3 ms·

Religion aside, it's the lack of common sense that astounds me. In her position she must have met a lot of the postmasters and recognized the type of people the

Religion aside, it's the lack of common sense that astounds me. In her position she must have met a lot of the postmasters and recognized the type of people they are i.e. inoffensive, usually quite conscientious, dependable "pillar of the community" types. To then hear that thousands upon thousands of them are committing theft, how does this not create a voice in her head that says "hmm somethings not quite right here, I wonder if the system is to blame?". If there was even a remote chance of that then the risk of sending 1000's of innocent people to prison would she not do her best as a vicar to find that out? Instead, she sacked the forensic accountants who raised the alarm bells and doubled down on cover ups and strong-arm tactics to stamp out the problem I wonder if she is just a sociopath? that's the only conclusion to me that remains

actionfromafar 3y ago
"I wonder if the system is to blame" often leads to: "That would be very embarrasing for us". Closely followed by: "I hope no one important believes the system is to blame? Let's keep it that way. No problems please, at least not on my watch."
staunton 3y ago
> I wonder if she is just a sociopath I would phrase it as "she did what was expected from a CEO in that environment". That is, (try to) protect the profits and interests of shareholders with very little regard for the workers.
- jack_riminton 3y ago
  Well the link between CEOs and sociopathy has long been proven so I guess we're talking about the same thing https://bigthink.com/leadership/corporate-psychopath-ceo/ https://bigthink.com/leadership/corporate-psychopath-ceo/
  - arp242 3y ago
    "12% of corporate senior leadership displays a range of psychopathic traits" It's not that strong of a link. Let's not get carried away. Many people cooperated on the wilful institutional obstinance that led to the coverup, and they're unlikely to all be sociopaths. "This person is a sociapath" is rarely a good answer to "how could this have happened?!" Maybe that person is a sociopath, but to actually make this sort of thing happen you need many more people than that one person. I mean, for starters Vennells wasn't even CEO when all of this business started and she inherited the mess from her predecessor. It wasn't only during her tenure that this was going on. Lots of people have been involved at all sorts of levels.
    - jack_riminton 3y ago
      I wasn't laying the blame solely on the CEO, I was responding to a comment about her being a vicar and what might be the cause of that incongruity But I also wouldn't give her the wiggle room to state that she inherited it. The forensic accountants were called in under her watch and after they sounded the alarm, she was the one to sack them. She also lied about remote access to the system, a fact which would have quashed every conviction. I can't think of anyone more responsible than her
      - _a_a_a_ 3y ago
        > I wasn't laying the blame solely on the CEO, I was responding to a comment about her being a vicar and what might be the cause of that incongruity exactly it, thanks.

actionfromafar 3y ago

"I wonder if the system is to blame" often leads to: "That would be very embarrasing for us". Closely followed by: "I hope no one important believes the system is to blame? Let's keep it that way. No problems please, at least not on my watch."

staunton 3y ago

> I wonder if she is just a sociopath I would phrase it as "she did what was expected from a CEO in that environment". That is, (try to) protect the profits and interests of shareholders with very little regard for the workers.

jack_riminton 3y ago
Well the link between CEOs and sociopathy has long been proven so I guess we're talking about the same thing https://bigthink.com/leadership/corporate-psychopath-ceo/ https://bigthink.com/leadership/corporate-psychopath-ceo/
- arp242 3y ago
  "12% of corporate senior leadership displays a range of psychopathic traits" It's not that strong of a link. Let's not get carried away. Many people cooperated on the wilful institutional obstinance that led to the coverup, and they're unlikely to all be sociopaths. "This person is a sociapath" is rarely a good answer to "how could this have happened?!" Maybe that person is a sociopath, but to actually make this sort of thing happen you need many more people than that one person. I mean, for starters Vennells wasn't even CEO when all of this business started and she inherited the mess from her predecessor. It wasn't only during her tenure that this was going on. Lots of people have been involved at all sorts of levels.
  - jack_riminton 3y ago
    I wasn't laying the blame solely on the CEO, I was responding to a comment about her being a vicar and what might be the cause of that incongruity But I also wouldn't give her the wiggle room to state that she inherited it. The forensic accountants were called in under her watch and after they sounded the alarm, she was the one to sack them. She also lied about remote access to the system, a fact which would have quashed every conviction. I can't think of anyone more responsible than her
    - _a_a_a_ 3y ago
      > I wasn't laying the blame solely on the CEO, I was responding to a comment about her being a vicar and what might be the cause of that incongruity exactly it, thanks.