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Comment by AnimalMuppet | Hacker News Reader

But why are the problems systemic? Because some highly-placed people changed policy. Jail them. Don't jail every peon for following the rules as given to them (though they should not have done so). Jail every high-level person who didn't follow the rules as given to them, i.e., the Constitution.

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I recommend reading Hannah Arendt's "Eichmann in Jerusalem". Arendt discusses this very issue WRT Nazis in WW2 -- in most cases, the systems are structured in such a way that there isn't an evil overlord making those decisions.

Even amongst the Nazis, most high level people had compartmentalized knowledge that was only evil when combined. Indeed, the subtitle and thesis of the book reflects that: "on the banality of evil."

Her theory is that unethical organizations can structure themselves in such a way that almost nobody is actively breaking the law.

In that case we should just fire many of them for failing to prevent the illegal actions they were apart of. I understand and agree with the high bar for criminal culpability, but at the very least many of them failed in their duties to the american people. We don't throw people in jail for that kind of failure, but we don't have to keep paying them for it either.

Many of the scientists operating/designing these facilities Bamford mentioned in the article were actual Nazis brought into the US through operation paperclip.

Hardly surprising the organisations that employ them feel they're above the law.

> Hardly surprising the organisations that employ them feel they're above the law.

The U.S. Army feels that it is above the law?

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