An Equitable Assessment of Rights and Wrongs

by Dr Michael Nassim

9.  The Society versus the Individual

9.  The Society versus the Individual

The Society is not one person, but has many members and advisers, all of whose comprehension and influence are limited. It also comprises a legacy from the dead and departed. How, then, can any one be fully aware of what another intends or intended, did, is doing or not doing? Can that one be always accountable for the other? And if so, what can he or she in turn do? And yet some members must be more capable than others; thus senior officers and Directors are very influential, of necessity very knowledgeable, and beyond that responsible.  If a senior officer dissembles or conceals, more peripheral and junior employees cannot always know, let alone suspect, that the basis for their actions has been falsified. Hence in the same organisation negligence and ignorance can compound and exacerbate a deception, but not everyone is equally to blame.  Yet because the bad link faults the chain, the Society comes to bear the collective responsibility.  Hence the Society may have to assume the whole burden, if not always the stigma, of the most culpable individuals employed in its name, or even sometimes on its behalf.