Seems like for a while there nearly every car in the U.S. had a “United We Stand” bumper sticker. These stickers imply that our standing united was our only salvation. When we don’t stand united, what happens? Of course, we fall divided.
So is this true? If we were to buy into the idea at the center of the political platform of defeating terrorists by standing united and spreading our democracy everywhere, will this bumper sticker’s admonition keep us safe? If we blindly agree with all the presuppositions will we all be okay?
Scapegoating works best when we have a common enemy. As it relates to ‘United We Stand’, think Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein. Having something to fight against, unites people.
Satan has been used as the scapegoat in Christianity. Communists were used in the 1950’s as political scapegoats. Scooter Libby was a more recent scapegoat. (Though I actually heard pundits describe him as a fall guy and explicitly not a scapegoat, because scapegoats are implicitly innocent where as a fall guy’s seem to share the blame).
Scapegoating was super popular in Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials. The division of church and state was causing difficulty in the lives of the citizens, so instead of addressing that, women were burned at the stake because, after all, these witches were the cause of all the problems.
Some good examples of religious scapegoating include Adam blaming Eve, Eve blaming the serpent. The Baptists blame the Mormons for leading people astray. Mormons blame the baptists for the same. Christians blame Satan. And if you think about it, without Satan, there’s no need to save people. Satan has single-handedly maintained Christianity.
Please note: I am not debating the existence of non-existence of Satan. I am not interested in converting anyone to my spiritual, religious or political beliefs. I’m just pointing out how scapegoating is utilized.
Politically, scapegoating is multi-layered and at play when our attention is diverted from the body count in Iraq to a focus on gay marriage or stem cell research.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, scapegoating became a phenomenon even going so far as to acquire a new name: the blame game. City officials blamed the feds, the state blamed the city and the feds, the feds blamed the governor and then suggested that no one was to blame. . .or it was mother nature’s fault.
Seems like people ultimately want to believe that their problems or failures are the result of something outside themselves. Scapegoating works especially well for this purpose. . .think about the weight loss industry, for example. . . it’s not your fault, it’s your metabolism’s fault.
Scapegoating can be used in business or sales to suggest your client’s former agent or adviser lacked the knowledge required to get you in the right house, or get you earning as much as you should have earned.
To use this ethically, instead of making the scapegoat a person or group, make it an opposing force such as an idea, philosophy or an unfortunate circumstance.
About the author of this article:
kenrick cleveland teaches techniques to earn the business of affluent clients using persuasion. he runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion techniques.
