NYPD Joins Spanish Inquisition in Attack on the Written Word

The New York Police Department has unceremoniously deposited 5,000 books from the Occupy Wall Street encampment into a Dumpster. It’s in good company. It now can proudly place its name right alongside the Spanish Inquisition - which burned not only books but people, too.

Why should police behave like this? You could get the answer very easily by asking one Philip Zimbardo, professor emeritus at Standford University. Zimbardo, a psychologist, created an experiment in which 12 students were chosen to play prison guards and 12 others were selected to simulate inmates. The students were selected entirely at random. Before it could run its course, however, it had to be abandoned because the "guards" started acting like fascist dictators on a power trip. They internalized their roles to such an extent that, within six days, those overseeing the experiment said that one-third had begun to act in a downright sadistic manner.

http://www.theprovocation.net/2011/11/nypd-joins-spanish-inquisition-in.html

Three things they look for in police recruits: obedience to authority, low mental acuity, sadism.

Three things an enlightened police force would have: above average mental ability, empathy, capacity for reason.

I hope that the end game of OWS has in it a complete replacement of law enforcement personnel.

Who? No one took me seriously, though truthfully, I wasn't looking for an iron maiden direct correlation.