Watches this De-individuation (FBI Raids), Dehumanization (Assassinations), and Moral Disengagement (Wars)

De-individuation (FBI Raids), Dehumanization (Assassinations), and Moral Disengagement (Wars)


Article by WorldNews.com correspondent Dallas Darling.
Recently, over a dozen activists and their houses across the United States were raided by the FBI and other government security agencies. While these human rights activists were being subpoenaed to appear before a Grand Jury-for having ties with the FARC rebels in Columbia and for supporting Palestinians in their struggle for freedom and equality; and even as their computers, emails, mailing lists, cell phones, cameras, videos, books, and passports were confiscated, it was clear another purpose of these government raids was to cast fear and intimidation over America. It was also an obvious event of de-individuation.

De-individuation is where individuals hide behind uniforms and badges and are enmeshed in, or emboldened by, powerful organizations and therefore, feel anonymous. Their sense of self-monitoring and personal accountability is decreased substantially which creates the potential for evil action.(1) In this incident, evil action was the suppression of human and basic civil rights. Not only does the power of anonymity produce anti-social behavior, but it creates a dispositional, internal change illustrated by abuse and treating people as if they do not matter, or the undifferentiated "Other" that is processed by the System.(2)

Behind the masks of government uniforms and bureaucracy lies the danger of permissive aggression and group conformity, especially when the System itself is overly oppressive and extremely violent. Surely, if these masked authorities were in a different situation, they would not have kicked-in doors, beat activists, and taken personal belongings. They would not have ripped-down posters of Martin Luther King, Jr. or taken peaceful literature, nor would they have seized children's artwork. Neither would they have accused their fellow citizens of "material support" for terrorists and terrorist organizations.

By identifying certain individuals and groups as being outside of the realm of humanity and excluding them from the moral universe, dehumanization can easily occur.(3) Prejudice, racism, discrimination, politicism, and religiousism are central processes in making others inhuman and thus tainted, even making it appear that they live on the margins of society. During the Bush Years, and now the Obama Years, those groups opposing U.S. policies were referred to as "cancerous." The animalizing and diseasizing of other human beings, even including U.S. citizens, can lead to signed executive orders to assassinate.

Simplistic thinking, denying others their history and rightful grievances, and thinking and calling those who are not part of one's inner circle can also lead to dehumanization. This is why both the Bush and Obama Administrations ordered the assassination of New Mexico cleric Anwar Awlaki, and other U.S. citizens yet to be named. Officials have alleged that Awlaki has active ties to al-Qaeda, but they have never provided evidence. The Obama Administration, of course, cites "state secrets." When an individual or a State claims they are more human than others, it is called infra-humanization. Infra-humanization goes further than dehumanization, for it attributes uniquely human emotions and traits to one's in-group while denying these same emotions and traits to out-groups.(4)
Coppied by http://article.wn.com/view/2010/10/07/Deindividuation_FBI_Raids_Dehumanization_Assassinations_and_/?section=TopStoriesWorldwide&template=worldnews/index.txt