Imagine a world much like our own. A parallel universe of sorts. Where people wake up every day, go about their daily lives, and then go back to sleep. Now add one fatal flaw to that world: finger-pointing. This is a world where everyone blames everyone else for what they believe is wrong. Whether it be death, pain, suffering, financial meltdown, complacency or something as simple as forgetting to convey information. This world, unfortunately, is our world.
We live in a world where everyone is afraid to take blame, to admit to what they did. A recent extremely well-known example is Hillary Clinton. While what she did or did not do regarding the email server was not a crime, it was careless. And the FBI proved to everyone that she was lying pretty easily. So why even bother? People would have accepted her much more easily, and it would have made her seem much more caring and honest, not to mention would have given the Republicans less ammunition.
In most cases, people who get blamed, or scapegoated, are at least partially responsible for what they're blamed for. They usually have a hand in what happened. But this is not always the case. Sometimes they get blamed because people have a preconceived notion that that person should do more, regardless if that person even has that power.
One example of this is how the Republicans scapegoat President Obama. They claim he should do more to combat ISIS, to deal with the crime rate, unemployment, illegal immigration, pretty much anything(I would highly encourage the reader to check those links out- they're hilarious). However, they refuse to acknowledge that he does not have the power to actually do stuff if Congress does not do its job. A Congress which is conveniently controlled by Republicans.
But who is to blame for this culture? We have no one to blame but ourselves. This is because we live in a society where whatever we do is met with immediate criticism. Any mistake, any misstep is met with disdain. Admitting to doing something complacent gets you blacklisted for life, because you don't get a second chance. You work your entire life for that one chance, and then you realize you just blew it. It may not even be your fault completely. When people work so hard to get to a certain place, they are understandably reluctant to let it all go to waste. So when the choice becomes to blame someone else or let all of your hard work go to waste, people choose the former.
But it's not just that.There is a deeper psychological reason behind why we need to have a scapegoat. This is because it gives us someone to blame. Someone to point fingers at and rain curses down upon to make us feel better. To convince ourselves that our lives are such a mess because of what happened to us because of that person. To tell ourselves that it's not us, it's them. It gives us an "out" to all our frustration.
This is one of the worst things a politician can do. To direct people's frustrations towards a group of people and scapegoat them. To tell people that this group is the reason for all your problems. This is what Hitler did with Jews. This is what Saddam Hussein did with Kurds. And this is what Trump is trying to do with Muslims and Hispanics. Placing blame on others is bad enough, but telling people it is okay to lash out against those who speak up against them is how dictators rise to power. By killing freedom of speech. If Trump gets elected President, what we are witnessing now is the Beginning of the End.
