Good for You

A few data points encountered in last few months:

• Ken Roth and Colin Powell argue that the U.S. shouldn’t torture detainees because then others will torture U.S. soliders.
• In The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan argues that women should not be deprived of their freedom because they will live vicariously through their sons, doting on them, and turning them into sissies.
• A summer Bollywood movie stars Aishwarya Rai, a former Miss World, as a victim of domestic violence who eventually shoots dead her battering spouse. Based on a true story.

Ultimately, the arguments put forth that the abuses are not bad because they cause pain or suffering to others, but because they harm the more powerful party (with the exception of the movie which is apparently pretty grizzly). The otherness of the victims is essentially unchallenged. It’s not just that the victims are less human, but that the more powerful figure is recognized as the more valuable.