>
> What do you expect from a bunch of Politicians (even if they are
> Libertarian)! Frankly, libertarianism may talk the talk, but reducing
> government will not make people more accountable for their actions.
> Libertarians assume that most people will take a stand and do the "right"
> thing, given the chance.
Strongly agree - I think there is such a thing as excessive faith in human
nature; there IS a dark side in us wehether you call it original sin or
the biological imperative to tbe selfish and think short term. Also, most
people are not educated enough to even KNOW the "right" thing in a
political/social situation and given that they just act in their own
interest.
>
> Reminds me of the Yale study that tested people's resistance to authority.
> You have probably heard something about it. Its the one where ordinary
> people are asked to "shock" another test subject if that subject answered a
> question wrong, all in the name of "Science". The voltage settings went all
> the way up to 450 volts, and at that setting it had a big warning sign on it
> saying "Dangerous".
>
> Ironically, the scientists running the study asked 39 Psychologists to
> predict how far the subjects would go. They predicted only 1 in a 1000 would
> go to the far limit, and only 4-10% would go past 125 Volts, which was the
> point the "Shocker" could bail out of the test. It ended up that over 60%
> went past that point, and some went to the full limit (I forget the
> percentage). Despite the fact that the "Shocked" test subjects, who were
> only actors, were screaming bloody murder, these "shockers" went on and on,
> if only to fufull the researchers wishes.
>
> And when you look at the statistic that at least one person is murdered in
> the world every 20 seconds, and the fact that most of these are not for
> personal gain, but for some other "higher" purpose (religion, nationalism,
> racism, whatever), I don't see most people taking accountability for their
> actions over the wishes and demands of others anytime soon.
>
Isn't that the Stanley Milgram experiment? from the ealry 60s I think it
was? It's probably in every undergrad psych textbook. I read in Atlantic
Monthly that Kaczynski (The Unabomber) had been used when he was
in college in some similar type things that were by today's standards
unethical. (Anyone else see that article?)
Kristin
