From: Randall Parker 

In article ,
blucy{at}mediaone.net says...
> Then you are arguing that we can't blame Castro for the abuses in Cuba?

No, not at all. We are each individually responsible for our actions. A
person with more authority has more moral responsibility. He's got more
power in Cuba than an American President does in the US. So his moral
responsibility is greater.

One has to ask whether an abuse of the system's power was directed by the
top dog (eg does anyone think that torture in Cuban prisons was not
approved by Castro? David Irving would probably argue that Hitler didn't
order the gas chamber killings but I digress). If so, he is one of the
people responsible.

But is a governor of Illinois responsible for, say, your report of Chicago
police abuses mentioned below? I don't think so.

One has to ask a couple of questions:

1) Does a person have moral responsibility for a particular situation due
to the extent of his authority?

2) Is the system structured in such a way that not only is it inherently
cruel but it is also inherently resistant to reform.

> BTW, I was reading an article in a weekly paper yesterday (The Reader) which
> noted some of the torture that went on in Chicago's Area 2 Victim Crimes Unit
> in the 80s and 90s. Innocent people were sent to death row because of the
> torture.

Tragic.

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