February 15, 2008

A favorite tactic of bullies...

A favorite tactic of bullies is to falsely accuse his/her victim of something so outrageous that the victim is stunned with humiliation.

The decent or religious worker is accused of viewing pornography at work, the dignified moral worker is accused of sexual misdoings, the libertarian is charged with being a racist, the most honest worker is branded a thief. [In the meanwhile, the truly incompetent are safe at the apex of the academic hierarchy.]

It doesn't really matter that the bully often can't make the charges stick, the harm is already done. There's that element of guilt by association placed in the minds of others.

From: http://www.badapplebullies.com/index.htm

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This assessment is right on target.
Here's the absurd account that's been written about a staff member at Kingston University:
http://www.sirpeterscott.com/images/toygun.jpg

Anonymous said...

Also called The Goebbels Tactic, as it was one of his propaganda techniques - "Tell the outrageous lie loudly enough, and often enough, and it becomes received truth", or at least its impact remains long after the falsehood is exposed.