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« on: November 20, 2009, 02:25:56 PM »
In order to move up in your phases at Straight you had to screw over other people in one way or another. That is just the way it was. The entire system was set up that way. I think it is unhealthy for the Survivors of Straight to pass judgement on anyone for this in any way. That will only stifle communication and discourage new participation. Yes, adult staff members and some psychopathic phasers are worthy of our hate but the vast majority of us were either brainwashed or absolutely terrified or both. A child deserves no lasting blame for doing what they are programmed to do. Have you seen the movie "Blood Diamond"? This kid is captured by sadistic rebel soldiers and eventually turned into a mindless killing machine. It is real and happens every day in 3rd World Countries around the globe. You take a child and immerse them in an alien environment, deprive them of food and sleep, make them utterly dependent upon their abusers for everything and before too long you will have a compliant robot willing to do whatever they are instructed. For most of us, this is what happened in Straight. Sometimes the guilt makes me lose site of this fact. I begin to think that I was responsible for what i did there. I was not responsible and neither were any of the other children. If you tried to be a "nice guy" in Atlanta Straight in the early 80's you would never leave first phase. Even higher phasers were constantly reminded how harsh we were expected to be with newcomers. I remember being in 4th and 5th phase raps where people were harshly confronted for not harshly confronting others. A start-over back to first phase was always just a staff members whim away. If anyone on this site claims to have progressed in their phases without ever having hurt someone else, then they are lying. It is that simple. Sorry to be so brutally blunt with that but I think it is a very important point that needs to be made.