The World Is Plagued By Hosts Of Social And Political...

Nicholas Wozniak Prof. John Kear ENGL 101 1 Sep 2016 False Attribution Our world is plagued by hosts of social and political problems, from tensions between the races to enmity against the government. Some ire is deserved while other hatreds may be woefully misplaced. It is misplacing the cause of a person or group of people’s woes on another group of people that has historically caused dreadful and disproportionate problems within society and human culture. Riots, racial tensions, coups, wars and all manner of other ills can all be correctly attributed to this. Some may argue that placing responsibility for problems on another person or group of people is a naturally occurring way to revitalize a society and champion one’s own beliefs†¦show more content†¦There are many historical examples of false attribution in both the past and present. A very relevant one we can draw from is the recent anti-police protests and riots currently taking place all over America. Certainly there are instances of police brutality th at take place, and certainly the law enforcement system could do with some helpful reform, but does this release citizens from the repercussions of their actions or justify combating perceived violence with actual violence? The slaying of a police officer at a black lives matter protest is a great example of false attribution. The woes of an ethnic group were laid out on the shoulders of a single individual, and the entire situation was worse off for it. Retaliation against the police could never have fixed the social dilemma, yet the actual act of retaliating (because of poor treatment falsely attributed to one police officer) only served to inflate tensions. Another notable example of false attribution American culture has experienced is the Red Scare. In the late 1940s, a distant and ever growing Russia left America in perpetual fear of communist attack. All manner of social ills were blamed on insidious and often non-existent communist sympathizers and spies. These citizens were punished with fines, jail time and even exile. While we do know that there were communist sympathizers and spies in the country at the time, the scope of