An Epidemic of Wilful Blindness: Savile, Armstrong, LIBOR, HSBC...
"When I published my book on willful blindness, I believed strongly in my thesis - that the worst crimes are committed in public where everyone can see them but tries not to. But I had no idea it would be proved and proved again with such monotonous regularity. First there was Deepwater Horizon, then phone hacking, child abuse in Rochdale, then Winterborne View, the Catholic Church almost continuously, the LIBOR rate fixing, HSBC money laundering and now Lance Armstrong and Jimmy Savile.
We should by now be weaned off of the idea that these disasters are caused by a few bad apples, or the comforting myth that the only bad people are bankers. What all of these crimes have in common are that they involved large numbers of people and persisted over many years. There were multiple warnings and opportunities to intervene - all of which were shirked.
It continues to be comforting to scapegoat a few people or particular institutions: Rupert Murdoch or the BBC. But the harder truth inside these stories is that there were multiple failings on the part of individuals who made choices, the wrong choices, to remain silent. But we all like to think we're good and ethical, that we could never behave this way. So what goes wrong?"
..."3. We're conflict averse. Few people have the courage or skills to start or conduct a coherent argument. They've gone through an education system that encourages them to seek correct answers, not challenge them. They've been trained to be obedient and conformist. Pile people with debt and their incentive to take a risk evaporates. Demonize whistleblowers and perpetuate the myth that they are all always crazy (when in fact quite the opposite is true) and you can take smart people and render them silent. "
Can't wait for her next book about the drawbacks of competition. "A Bigger Prize: How We Can Do Better than the Competition "
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-bigger-prize-margaret-heffernan/1117891297?ean=9781610392914
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/margaret-heffernan-/jimmy-savile-epidemic-of-wilful-blindness_b_2044966.html?j
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Friday, my boss, for the third time (at least), proudly asserted that he is racist and homophobic -- and, he spent the morning bashing Obama with the owner of the company. He believes all Democrats should be exterminated. Jobs are scarce as hen's teeth here, yet he's hoping to compel me to quit so the owner won't have to pay unemployment.
Good times... 