The Experiment

I just finished watching the movie, The Experiment, with Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker.

The story is one where 26 guys agree to take part in a sociological experiment. In this experiment some of the men are asked to play the role of prison guards while the other men are asked to be the inmates. In the end the men descend into anarchy, abandoning decency and morality to become little more than raging animals.

The beginning of the movie sets up Travis (Brody) as a bit of a pacifist. We see him marching in a war protest and even answer questions in the pre-test interview to the effect that notions of justice (or as he puts it, "an eye for an eye for an eye) are inferior and that the best path is to "turn the other cheek."

For me, this movie asks a provocative question, "Is the nature of man good or evil?"

The movie is draws from several real psychological/sociological tests that revealed similar moral break downs during the course of the experiment.

As a society we have accepted that a person is a "good" person if they don't murder people or break too many laws on a regular basis. It is a moral litmus test, if you will, that helps us to differentiate good people from bad people. However, studies like those mimicked in the movie show us that given differing situations a person who is considered good can quickly become a "bad" person.

In the real life studies, subjects interviewed after the experiment ended were shocked and horrified by just how far they had been willing to go. Many expressed that they considered themselves to be a "good" person and that before the study they would have said they were incapable of committing the kinds of acts they had done during the study.

Nietzsche believed the heart of a man to be full of darkness, and I have to agree with him on this one point.

But let me take this discussion in a slightly different direction for a moment.

In my opinion, a major difference between me and a modern liberal is that I accept and acknowledge that the heart of a man is wicked and not good. Because of this I am wary and uncomfortable with allowing more and more power to be centralized and relinquishing my freedoms that protect me from the threat of tyranny; regardless of the "good" that is promised to come as a result.

I realize that for civilization and community to exist we must all sacrifice a certain amount of autonomy and liberty. I just think that when we are called upon to make these sacrifices we should do so with the stipulation that there be a great deal of accountability and oversight involved in the exchange. I also believe it is in all of our best interest to ensure that those we entrust with the responsibility to lead our government never be allowed to become so powerful as to risk becoming tyrants.

To that end, I don't believe it wise to vote for representation that openly or by action supports larger governments systems, entitlement programs, or Utopian socioeconomic theories such as Socialism or Communism.