: (Jana, ...at last, I understand...)

(snip)

: The jig, as they say, is up!
: Ashamed for my prolonged ignorance,
: Puzzled No More

PuzzlePieces,

Excellent post.

No need to be ashamed for your "prolonged ignorance" when you consider the level of sophistication it took to keep you in the dark. Be proud of yourself. It's a fact that only the truly brave ever get to "get it" 'cause it such a hard thing to face, as in EVERYTHING YOU EVER LEARNED WAS WRONG! "Puzzled No More"? Fabulous.

I'm taking this opportunity to post my work on this subject.--Jana

The Reptile Report #010799.2

OBEDIENCE TO AUTHORITY

Obedience to Authority by Stanley Millgram (Published in the 1970s.) Made into a television movie (1975/76?) called "The Tenth Level" starring William Shantner.

This film has disappeared because it sheds a klieg light on what really happened in Germany during World War II. The book, like the film, proved that what happened under the Nazis (aka NAZIriteship) was not just some isolated event but that it could happen right in the good old United States of America.

The book is non-fiction!

It is the record of a series of experiments whereby ordinary, off-the-street, citizens of the United States of America were coerced into administering torture to their “fellow man” without anyone laying a hand on them (the citizen) or putting a gun to their head! They did it because they were told to do it by someone they believed had the AUTHORITY! They OBEYED even when it was against their moral, spiritual, humanitarian code of ethical behavior.

The good news is that some people flat out walked out on the experiment the minute they were told to continue after the first sign that something wasn't right. The bad news is that an alarming percentage of average Americans tortured a perfect stranger, who never did any harm to them, because they were OBEDIENT TO AUTHORITY.

The set up went something like this:

Cast of Characters:
(1) THE EXPERIMENTOR. The scientific authority figure (white coat, clipboard-type) in charge of the experiment. (In the film this role is played by William Shantner.)
(2) THE STUDENT. A paid actor.
(3) THE TEACHER. The unwitting volunteer, an American Citizen, who is led to believe he or she is a participating in an educational training experiment.

The Setting:
A laboratory with an instrument panel with ten buttons. A separate room where the "student" is strapped in a chair and wired to receive electric shocks administered by the "teacher”.

When the volunteer is brought into the laboratory he or she is introduced to the actor as if the actor is another volunteer. Between the two of them they decide who will be the teacher and who will be the student in the experiment. It is rigged so that it appears to the volunteer that he or she has become the teacher strictly by chance. The volunteer, now referred to as “teacher” is brought into the second room to observe the student being strapped into a chair and wired for electric shocks. Then the experimentor and the teacher close the door on the student and the teacher is seated at the panel of buttons.

The teacher is then told to read off a series of words and the student must repeat them back exactly as spoken. If the student makes a mistake, the teacher is instructed to administer an electric shock by pressing the appropriate button on the panel. The first button delivers a mild shock but with each succeeding mistake the electric shocks grow more intense until they reach the TENTH LEVEL which is excruciating pain so intense that the student is at risk of suffering permanent physical damage or even death. (Although button 1 is the only one that is activated, the rest is Button 1 is the only one that is activated. Buttons 2-10 are not connected to anything but the student acts as if he is getting shocked.)

The teacher is able to hear the student’s beginning discomfort all the way up to the point where the student is begging for mercy. The "teacher" is coerced by the "man in authority" to continue through all the stages. Many different tactics are employed by the "man in authority" but they are all strictly verbal, such as "please continue" or "you agreed to participate in this important experiment, you must continue". Some "teachers" get very upset when they hear the "student's" discomfort. They argue with the "man in authority" and some, at this point, get up and storm out refusing to engage in something that is causing harm to someone else. Others stay on in spite of their own resistance and take it up a few more levels before leaving. BUT THERE ARE THOSE WHO STAY. THERE ARE THOSE WHO GO ALL THE WAY.

THEY ARE OBEDIENT TO AUTHORITY!

At no time was any real pain administered to the "student" except the first mild shock. The rest was pure acting but the "teacher" didn't know it. The actions of the "teachers" were authentic.

This book is absolutely essential reading for anyone who is attempting to understand what happened in Germany and what is happening in the world today. World War II is a microcosm of the United States today!!!

Obedience to authority is DANGEROUS when the authority is EVIL.

Anyone who attempts to prevent QUESTIONS and silence the TRUTH, IS EVIL.

Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

Matthew 7:8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Matthew 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in [yourselves], neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

I notice that a lot of people who lost their keys are busybusybusy searching under the lamp post not because they lost them there BUT BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE LIGHT IS! Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but it sure "looks good" to the hoipolloi!

Jana Janus
Omnipresent on The Mean Planet