Outsourcing Immorality

You're begging me to go
Then making me stay
Why do you hurt me so bad?
--Pat Benatar

Interesting article suggesting that one purpose behind politics in society is to create a channel for outsourcing wrong yet expedient conduct to others. While the article calls this 'moral outsourcing' it is actually a process for outsourcing immoral behavior.

Outsourcing immorality provides a mechanism for maintaining a positive self-view while still getting what we want. It allows us to avoid the social and psychological costs of unethical actions because someone else (the politician) is seen as responsible for that poor conduct.

When they contract with political agents, people believe that they are not doing anything wrong--someone else is. This is, of course, supreme self-deception.

They are the ones creating conditions of agency. They are, by definition, the principals of immorality. They are outsourcing violence.