Wrongdoers blame regulation for harm that deregulation enabled.
Evidence
When asked whether he had the temperament to be in a regulated industry, he shifted his personal failings to his nemesis, the regulators: “If there is a problem, there is something wrong with the regulators.” It was ironic that Keating blamed regulations for the demise of the thrift industry—which was brought on by deregulation! Disavowal of responsibility for the extensive harm he caused extended even to disassociating himself from his own actions. When asked about his exorbitant salary he replied: “It was bragga-docio and grandstanding. That isn’t me.” — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1410
Categorization
Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims
- XREF: A clean case of responsibility displacement—links to the disavowal-of-agency mechanisms that recur throughout Bandura’s account of moral disengagement.