- This is my response to article in Brunswick, ME Times
Record "Extraordinary Acts of Kindness" which appeared 2/4/03:
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- Are We Pavlov's Dogs?
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- I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the article "Extraordinary
Acts of Kindness". Are Americans nothing more nor less than animals
to be rewarded like Pavlov's dogs for good deeds? Such a policy of animal
training could create a citizenry which will only do good deeds if there
is a reward forthcoming.
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- And, in regard to the criteria for awards, do we really
want to leave this decision up to the "discretion of the officer?"
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- In addition, I am very disturbed by the last paragraph
of this article: "The department will keep track of who receives the
coins, and the Institute will monitor the success of the program during
the next year."
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- What is the definition of success? Does that mean that
the number of coins awarded will reflect success in conditioning citizens
to do what the government wants?
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- In my opinion, the whole community-oriented policing
system should be reconsidered. It resembles programs used in totalitarian
countries. There are many good policemen in the United States of America
who are totally opposed to and appalled by this program.
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- Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt Bath, Maine
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- *******
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- From: byplane Sent: Thursday, February 06 Subject: NL:
COPS and Rewards
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- Our Founding Fathers, who were Godly men because they
knew the Scriptures, would probably be appalled at the idea of rewarding
good deeds here on earth!
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- COPS giving out rewards reminds me of the multitude
of awards and honors the schools give out nowadays. Every single
month the elementary school my grandsons attend give awards for everything
from blinking twice to blowing your nose! And, my grandsons are the
ones receiving these little rewards, for Good Behavior, Most Compassionate,
etc. The school has an awards assembly every month! It just
irks me that they get these awards, yet I have to "congratulate"
them. You know, I thought it was kids who were supposed to hate school,
not adults! Well, I hate schools.
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- From Char
Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2003 00:32:41 -0600
Subject: Re: COPS and Rewards
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- My daughter can testify to this part about parents hating
the schools...! She's the one who used to have to tell me to "calm
down, mom"... when I would get agitated about something... GRRRRRR!!!!!!
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- Date: Sat, 08 Feb 2003 Subject: COPS and Rewards From:
Charlotte Iserbyt To: Char
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- The following is major documentation for the use of conditioning
through rewards. Taken from pp. 109, the deliberate dumbing
down of america...A Chronological Paper Trail. (The funding
of this research by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse is interesting
in light of fact the police initially came into our schools through the
failed DARE (Drug/Alcohol Resistance Education) program out of the Dept.
of Justice.) Charlotte Iserbyt
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- An article entitled "People Control Blueprint"
by Carol Denton was published in the May, 1972 issue (Vol. 3, No. 12) of
The National Educator (Fullerton, CA). Recommendations made in the
top secret paper discussed in this article echo those mentioned in the
April 6, 1971 Michigan Governor's Advisory Council on Population paper.
Excerpts follow:
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- "A Top Secret" paper from the Center for the
Study of Democratic Institutions, now in the hands of The National Educator,
reveals a plan for total control of the people of the United States through
behavioral modification techniques of B.F. Skinner, the controversial behaviorist
author of Beyond Freedom and Dignity...
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- According to the "Dialogue Discussion
Paper" marked "Top Secret" across the bottom ofthe cover
page, a conference was held at the Center on January 17 through 19, 1972,
at which time a discussion on "The Social and Philosophical Implications
of Behavior Modification" was held. The paper in question is
the one prepared by four individuals for presentation at that conference
entitled "Controlled Environment for Social Change." The
authors are Vitali Rozynko, Kenneth Swift, Josephine Swift, and Larney
J. Boggs...
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- The second page of the paper caries the inscription,
"To B.F. Skinner and James G. Holland."..Page 3 of the pape states
that the "Top Secret" document was prepared on December 31, 1971...
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- The authors of this tome are senior staff
members of the Operant Behavior Modification Project located at Mendocino
State Hospital in California and the project is partially supported by
a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse...
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- On page 5 of this blueprint for totalitarianism,
the authors state that "we are presently concerned with controlling
upheavals and anarchic behavior associated with social change and discontent."...The
authors go on to say that they believe an "Orwellian world" is
more likely under presently developing society than under the kind of rigorous
controls of a society envisioned by Skinner...
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- On page 6,the authors deplore the growing
demands for "law and order," stating that the population is now
more apt to support governmental repression than previously, in response
to "their own fears."...
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- They add that "with the rising population,
depletion of natural resources, and the increase of pollution, repressive
measures may have to be used to guarantee survival of our specie. These
measures may take the form of forced sterilization, greatly restricted
uses of energy and limits on population movement and living location."...
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- Skinner, on the other hand, they allege--"advocates
more sophisticated controls over the population, since punishment (by the
government) for the most part works only temporarily and only while the
punishing agent is present."...
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- On the other hand, the authors allege, operant
conditioning (sensitivity training) and other behavioral techniques can
be used to control the population through "positive reinforcement."
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