Defeated officials often redirect vengeance onto what their enemies love
Evidence
“If you knew Bob Moses, you wouldn’t have to ask that,” Paul Windels would say. “Bob Moses could hate. If you stood up to him, he would hate you forever. If you defeated him, he would try to destroy you. Here were guys he couldn’t destroy. So he decided to do the next best thing: destroy something they loved.” — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 2889
Categorization
- ADDENDUM: Caro reading — analyzing how power personalities operate — complements the sacrifice article’s account of rulers who use destruction as signaling.
- XREF: connects to: Rival protectors respond to encroachment on their clients with lethal force — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 448; Apparent cruelty can restore political order and loyalty; Mortally hated enemies negotiated a truce once both faced defeat — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1615 (+5 more)
Broader Connections
- Apparent cruelty can restore political order and loyalty
#expands(0.75) - Mortally hated enemies negotiated a truce once both faced defeat
#qualifies(0.75) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1615 - Rival protectors respond to encroachment on their clients with lethal force
#complicates(0.72) — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 448 - Brutal counterterrorism can backfire by recruiting and legitimizing the enemy
#complicates(0.72) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2276 - Targeted assassinations predictably trigger revenge attacks in a violent feedback loop
#corroborates(0.72) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 633 - Fear of retribution compels even principled resisters into supporting violence
#expands(0.70) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 2204 - Excessive violence can backfire by triggering revenge and betrayal within criminal hierarchies
#corroborates(0.70) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 2218