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Mob Mentality

â—„Daveâ–º has an excellent post up on Thoughts Aloud about thought and emotion as they relate to politics.

  • On thinkers he says, “thinkers tend to prefer to rely on their own wits, live an independent existence, take entrepreneurial risks, and accept responsibility for the consequences of their failures. They tend not to seek or rely on leaders for direction, and do not generally find causes or identity politics compelling.”
  • On feelers, “Feelers are more sociable, prefer the security of groups of simpatico friends, and readily follow the direction of group leaders. Their need to belong makes them vulnerable to groupthink, and susceptible to the notion that the group is more important than any individual.“

I’m not a big fan of this terminology, but the points are valid. I’m going to switch the terminology towards individualists and followers, since I think there are far too many groupthink intellectuals out there (socialists), and thoughtless individuals (couch potatoes).

Both of these would appear to be valid ways of going through life, but at some point the followers run into a problem of scale. The very strength in numbers that gives them power also robs them of their free choice. Once a group gets to a sufficient size, it takes on an identity of its own. It becomes simple minded and self serving, bloated and corrupt. Those followers that make up its members find themselves in the position of opposing many of the policies of the collective; but having the choice of being with it or against it, left out on their own, they continue their support.

Individualists have been blamed for many of the problems of society, from the destruction of family values, to corporate greed, to the collapse of the economy. I would argue that we are a relatively tiny portion of society, and that we have been vilified by the collectives as a way of passing blame to those who are not organized enough to defend themselves.

  • “Family values” is just a code phrase of conformity. Having grown up in several different family units and situations, I can say with confidence that it was enlightening, and that there is no single right way to raise a family.
  • Corporate greed is a problem of the collective. We should mistrust those in power and those organizations that have grown too large. When they stop serving us, we should stop serving them.  “The difference between corporations and governments is governments have a monopoly on force. It’s a lot easier to vote with your feet or your wallet than it is to change a government with your vote.” -P.J. O’Rourke
  • The collapse of the economy can be blamed on a great many things, but to claim that the government was powerless to stop it and lacked the ability to regulate it is ludicrous. They control the tax rates, the interest rates, the laws, the tariffs, the subsidies, minimum wage, and the printing of money, and we are expected to believe that they were powerless?

At the feet of those disciples who sacrifice free thought for membership, we can clearly lay a great deal of the worlds problems, from partisanship, to war, to oppression, to censorship. These are not the tools of individuals. This is mob mentality.

Too many run the daily news through a filter of religion and partisanship before they form their opinions, and even more these days have become too lazy even to do that, instead relying on tailored media to save them the effort of forming their own opinions, and offering them false outrage on a platter. If you only listen to the news sources that match your politics because all of the others are biased against you and make you angry, then you are a part of the problem, not the solution. Form your own opinions. Emotional response has been shown to physiologically inhibit rational thought when watching politics. Don’t get angry at the other guy, seek deeper understanding and push solutions.

God, Trust, and Money

I’ve always been irritated with the ‘In God we trust” on our currency. Getting past the obvious hypocrisy and camels and eyes of needles, I felt like it was another attempt by religion to infiltrate governance. Niall Ferguson has changed my thoughts on the matter. In this clip on the Colbert Report, he explains the concepts of trust, and  money in a fiat system.

This got me thinking and I did a little research:

In 1862, due to the Civil War, paper money was issued without the backing of precious metals.

In God We Trust first appeared on our currency in 1864.

Coincidence? I think not. God was not put on the currency to make people who have money believe in God, it was put there to make those who believe in God extent that belief to the value of worthless paper; to give it the divine aura of trustworthiness. We didn’t need to trust God before fiat currency, we could trust silver and gold. No one was going to trust government, so the big G lent a hand.

Obama at His Best

I have found myself most impressed with Obama in the speeches you likely didn’t hear on TV. Those where he wasn’t speaking to the American people, but to an opposition group, or on a very touchy subject. For most politicians, this is where you would find their gaffes, but this is Obama at His Best. After eight years of a president who responded to criticism either by hiding or lashing out,  it is doubly impressive to watch a man who realizes that compromise lies not at the midpoint between opposites, but by extending the hand to invite  all parties to the table with the impression that their views will be understood and respected; that they will be included in the final decision, and that all will likely have to make sacrifices in order to come to agreement. It will be that feeling that if they don’t take the proffered hand, that they will be left behind that will fuel the peace process. I’ve heard it said of the stock market that it isn’t fear of failure or the hope of profit that drives men to buy and sell when they do, but the prospect of watching others profit without them because they didn’t act when they had the chance.

Here are a few of the better Obama Moments thus far:

On religion: This is the first of a series, the rest should be linked at the end.

On Race:

On the middle east:

Unbelieveable! Pat Buchanan steps over the line in the sand!

Today, the post on the official Pat Buchanan website is entitled “Has Israel Become A Neo-Nazi Germany?”

Pat has done the unthinkable for a major political commentator, he has invoked Godwin’s law at the highest level, comparing the Jewish state to Nazi Germany.

James Carville once said about Hillary and Obama, “If she gave him one of her cojones, they’d both have two.” 

I would say of Pat Buchanan that if he gave Bush one of his cajones, the man wouldn’t be able to lift it.

Pat Buchanan Debating Some Chump Re: Gaza

 

Pat Buchanan debating Clifford May (foundation for the defense of democracies (an anti-islamic neocon group))

“They triggered a blitzkreig against the Palestinians, in Gaza, which in my judgement is  an Israeli Concentration camp, where a million and a half people are locked up, cannot go out or come in, the’ve been controlling food, electricity, fuel, and the innocent people in Gaza are the ones suffering” -Pat Buchanan


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