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Escape Goats and Sacrificial Lambs

Our outrage does nothing to protect the vulnerable.

By Rebecca HansenPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

Yes, I know it's "scapegoat". But ever since I heard an acquaintance mention escape goats in passing, I have been waiting to use the phrase. It is appropriate to the subject at hand, I promise.

Another news cycle, and another rich, powerful man has been accused of abusing that power. Harassment, assault, inappropriate behavior. Probably sexual (although I think by now we agree it's not usually about the sex).

It doesn't matter which month or year it is; someone instantly popped into your mind while reading that paragraph.

The reaction from society to these revelations is, I grant, better than it used to be. We are more likely to believe the women, children and underlings that gather the courage to speak out. We are quicker to condemn the offending behavior. We are shocked, outraged, horrified that our idols have been such evil predators all along.

Are we, though?

Men (and women) in positions of power tend to abuse that power.

Maybe it's because power corrupts. I'm inclined to think the causal relationship goes the other way, and corrupt people seek out positions of power; it takes a lot of nerve to set oneself up as a guru, grand master or god.

We know this. I know it, and you know it, even if you wish it weren't so. I know you know it, because I see the way you shift and hedge when your daughters want to become movie stars.

It is so easy to become outraged when a powerful person steps over the line. Oh, what a monster! We always knew something was off about him. How awful! It's good that he can't hurt people anymore.

I am in no way trying to absolve powerful people of their responsibility for their own actions. Let me say that again: what I am about to say is in no way intended to absolve people of their own personal responsibility for their personal actions.

But - and fellow humans, this is a big but - I watch our societal reactions to the Me Too movement and it bothers me.

We are using powerful men who are publicly accused as scapegoats to evade our own personal responsibility.

Women, we know this is a pervasive, structural problem. Men, you know it too. It is normal for young men who commit assault to get off easy (as long as they are white and popular), and it is normal for girls to be sexually objectified starting before puberty.

Rich and powerful men often do things that are much, much worse than your average Joe, but that is only because they can get away with much, much more. Money can sweep a multitude of sins under the rug of silence. Power is an all-access pass to the best spinners, fixers and lawyers out there.

Society is structured in such a way that the vulnerable remain powerless,

and those aspiring to power get away with as much as they possibly can in order to climb another rung. The social ladder rewards bad behavior.

When we respond to abuse revelations with shock and outrage, we push our societal responsibilities onto the perpetrator and send them off into the wilderness, an outcast like the scapegoat of old.

Meanwhile the structures that allow and even encourage imbalances and abuses of power remain in place, and the vulnerable remain vulnerable.

We attempt to escape the hard work of actually examining the way we uphold these structures by gaping at those who commit atrocities and pretending that they are outliers instead of symptoms.

Guess what? WE are part of the problem. Patting yourself on the back because you have never "Not had sex with that woman" doesn't address the power systems that allow and even normalize abuse.

In order to disrupt the power-hungry structure of our society, we have to stop playing the game.

The zero-sum game where some people are billionaires and others live on the street.

The game where incompetent men are shored up by incredibly competent underlings (often, but not always, women) who do most of the work, contribute most of the brains and make less than half of what their bosses do.

The game where companies hire desperate, often underqualified applicants and then overwork them because they are so grateful to have a job they won't stand up for themselves.

The game where people with darker skin are slyly - or overtly - passed over for somebody's uncle's girlfriend's girlfriend's son.

The game where women make less than men, and people of color make less than people of pallor, and people who work hard make less than the people who stand around telling them what to do.

The game where it is impossible for folks with disabilities to live in comfort and dignity, because their entire lives are one long tax on existing.

The game where parents have complete power over children, and where those children are routinely ignored, coerced or outright abused by those who ought to be their biggest champions.

We live in such a power-hungry society. Is it any wonder that the powerless are so often abused, and the powerful go unchallenged?

How do we stop playing the game?

I don't know. It's rigged so the people who have the most power have the least incentive to change it. The people who perhaps see the problems the most clearly are brushed aside and discredited.

But if we truly want to protect the vulnerable, we must take steps, not only to condemn abuses of power, but to eliminate imbalances of power.

We need to move past "escape goats" and dismantle the system that turns so many into sacrificial lambs on the altar of power.

opinion
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About the Creator

Rebecca Hansen

Putting words down in writing makes me feel alive. What do I write about? Yes. Also that. I like to think that my randomness is charming.

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