GROUP MANIPULATION - ARE THERE UNIVERSITY COURSES ON THE HOW AND WHY?

This is not a treatise against groups, committees or clubs. There are immense advantages, economic and social in joining a group of like minded individuals. It can be for a hobby such as tennis, golf, squash etc. or it can be for a social cause such as Black Lives Matter, environmental groups (Greenpeace, David Suzuki, Ecojustice etc.), Democracy Watch and on and on. Fitness clubs bring state of the art equipment within everyone's reach while requiring relatively small monthly payments. .................................................................................................... The flip side is that large groups can be easily and readily manipulated by such minded individuals. Even huge, internationally known groups such as the NRA (National Rifle Association) in the U.S. who have vast membership numbers across the States are currently alleged by a number of their members as well as by at least one state government to be corrupt. Corrupt not so much in their mandate and ideals as in the top very few individuals milking the coffers for their personal benefit. That has likely been a shock to millions while less so to higher up insiders. ............................................................................................................ Small volunteer groups are also routinely manipulated by those put in charge. What I have seen personally leads me to believe that volunteer groups can be totally corrupted from within simply because of human nature wanting to trust those that we have given some authority to. Briefly swinging to professional politicians why do you think that they are not routinely tarred and feathered, beaten and assaulted? It's because sometimes even with overwhelming evidence against them, we really want to believe that they are there for our benefit and the benefit of our friends, family and neighbours. We are too busy with jobs, family and friendships to be able to spend the time (much less the money) to absolutely and unequivocally nail every last fact down. They look us in the eyes and say "trust me". I'm the person you voted for despite what so and so says about me. It becomes almost a cult of the personality and boy has that happened in Elmira, Ontario as well. ................................................................................................ APT, UPAC, CPAC, and TAG may all be perfect examples of good people being led astray. Good people have lives outside of the environmental crisis that first was acknowledged in November 1989. I was and am proud to have met and get to know several members of APT Environment back in the very early days. I too was totally trusting of each and every APT member when they professed their shock and horror regarding the grossly damaged state of Elmira's environment. It never even crossed my mind that two or three of them were acting and good at it. However great time spent listening. learning and observing eventually pays off. Watching good members fall by the wayside as they were squeezed out of APT, either quietly or otherwise, and you see the pattern. ............................................................................................................... Two or three very strong and clever personalities within an organization can, if they are ruthless enough, between internal politicking and lobbying manipulate the less dominant personalities to their will. Within bounds of course. You can't be handed the reins of authority by a membership vote and then turn around the next day and profess an unbiding love for the local polluter. Nor can you immediately embark on self-serving purges to rid the group of any members that you view as potential rivals to your longterm dominance of the group. I think of people with these characteristics as sociopaths. The smarter they are the more corrupt they may eventually become. Corrupt as in diverging from both the public interest and hopefully the same interests that the group has. ................................................................................................................... If only what you saw is what you got. It isn't. People need to spend more time asking questions, demanding transparency and regularly holding their leaders, whether professional or volunteer, to account.