Personal story - I was the person who used to get angry and outraged whenever these stories of harassment were published, taking a stance which was pro the supposed victim. Independently, I used to be a huge fan of Stallman and read a lot of his writings as well as what others wrote about him. So when the story first broke out in 2019, my first reaction was "This is simply not possible." Of course, upon researching f…
I think this is covered in Jared Diamond's Collapse. During the Salem Witch Trials, there was a point where a good chunk of the accusations were motivated by getting someone out of the way, so they could get their land, or otherwise by land disputes.
Also covered there: Much of the Rwandan genocide seems to have been exploited by land and resource disputes.
Power corrupts. If you give people unchecked power, then that power will be abused. This is just human nature. One group of people who frequently get unchecked power are activists. The press is supposed to the one of their checks and balances, but they are frequently giving only softballs and a free pass. Often fellow journalists even prevent further investigations. This also worked against the aims of the #MeToo movement in the past. This kind of press manipulation needs to be called out. It shouldn't happen.
Many accusations at this point are likely to be exploited for ulterior motives. There's just too much unchecked power in such accusations now to expect otherwise.
I have come to realize that just jumping on the outrage train is not a good strategy and in fact can be dangerous. One must take the time to understand all the facts and only then come to a conclusion.
This is how we get away from the pathologies of the mob -- We as a society need to regain our respect for due process, "innocent until proven guilty," and evidence!