Or how "good people" end up doing evil, and lay the foundation for a totalitarian state by "just doing their job:"
A PARKING attendant sprang into action when a man collapsed outside
Altrincham General Hospital - by trying to slap a ticket on the
victim's car.The diligent warden came upon the scene after the man, who is diabetic, had keeled over in a car outside the hospital entrance.
Nurses ran out to help the man after his driver had dashed into the hospital to ask for assistance, and an ambulance was called.
But the intrepid meter maid spotted that the driver had pulled up in an ambulance bay - and was not about to show any leeway.
No doubt a lot of people would have reacted differently in the same situation, as they would have knocked on the window and tried to find out why a guy happened to be slumped over in such an important area of the hospital. However, most people are not naturally attracted to positions which give them the ability to hand out tickets, make arrests, etc. There is a small variety of people attracted to such positions, but a number of them are not wired the same way that most people are wired. They're prone to be petty, unconcerned for the safety of their fellow man, and even to be there to have some power that their pathetic little self can lord over others. Obviously, this meter maid fits that latter characteristic to a tee. Just read the article and see that she didn't immediately stop even when paramedics showed up and started treating the guy in the car.
Evil cannot be carried out by a system of people without each person doing their own part. In many cases the evil may be small enough that most people would call it just petty and ridicule it, but in the greater context, it takes on a much more sinister tone. Even in places like the gulag, this was the case. The guards were just guards, the cooks were just cooks, the secretaries were just secretaries, etc., but taken collectively, they formed a system of total tyranny and torment for those in the gulag.
What outrageous behavior from this meter maid; but then again, she doesn't get paid to think, just to do.
"There is a small variety of people attracted to such positions, but a number of them are not wired the same way that most people are wired. They're prone to be petty, unconcerned for the safety of their fellow man, and even to be there to have some power that their pathetic little self can lord over others."
Think I'll differ with you Mike. I contend that the number of people attracted to these positions, while not high, is higher than you think. For instance, I'm thinking of many who gravitate toward law enforcement, or DMV employees, or just about any other bureaucratic flunky who is charged with doing their job but lacks the bigger picture.
Also, the Milgram experiments come to mind...and the researcher behind those studies had this particularly relevant thing to say about the results of his experiments:
Think that this supports your thesis quite well here.
I think it depends on your DMV. Virginia's DMV is a very good agency, all things considered. Very professional and laid back. I'm serious when I say that I've never been treated rudely by a Virginia DMV employee.