People seem to be suckers for authority. Indeed, it was in a book, but the author and title evades me at the moment. The book was about how there are six "kneejerk" psychological reactions. One of those involves authority.
A study of the Houston Mass Murders of the early seventies appears to be one of those times in which the police's behavior didn't satisfy the public.
As a long-term Houstonian, and about the same age as the victims, this case bears a special significance for me. The crimes occurred in the same area of town I lived in, and well, you can fill in the rest.
For those unfamiliar, the Houston Mass Murders involved one Dean Corll, Elmer Wayne Henley, and David Brooks. Brooks and Henley procured victims for Corll. Corll then murdered the victims after sexually molesting them. The crimes were brutal and involved torture.
The victim's parents, these were teen-aged boys, were unhappy with the way the police behaved. The police showed little interest in the sudden disappearance of their sons. They were labelled as "runaways" and their cases received little attention.
Even after the case broke, the police were skeptical of the information provided to them on a silver platter. Only after discovering a few bodies did they recognize the gravity of the crimes.
Yet, even with this failure, people "trust" the police. I don't want to say that defunding the police is an idea that I support. But I also don't want to give the police blind support. Police aren't always right. They do deserve support for doing a dangerous job. They don't deserve getting blamed for stuff they didn't do. Nobody does. That includes the former POTUS, Donald Trump.
As always, I'm for truth. Sometimes the truth is not the thing you like to hear. This Covid business of the past year is another example of people blindly following the leadership. The entire reason for my writing this post is to remind people to at least try not to do that.
But folks still want to follow their leaders no matter what. I understand that thinking, but I don't always condone it. One must be on their guards against "cults of personality". I don't think I am part of a cult that follows Trump "no matter what". However, the attempts to take down Trump violated every rule in the book, and then some.
Those who say it want you to abandon a leader who has not been demonstrated to be unfit. Also, they won't let anyone look at THEIR leadership and ask questions. Now who's following a cult?
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