Damage To Institutions
The same expression is also used in the opposite sense, i.e., as damage caused to institutions, as opposed to damage caused to individuals. For example, political exception situations, such as the suspenstion of political rights for a time, are said to damage democratic institutions. Other examples are vandalism of public buildings, extremely large epidemics that disrupt normal functioning of society's institutions, such as in the case of AIDS in Africa; external military intervention, such as in the invasion of Iraq by the USA and allied nations; and even (paradoxically), external aid to countries which are rich in natural resources but have a poor economy and/or corrupt government (the so called "resource curse")
The two concepts, damage caused by institutions and damage caused to institutions, are related in many situations. In widespread political trials ("witch hunting") in democratic countries, such as in the famous House Committee on Un-American Activities in the 1940s, damage was said to occur in both directions, i.e., not only the lives, families and professional activities of a number of individuals were wrecked by the public exposure, but also the political institutions of individual rights and freedom in the USA were also similarly damaged by the Committee's activities.
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Famous quotes containing the words damage and/or institutions:
“I learned early to understand that there is no such condition in human affairs as absolute truth. There is only truth as people see it, and truth, even in fact, may be kaleidoscopic in its variety. The damage such perception did to me I have felt ever since ... I could never belong entirely to one side of any question.”
—Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973)
“With the breakdown of the traditional institutions which convey values, more of the burdens and responsibility for transmitting values fall upon parental shoulders, and it is getting harder all the time both to embody the virtues we hope to teach our children and to find for ourselves the ideals and values that will give our own lives purpose and direction.”
—Neil Kurshan (20th century)