"Political Darwinism requires that governmental failure must not only occur, but that the failure be massaged into a form unrecognizable by the most dangerous adversary (the people, of course), and thus perpetuated."--Karen Kwiatkowski, Retired Air-Force Colonel

I was instrumental in allowing the Saskatchewan Health Care Association to self-administer their former retirement plan in the late 70ies. However, later I was wrongfully dismissed[1][2] I realized that something very wrong was rooted in the leadership of health care in Saskatchewan. I was in the position to leverage effective economic changes in health care administration, however, because of a reactionary business climate, I and my family had to sustain a sequel of wrongful dismissals. I must presume, as a consequence, that my family and I lacked the needed leadership qualities which lead good people to the so-called success.

After having witnessed the digging of economic holes in the ground by the Saskatchewan government[3], and as I keep abreast with the economic and political news around the world, I now begin to understand the meaning of the term 'groupthink' and how groupthinking has long impregnated the elitist leadership in Saskatchewan, Canada, the United States and the world over. Vicki Kemper, a journalist with the Los Angeles Times, explains that the faults of the Bush administration may be rooted in their 'groupthink' mentality. Kemper writes: Irving Janis, a Yale psychologist, coined the term in 1972 to describe a decision-making process in which officials are so wedded to the same assumptions and beliefs that they ignore, discount or even ridicule information to the contrary. When members of a cohesive, homogeneous group value unanimity and agreement on one course of action more than a realistic appraisal of alternatives, they are engaging in groupthink. Experts said Friday that while groupthink was not entirely responsible for the acceptance of faulty intelligence information on Iraq, the Bush administration was, by design, particularly susceptible to that risky style of decision-making. "Groupthink is more likely to arise when there is a strong premium on loyalty and when there is not a lot of intellectual range or diversity within a decision-making body," said Stephen M. Walt, academic dean of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. "The Bush administration has been an unusually secretive group of like-minded people where a very high premium is placed on loyalty."[4]

The understanding of Groupthink goes hand in hand with the understanding of George Orwell's terms Newspeak[5] and Doublethink[6]. In a few words, groupthink is the ability as shown by our current leadership to deceptively influence the behaviour of common people so that we all become void of any critical thinking.

The 9-11 Commission has blamed the American intelligence agencies for their lack of imagination and for their organizational dysfunction[7]. Sibel Edmonds, former FBI translator, has stated that soon after the 9-11 attacks translators were told not to translate and to pile up their work so that the FBI could show their work backlog and ask for a bigger budget[8]. Retired Air-Force Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski wants Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz fired for their criminal behaviour to respond promptly to the 9-11 attacks and to have gone to war against Iraq[9].

This reminds me of whatever I wrote about the Saskatchewan government's corruption and wasting of money. We had former Health Care Minister Pat Atkinson saying that "nobody has run with the money" when the closure of the Plains Hospital in Regina was affected by a $50 million overrun[10], and we had Dr. Cassidy's statistical study showing the success of No Fault insurance over Tort insurance as he allowed insurance adjusters to close their insurance no fault claims as they were piling up on their desks[11].

We live in an Orwellian world. For example, please let me know how we can ever socially justify the leadership of US Vice-President Dick Cheney[12] and the operations of his former company Halliburton[13]. Maybe, it is a matter of groupthink!

References 

Pertinent articles published in Ensign

1. SASKATCHEWAN HEALTH-CARE ASSOCIATION letter dated May 21, 1982 from Randy Bruce, Director of Employee Benefits, to Mario deSantis http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/desam/paper-letter-RBruce-May21-82.htm

2. SASKATCHEWAN HEALTH-CARE ASSOCIATION letter dated May 25, 1982 from Randy Bruce, Director of Employee Benefits, to Mario deSantis http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/desam/paper-letter-RBruce-May25-82.htm

3. deSantis, Mario Our leaders can't recognize an asset from a hole in the ground December 2, 1999 Ensign,

4. Kemper, Vicki Groupthink Viewed as Culprit in Move to War July 10, 2004, Los Angeles Times, http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news2/latimes220.htm

5. deSantis, Mario A world of Newspeak: A socio-economic system for looking after number one and after profits February 14, 2004 Ensign,

6. deSantis, Mario Have governments reduced their citizens to Doublethinkers? February 18, 2004 Ensign,

7. Ray McGovern, Ray The 9/11 Commission Chimera August 3, 2004 TomPaine.com http://www.antiwar.com/orig/mcgovern.php?articleid=3236

8. Edmonds, Sibel Public Letter to 9/11 Commission Chairman from FBI Whistleblower August 2, 2004 http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0408/S00012.htm

9. Kwiatkowski, Karen 20 Months and 585 Pages Wasted — Your Government at Work for You! August 3, 2004 http://www.lewrockwell.com/kwiatkowski/kwiatkowski88.html

10. desantis, Mario The closure of the Plains Health Centre: The $50 million overrun and the gimmick of savings money in health care December 19, 1999 Ensign,

11. deSantis, Mario Dr. Cassidy's study: another fraud and no one has run with the money! July 8, 2000 Ensign,

12. Pringle, Evelyn J. Resume of Vice President Dick Cheney to be Posted on Monster.Com August 6, 2004 DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND, http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/04/08/06_resume.html

13. Taub, Stephen Suit Charges Halliburton with Accounting Fraud The oilfield-services company and a number of executives allegedly inflated results, failed to reveal a big asbestos verdict on time, and were unable to account for $3.1 billion that ''went missing.'' August 09, 2004 CFO.com, http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/3080385?f=home_todayinfinance

Photo credit: Bush, AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Cheney, REUTERS/Larry Downing