Andrija Hebrang

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Theory of submission

The strategy of the Party’s discipline was based on blind submission to the decisions of the Poliburo, the central committees and other centres of the Party’s power, with Him always at the top of the pyramid. In our story that was Josip Broz. Every closed system functions on this principle, from armies to hermetic peoples. U.S. psychologist Stanley Milgram (1933-1984) conducted an experiment in the 1970s, proving that people are inclined towards submission and the dictate of a stronger authority. The experiment consisted of a game involving “teachers” and “pupils”, in which the teacher punished the pupil every time he made a wrong combination of words by using electroshock therapy, on a scale of 30 degrees of current intensity, from mild (15 volts) to ruthless (450 volts). In such laboratory conditions the “teachers” would turn into real torturers, with two thirds giving the “pupils” the strongest current and the average intensity being 27 on a scale of 30. Prior to the experiment, the “teachers” were subjected to mild currents to feel the effect. The “pupils” had been prepared and deliberately made wrong word combinations to taunt the “teachers”, faking pain after being punished.