Every culture is held together by myths, rituals and symbols.
The myth is the story; the symbol is that one element the story can be reduced to; and the ritual is how the myth is performed.
There it is the myth of free markets; the symbol of Capitalism and the ritual of scapegoating – all in one frame!
When the market collapses, we look for a scapegoat or else Capitalism looses both meaning and value.
No different from when a ship capsizes, the captain has to be scapegoated or the industry will collapse for all its systemic ruptures.
The uncritical masses see only the dark side of scapegoating and therefore consider it a necessary evil to be controlled.
Looking into the history of disasters, however, tells us that by absorbing the sins of the society, the scapegoat brings back peace, order and cohesion for all.
The scapegoat is not only a victim, he is also the saviour, and therefore he is a God.
There is no need to chant hollow mantras such as โWe operate a No Blame Policyโ or โBlame Fixes Nothingโ.
There is no need to start an accident investigation report by stating it is not about blaming any individual.
Instead, learn from the ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ how to surface our hidden beliefs and make them obvious to all.
Readings:
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ by Rene Girard
๐๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ด ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐บ by Mary Midgley (available for free download)
๐๐ช๐ด๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ by Mary Douglas (available for free download)
Any accident investigation reportย (available for free download)
Pictured in the Merchant city of Glasgow, Scotland.
