Rationalizing cruelty

Cruelty is a natural human instinct. Equally natural is our propensity to rationalize cruel instincts as something else. There are entire complex belief systems whose main purpose is to provide excuses for cruel people to act on their cruelty while preserving their self-image as virtuous human beings.

Here's a small, and admittedly completely insignificant example of this instinct at work. I've watched a few seconds of some TV show talking about Lindsay Lohan being in jail, mostly about the fact that she's still allowed to take her prescription medications: Ambien and Adderall. Someone (I have no idea who) had a monologue about how that's a bad idea because "she should be taking this experience with a clear mind." Setting aside minor issues, like the fact that someone who's not a doctor is offering advice about prescription drugs, or the fact that Adderall actually makes your mind clearer than it is otherwise, the main thing about this opinion is that it's basically a rationalization of cruelty. What he said was "She should be taking her jail experience with a clear mind;" what I heard was "As far as I'm concerned, the b*tch isn't suffering enough."