The Voluntaries

[Terenia]

Less sociopathic and more brainwashed, I think. I imagine the voluntaries think that the people in cages are being stupid and overdramatic. That they are a danger to themselves and others, and that is why they need to be caged. That they are the sociopaths. There are all sorts of ways to rationalize things that seem impossible to rationalize. That's how German townspeople were able to live right next to concentration camp.

[NateSean]

But yeah, I really thought the Animorphs' attitudes towards the voluntaries are REALLY close-minded.

Well they are a product of the DARE generation.

Kids who are told by a police officer that all drugs are bad and that everyone who does drugs is a loser who deserves to go to jail. Nevermind that some of the greatest accomplisments in history was done under the influence and that there are othe circumstances that lead to various types of addiction.

[Chad32]

I wonder how much padding they'd have to put around the lounge and cafeteria to drown out so much noise that you start to hear it not long after you start down an entrance tunnel.

[RYTX]

Sitting on a couch watching TV in the middle of the Yeerk pool surrounded by involuntaries screaming and sobbing and resisting and suffering strikes me as sociopathic. 

Reminds me of those cases you hear in psych class: 100's of people in apartment complexes hear someone outside being raped and/or murdered. Don't do anything about it. I doubt most of them are sociopaths or brainwashed-just unconcerned or at least unmotivated to be involved in anyone elses' affairs

[LisaCharly]

^The Kitty Genovese case has turned out to be greatly, greatly exaggerated by the media.

I think the thing that makes voluntaries so upsetting is that it's not just that they're sacrificing their freedom - they're becoming tools for the enslavement of others, including their loved ones. Whether or not they know that going in is unclear, but it explains why they're treated as traitors.