Debate Guide: Blame game

Exacerbated by state authorities that have no unbroken promise left but to protect their citizens from terror, societies and individuals look for easy scapegoats on which to blame their problems. Such a blame game is far easier than any honest analysis of the deeper social problems and fundamental flaws in any one culture.

Societal examples

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Personal examples

Consider the case of a court trial. A man has been accused of having sexual relationships with teenage boys. The boys who were found engaged in sexual acts with the man concerned have violent parents who have raised them in a dirty, abusive environment. In reality, the parents have lost all faith in their children, who are growing up with almost identical antisocial tendencies. But for the trial, there appears to be no possible way that these aspiring, working-class parents could gain any respect, and no way that they could be seen as the "good" actors in any social context.

The allegations of abuse and the court trial have given these parents the perfect opportunity to offload their abusive and neglectful parenting and its results onto a scapegoat. Finally, they have the opportunity to look like good people, and they will take every advantage during the trial to bring about such an end.