We are discussing a hypothetical thought experiment example for philosophical learning purposes on hate and corruption. In the example a local group called "The Clan" contained some corrupt officials, justice decision makers, and a cultic social network of blind followers that harmed a number of people with actions including false rumors to outright threats and enrichment/financial exploitation. Those who put in official complaints were retaliated against, put on targeting lists, investigations into clan members blocked, so on and so forth.
Yikes! 😬Good thing its just a learnimg example.
Eventually many victims of similar behaviors that included hate, aggression, manipulation, sexual exploitation, freedom of speech violations, human rights rejection, putting kids in harm’s way, manipulating elderly for money, mistreating vets, etc. came forward and the dam of silence was broken. This happens over time as patterned behavior continues forward it creates many different victims.
A question arises on what a community does once they are aware that these scandals were going on for a long period of time and there are victims out there subject to horrific misbehaviors? They may have known something was wrong but generally had no ability to deal with it or formalize it. The victims have absolutely no recourse and that appeared intentional. Unexpectedly, what resulted that the perpetrators didnt expect was a sense of community to form where people began to commit to a perception of an invisible community and work toward making their economy and quality of lives better. As a species we are designed to adapt and improve so the deeper roots of social logic seem to be the best explanation of the good that can come from bad.
The study below indicates that an apology is helpful when
scandals are finally uncovered. One might think an apology is helpful versus denial,
but I believe it is the feeling associated with moving down a path of
correction and in our example additional protection for the community members. It may also be a
relief that the pain and suffering of the victims is no longer discarded and
that greater alignment between word, action, and social contracts (i.e. artifacts
of values in a community/nation) will in the future be more likely be upheld.
Further in this example, the victims will likely always have
a sour taste in their mouth due to the grotesque nature of behaviors and
events. Lack of correction due to inconvenience and lingering bigotries toward out-group members (typically by race, religion, politic). You can't undo what they have done and while people can forgive it is
their duty to not forget. That duty is important for those who swear to a
higher moral conscious and believe in their oaths to their people/community. It
provides a sense of purpose.
In this learning example we moved through a 1.) default in
justice, 2.) dehumanization, 3.) acceptance of social order, and now including 4.)
community resilience.
Thus, in a best case scenario the community adapts to improve the functioning of systems, they gain a sense of community and improve their economic/quality of life prospects, and the victims find purpose in the violations of social contracts. In this case they choose to teach, help, improve and enrich but they do not choose the path of being part of the problem with complacency. They are the night watchman/woman of our universal essential values. The unsung heroes of our time paving a bright future for the next diverse generation that must compete as a unified peoples like never seen in history prior.
David E Clementson, Wenqing Zhao, Michael J Beatty, Atoning vs. evading when caught transgressing: two multi-theory-based experiments investigating strategies for politicians responding to scandal, Human Communication Research, Volume 50, Issue 4, October 2024, Pages 545–560, https://doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqae015
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