get sick gratification from it.
This is so sad and so true. The red eye beast was residing quite close to us for a while. I got it to stop the beating by, from the safety of the veranda, pointing the camera towards it, (which had no batteries at the time but the beast didn't know that,) and asking it, mid beat, did it prefer facebook or youtube. It was so angry it almost burst but the beating stopped.
Oh GG you bring back memories that I try very hard to forget. The eyes of the beast and the uncontrollable rage and madness. In this world Drs, lawyers, politicians, even in the work place people who have just a supervisory position get high with power. Parents abusing children are cowards because the child is small and helpless and they can't retaliate. Good blog!!
Power is the most uncontrolable beast of all time.
In all the work we do, our most valuable asset can be the attitude of self examination.
It is forgivable to make mistakes, but to stand fast behind a wall of self righteousness and make the same mistake or commit the same atrocity again and again is not forgivable.
Vest, I agree. But some self-righteous folks I've heard about have done some really mean things to others, and I was thinking about 'self examination'...how these people think they're so good, even if they take a good hard look at themselves, would they see the wrongs they've done?
Sooshie, I'm sorry, I do hope those bad memories fade.
Oh boy, sometimes I think, suppose I were in a position of power, how would I behave? But then I realise, we all have power in our hands, in our daily lives, dealing with family and friends.
Bloggers have the power to hurt others too.
Zooms, you are one brave gal! Hooray for you.
The Internet's given us power, hasn't it? I love the way we, citizens, can expose, tell, teach, help others via the net.
The policeman beating the Amerindian woman and child is on youtube.
JohnG, yes, a lot of people get some sort of sick gratification abusing power. I think they feel justified, they're in the right.
this problem is everywhere. and we're being conditioned to accept it from the beginning. money gives power. when you don't have it... then you go to the store buy cheap shampoo (because it's what you can afford) but don't realize it's full of disgusting crap like by products of the petroleum industry- and it's cheaper for them to put it into your shampoo so you can put it on your body, then to properly get rid of it! why are we not crying and wailing for them to stop?? we're just happily buying whatever nasties they want to sell us....
Ale, we consumers don't realise how much power we have. We don't know that if we speak up, don't buy the bad stuff, if we demand better, we'd get it. Instead, we hand over our power to the manufacturers.
Thanks for reminding me about the poison in the products we buy. I will start researching healthy products and ask buyers here to ship them in.
Heh. Interesting point about 'consumers' driving what 'marketers' sell (well, ya didn't make that point - just thought t trow t idee in .. heh).
Always bear in mind that the "people who produce from the available landmass" are decreasing ... meh.
Touched a raw nerve this one. All I can say is that you're never the same again and spend the rest of your life trying to forget the sting of that first slap and how it stunned, shocked, scared and violated you. People who abuse others are the biggest cowards themselves.
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.
"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/TwoWolves-Cherokee.html
Great post. Thanks.
Davoh, I have to admit, I'm a lazy consumer myself, instead of asking for what I want, I just accept what there is. I don't blame the manufacturers totally.
Less young folks want to farm. They want the glam of offices and cities.
Rosaliene, thank you.
There has always been evil and hell on earth.
Why do we never learn?
Pat, some people just love doing wrong.
the scariest part of that prisoner experiment is that it didn't take long for the seemingly "normal" people to unleash the beast. does that mean it's hiding in all of us? i hope not.
Cadiz, that's what I was thinking but shunned away from it, and I was hoping someone else would say it for me. Ohhh what a frightful thought.
Kim, I don't know how come I'm only now seeing your comment. I'd forgotten that story...all children should hear it. I'm going to check out that link this weekend.
Cloud, like Kim's comment, I'm only now seeing yours. That's sad, what you've said. I hope the memory fades with time, and stops stinging all together.
G,
The experiment was set up to encourage one category of people to hurt the another and so that's what they did. It was structured so that the 'prisoners' were seen as lesser folk than the guards and therefore deserving of punishment. Just like real life, in fact. All it proved to me was that prison guards treat prisoners badly whatever the country or circumstance.
"So let your schemes alone,
Adore the rising sun,
And leave a man undone, to his fate."
Robert Burns, Ye Jacobites by name
Dan, did you read what one of the "guards" said on the BBC site? That he realises now that he is capable of certain types of behaviour if he's in a certain situation.
Hi Louis, welcome back! How have you been?
Hmm...leave man undone, to his fate.
Yes, a lot of people here believe that.
Some days it's hard to be human, because there's very little human-ity in many of them!
:(
Yes, it is sad, Michelle, it's why there will always be friction.
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