Social Engineering

Actually, "brainwashing" is not the correct term for what we have been discussing, but that's what a lot of people call it. A more accurate term would be "social engineering", or maybe "cultural engineering". That's when you are trying to change the way people look at things, and even at themselves. Part of the reason a lot of people are poor is that they think they're supposed to be poor. This has been programmed into them by generations of cultural conditioning, not necessarily on purpose, it's just the way "society" perceives them, and the way they have come to perceive themselves. The only way to change that is with more cultural conditioning, which probably would have to be deliberate to be effective. Both of our ilks are generally suspicious of that sort of thing when the other ilk is doing it. Of course, when our own ilk is doing it, it's okay because we are only doing it for their own good.

This might have been what the paper mill management had in mind when they gave us all those classes, but maybe not always. Rumor had it that they had a certain amount of money in their budget for training and, if they didn't spend it, they would get less next year. Of course no manager wants to see his budget cut for any reason. They used to send their managers to these seminars periodically. If one of them was particularly impressed, they might recommend that it was something that could benefit all of us at the plant. Some of those motivational speakers were undoubtedly snake oil salesmen, but I found some of the stuff they peddled to be interesting and useful out in the real world, if not in the plant. It might have been useful within the plant if any of it was ever implemented correctly, or even at all, but the post seminar enthusiasm quickly waned in the cold light of dawn, and it was soon back to business as usual.

The only one I remember them following through on was Statistical Methods of Quality Control, and they went way overboard on that one. For years afterwards they tried to cram every aspect of paper mill life into the statistical model, and some things just don't fit in there. The concept was pioneered by Edwards Deming who, after failing to capture the interest of American businessmen, sold it to the Japanese, who used it to kick the shit out of the American auto industry. At least that's the story we were told, and there was probably some truth in it. Be that as it may, if Deming could have seen how our guys corrupted his teachings, he would have turned over in his grave.

I wonder how much of this alleged police brutality is more of a cultural thing than a racial thing. They showed pictures of the six cops who have been charged with murder in that Baltimore case, and three of them looked colored to me, maybe not Black, but some kind of colored. The cases of which I have heard all seemed to start with a cop telling some guy to do something, or not do something, and getting a defiant and/or violent response. I have always believed that you shouldn't argue with a cop out in the street, even if you think he's wrong. He might know something that you don't and doesn't have the time to explain it to you. We are paying these guys to maintain law and order, and we should generally cooperate with them in that effort. If you want to argue, that's what the courts are for. Of course this makes sense to me only because I am one of the good guys. If I was a member of the criminal subculture, I would perceive the cops as my enemies. Nevertheless, it's not a good idea to challenge an armed enemy with your bare hands. If you want to fight the cops, a more effective tactic would be to set up an ambush with a gun or a bomb. It makes me wonder what these alleged victims were thinking, or if they were thinking at all.

Like I said, though, each case is different and should be treated as such. There is always an investigation when something like this happens. We may not agree with it's findings, but we weren't there, and probably don't have a complete understanding of the evidence. It would help if all the witnesses told that same story, but maybe that's an  unrealistic expectation.