Bad apples excuse
A "bad apples" excuse or "few bad apples" excuse is a rhetorical attempt to spin misdeeds within a group as isolated to a "few bad apples", reminiscent of the way a single spoiled fruit in a container can hasten the ripening and spoilage of all the rest.[1][2] Among other things, the term has been applied to excuses for corporate fraud in the wake of the Enron scandal[3], for the Abu Ghraib torture and prison abuse case[1][2][4][5], the Chicago Police Department's response to off-duty officer Anthony Abatte's videotaped beating of a bartender[6], ACORN's response to an undercover operation revealing a willingness of employees in several offices to aid and abet human trafficking and other illegal activities,[7][8][9] and hypothetically, involving projections about organizational accountability.[10] The term became popular soon after the airing of a Canadian broadcast from the CBC's Fifth Estate television series called "A Few Bad Apples".[11] According to Michael Ignatieff, "The 'Few Bad Apples' excuse is institutions' invariable first response to moral failure, and it’s the wrong response".[2] This excuse is an example of the slothful induction fallacy.
See also: Moazzam Begg, Stanford prison experiment, and Cover up
[edit] Quotations
- "So then I started hearing about different things, I started hearing about the 'seven bad apples' analogy, so I went to Congress. I said, 'I'll either go to the media or you all will listen.' And Congress was very anxious to listen" - Ken Davis, from "A Few Bad Apples" (31:39).
- "In Iraq, what happened at that prison, it is now clear, is not the result of random acts of a few bad apples. It was the natural consequence of the Bush Administration policy" - Al Gore.[12]
- "Is it fair to be suspicious of an entire profession because of a few bad apples? There are at least two important differences, it seems to me. First, no one doubts that science actually works, whatever mistaken and fraudulent claim may from time to time be offered. But whether there are *any* 'miraculous' cures from faith-healing, beyond the body's own ability to cure itself, is very much at issue. Secondly, the exposé of fraud and error in science is made almost exclusively by science. But the exposure of fraud and error in faith-healing is almost never done by other faith-healers" - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.
- "Anyone who has declared someone else to be an idiot, a bad apple, is annoyed when it turns out in the end that he isn’t" - Friedrich Nietzsche.[13]
- "One bad apple spoils the bunch" (proverb).
[edit] References
- ^ a b Ben Tanosborn. "The “few bad apples” alibi in business, military and political crimes". Online Journal. http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_871.shtml. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
- ^ a b c Dr. Michael Ignatieff, Director, Carr Center for Human Rights. "Leadership, Diversity and Nationalism". http://www.leadership2004.ca/french/2004/speech_igantieff.cfm. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
- ^ Jim Olsztynski. "Olsztynski Editorial: When No One's Watching". Supply House Times. http://www.supplyht.com/CDA/Archives/7bcad4d2913a8010VgnVCM100000f932a8c0____. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
- ^ "Abu Ghraib, Whitewashed". The New York Times. 2004-07-24. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E00EEDA173DF937A15754C0A9629C8B63. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
- ^ Stephen Scharper (2007-10-20). "A faith-based case against torture". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/News/Ideas/article/268773. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
- ^ Richard Muhammad. "More than a few bad apples in Chicago Police Department". Chicago Defender. http://www.chicagodefender.com/page/editorial.cfm?ArticleID=9153. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
- ^ Sharon Theimer. "Embattled ACORN orders independent investigation". Associated Press. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jxhq8CPN8LdLntDEDtE5NrEBQ2IgD9AOK3DO0. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
- ^ Pam Fessler and Melissa Block. "Videos Put ACORN Under Pressure". National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112861643&ps=cprs. Retrieved 2009-09-17. "ACORN says it has fired the employees involved, and that the videos show a few bad apples at the organization."
- ^ Michael B. Farrell. "What is the ACORN controversy about?". Christian Science Monitor. http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/09/16/what-is-the-acorn-controversy-about/. Retrieved 2009-09-17. "ACORN says it is besieged – again – because of a few bad apples within their offices."
- ^ Aubrey Fox. "Who's Stopped? Who's Frisked?". Gotham Gazette. http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/crime/20071217/4/2382. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
- ^ "CBC News: the fifth estate - A Few Bad Apples". CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/badapples/.
- ^ MoveOn PAC
- ^ 41827. Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996
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