Long insulation inside a power circle erodes a subordinate’s independent judgment

Evidence

It is thanks to Shapiro more than to any other single source that I came to understand Moses’ attitude toward Negroes, toward “that scum floating up from Puerto Rico” that was befouling his parks, toward what “RM” called the “lower classes”—as well as Moses’ reasoning on such questions as mass transit vs. highways. As to why Shapiro spoke so openly, promise or no promise, I have, after much speculation over intriguing possibilities, concluded that perhaps the primary reason was that he did so simply because he believed what Moses believed—believed it so fervently that he could see nothing wrong with it, and could not understand how anyone of “real intelligence” could see anything wrong with it. Forty years in the insulation of the Moses inner circle had taken its toll. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 4772

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Power holders can deliberately manufacture distrust conditions to secure control; Solidarity degenerates into fear-driven obedience when followers forfeit independent judgment; Dominant powers benefit from engineering their subjects’ inability to trust

Broader Connections

• Solidarity degenerates into fear-driven obedience when followers forfeit independent judgment #expands (0.90)
• Power holders can deliberately manufacture distrust conditions to secure control #expands (0.88)
• Dominant powers benefit from engineering their subjects’ inability to trust #expands (0.80)